Stories of the Campaign Trail

Calling 85 year old Florence:

Me: Hello, this is jumco from the Indiana offices of Sen. Obama for President.

Florence: YOU DON'T KNOW MY NUMBER!

Me (as Florence is slamming the phone down): I'm calling you!

Calling 88 year old William who lives at the VA:

Me: Hello, this is jumco from the Indiana offices of Sen. Obama for President. Have you had a chance to vote for Sen. Obama yet?

William (in elderly, weak-voiced, Mid-Western drawl): Well, I don't get around much. I live here at the VA with a collapsed lung and only one leg, you see.

Me: I understand. Did you know you can vote at the VA today until 4PM?

William: I can?

Me: Yes sir, you can simply head down stairs, ask a nurse to help you, and you can vote today for Senator Barack Obama!

William: The colored fellar?

Me: Yes sir. You can head down today to the first floor of the VA and cast your ballot today for Senator Barack Obama.

William: You don't say. I'll go down there with my buddy, Donald. He lives in the next bed over.

Me: That's great, go with your buddy, Donald, and vote.

William (with enthusiasm): OKAY!!! I'm gonna go vote for the colored fellar with my buddy Donald. He's going to come with me and vote for him too!

Me: That's great news!

I called back an hour later to make sure he made his way down, and his floor's nurse in charge confirmed that he and Donald were downstairs voting as we spoke. I think this may be my single-most heart-warming and charming story of the campaign.

Calling Margaret:

Me: Hello, this is jumco from the Indiana offices of Sen. Obama for President. Have you had a chance to vote for Sen. Obama yet?

Margaret (emphatically): I don't vote, I pray! It does a lot more good anyway!

Note that Margaret is a registered voter and cast a ballot in 2004.

More to come, but I wanted to get these in to get things started.