Wondering what a "battleground state" looks like?

Readers in the US probably have some idea of what the last hours of the election look like but, for those abroad, I offer this view as reported by Eyewitness-to-History-and-Daughter-#1 late last night:

We had a great time canvassing for Obama in Bethlehem, PA, this weekend.  As we heard many times while there, Pennsylvania will be won or lost in Lehigh Valley, which is where we spent our time going door-to-door. Philly and Pittsburgh will go for Obama, most of the center of the state will be McCain, so Lehigh Valley is one of the few counties "in play" in PA.  Our adventure included lots of old-fashioned pounding the pavement.  I will never look at people who come door-to-door the same way again :).  It was an exciting time, but it is going to be close.  It was amazing how divided areas could be.   We would be on one street covered with Obama signs and the next would be all McCain and then, one street farther over, the signs would alternate all the way down the block.

Voters in these "battlegrounds" truly have a completely different view of the election.  Many voters have been visited in person every weekend for the past couple of months by the Obama campaign - each time with a different purpose, although the same underlying message... The organization on the ground was also very impressive.  One of the organizers was telling us that every morning they get new and very specific instructions of what to do on that particular day.  Despite the large number of volunteers descending on the campaign this weekend, we were always given our instructions within 5 minutes of walking through the door.

One of the field organizers we met explained that they had opened the Obama office during the primaries on Main Street in Bethlehem.  It was a prime downtown location and gave them lots of great visibility.  When the primaries were over the campaign pulled out, but the local grassroots organizers felt that it was really important to keep the location open.  They raised money, collected donations, and worked extra shifts from April until August to keep the office until the national campaign came back because they felt that it was strategically important.  It was so exciting to hear the level of commitment that a lot of these volunteers have to the campaign.

We also had a fun experience this afternoon.  We heard that Caroline Kennedy would be speaking at the Bethlehem headquarters.  We decided to head over to see what was happening before heading back to New York.  The rally turned out to be 20 times (!!) the size that they were expecting, so they moved it to a local park.  It was cool to be part of one of those campaign-type events and Caroline Kennedy certainly had some interesting comparisons to draw between her father's campaign and Obama's.

I realized I wouldn't be able to focus at work on Tuesday, so Liza [Daughter #2] and I will be headed back to PA for election day to get out the vote.  They told us they will be following up with some voters up to 5 times on Tuesday to try to make sure they make it to the polls - wow!  Fingers crossed for Tuesday!!! 

Here are some shots from our adventure!

Love, Mirm

Comments

[Rich Carpenter]

Hi Jessica,

I had a similar experience in Claremont, NH on Saturday where I went with several new friends from the Middlebury area. Very well organized, incredible underlying database, updated immediately after canvassers returned, and very specific instructions and follow through. If Obama can organize a campaign like this, it gives me even more hope for his ability to manage and provide leadership for the country. Very impressive.

...Rich