deployment day 4: rollercoaster ride

So my last day volunteering on the McCain/Palin campaign started off with...you guessed it. Phone calls. I made phone calls all day as that was still top priority. Unfortunately I probably had the least success that day with phone calls. I did have one really good call: "are you voting for McCain?" "you betcha! (with Palin accent)" In total for 4 days, I made over 1600 calls.

Emotions were high throughout the day. Their was a frantic air in the room as we feverishly stormed through pages and pages of voter sheets. The bank was really full all day, and I was always encouraged to see new faces who stopped by to make phone calls after they voted for McCain. After phoning for 8 hours, I switched it up to sign duty. I figured the phone calls weren't going to make much of a difference with only a couple hours left at the polls. Maybe by waving signs I could get someone to vote for McCain while they drove to the polls.

Check out this cute baby holding a McCain sign with the help of the mom:


Our little island:


I made another friend and I was digging her pom pom headband:


Once the polls closed, we headed inside to make more phone calls, this time to the Florida panhandle, since their polls were still open. I got a lot more response there for McCain, which was encouraging. And then the moment we had all been waiting for..."WE'RE DONE!!!!" No more phone calls. We thought we were going to make calls out to Colorado and Nevada, but they got assigned to other HQs. So that was it. Done. Finished. Cheers all over and then the pizza & beer all around. Haha. It was a great time of celebration in the collective effort we had put forth. I certainly felt accomplished!

And then...we watched the various news outlets as they started calling states for each candidate. We also had a fair share of "insider" types who knew the real numbers and would update us before the news did. We would cheer for McCain, we would shake our heads in disappointment, we would stare at the TV in shock, we would look to each other in comfort, we would speak out in strength that there was still hope...feeling all kinds of different emotions and always hoping for the best. It was great being in the company of all my fellow volunteers and sharing election night with them. Although I do have to say that I greatly missed Ryan & Raegan and wished I could be at the big party in ATL with them. Although the room cheered for Saxby, it just wasn't the same as being back in the Peach state with my favorite Republicans.

I can't remember what time it was, but once Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Iowa went for Obama, one of the insider guys closed his laptop and said "it's over." The room quieted down and people started to leave. I figured it was time to make my exit as well. I had brought clothes for the victory party over in St. Pete...but I just had no heart to go over there.

And so that was my last day on the McCain/Palin campaign. It was a wild ride.

deployment day 3: hope on the front lines

I just wanted to share a couple stories wtih you from the phone bank tonight.

First, I got this household:

Does that name look familiar? Haha. No relation, but I thought it was a funny coincidence. When I called, the person on the line was speaking all in Spanish, so I had to get someone who could communicate with them. Boy, am I sooo glad we called them back. The family is Cuban, and they said they are all voting John McCain because they've seen what socialism looks like and what it can do to a country. The woman talked for sooo long, she was so enthusiastic about McCain. And it reminded me of a lady I saw a the rally this AM who had a shirt that said "McCubans for McCain" and when she walked in, she said "I just pray to my Lord every day that he wins!!" There is SO much enthusiasm here for McCain, across all different demographics. It's so encouraging!

Then, I got to speak to a man about his support of McCain. He said "we always vote Republican, you can look me up, I donated $1000 this year." Haha. But then what really made me happy..."we have about 100 family and friends and we are ALL voting John McCain." YAY! Sure, we get our fair share of no answers, answering machines, hang-ups, etc...but when we get calls like this, the whole dynamic of our room changes and everyone can feel the change in the air.

Ok one last phone story...I talked to one woman and asked her about an additional voter in her household. She said unfortunately that her daughter was currently voting for Obama, but that she was fighting for her to vote McCain. I wished her luck and told her I knew she could win that fight! I love encouraging people and it was great to share the struggle with her and give her a little bright moment in her day. It's not just us volunteers. Everyone is and needs to be getting out the vote for McCain. It doesn't matter where you are, if you're voting for McCain, do whatever you can to get even more votes for him. Each one counts, and we need every one we can get!

And the whole time I was at HQ, people were outside waving signs. Cars were honking all day and there was tons of cheering going on. (although there were some meanies who flipped the bird or cussed out some of our volunteers - what is up with that?! I never see Republicans treating others so badly) It's like a big party, everyone is so pumped. I'm nervous about tomorrow, but I have a lot of hope that McCain is going to take this state! :)

deployment day 2: quick laugh

I forgot I took this picture...got a quick chuckle out of it.

In case you can't really read it, it says...
You are surveying the BUSH household

Question 1:
Can John McCain and Sarah Palin count on your support this November?

gallup!

So last night I got home from running and noticed I had missed a call from the 402 area code. I don't know anyone with a 402 area code...quick check revealed that it was Nebraska. Now I'm really stumped. I had a friend call them back from my phone (I'm chicken) and lo and behold...Gallup Poll!!! Aw man. I could have been a statistic!

And for all these silly liberals who think that only landlines are getting the poll call...think again. It happened to me. And I don't have a landline.