It was a super Tuesday for me

For the first time in my life, I became a campaigner! Last Saturday, Beth and I paid a visit to our local Obama 08 campaign office, picked up some materials, and attended a rally in East Harlem. Last Sunday, I campaigned in front of markets and churches on the Upper West Side. There were several meeting places to choose from; I went to the Starbucks on 103rd. I couldn't believe that at 9:00am on a Sunday morning that there were FIFTY volunteers assembled and ready to go. It was a cold day, but I spent about four hours standing on the sidewalk, holding an Obama sign, handing out flyers, and asking people to "Vote Obama!" It was one of my best New York days ever! It was amazing to talk and interact with so many people -- the other volunteers, the Obama supporters who were ecstatic to see us, and some folks who were not happy to see us. It was amazing and strange to be proclaiming my politics so publicly. People would just stop and ask 'so why do you support Obama' and I'd have a chance to tell them.

It was such a good experience that Beth and I spent another hour Monday evening handing out flyers and talking to people as they exited the subway. Then, on Super Tuesday, I campaigned from 7 to 9 in the morning and 5 to 9 in the evening. The Obama volunteers were amazing! We had someone on nearly every street corner up and down the UWS. During the evening shift, I campaigned 100 feet from a polling place adjacent to a small group of Hillary supporters (the only Hillary supporters I had seen all weekend). We talked to each other about our candidates, the issues, our predictions for the night, and the (un)likelihood of an Obama/Clinton ticket in November. I campaigned with an old gentleman who is a former NY State Senator and with a lovely woman who campaigned for Bobby Kennedy in 1968. She said that this is the first campaign she has seen since that 1968 campaign that has inspired so much grassroots enthusiasm and participation.

My efforts on that Tuesday may or may not have won many votes for Obama, but I was rewarded to come home exhausted and hear Obama deliver this great speech:

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."