I spent the weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia with the intent of helping the Obama campaign and hopefully registering people to vote. I would not consider myself to be naive in my knowledge of popular opinion in the greater United States, but I must admit that I was rather shocked at the response we Obamians received at the hands of McCain-Palin supporters.
This political game is far from over but in its last few minutes. I must apologize for my sports metaphor. Perhaps it's inspired by the University of Virginia's MASSIVE football game which happened on Saturday in which people gathered in the parking lot, tailgating and conversing about various pressing issues.
In wandering around passing out Obama stickers and asking people if they were registered to vote, we were greeted with both praise for helping the cause as well as with vomit sounds, shouting and, my personal favorite, "Palin Power!!".
It would be ignorant to believe that people would say anything but "politics?? on game night??" (which they did), but I suppose I was under the impression that politics was something to be debated and considered from different angles, only to find people supporting ideas which they backed with little to no information. None of these supporters could say why they supported any of the candidates. None of them had any passion beyond superficiality. But it was alright, because the next day we would be going to the streets and hitting neighborhoods with people who would inevitably join our cause.
Of course the feedback was mixed. But I came to the realization that there is a more important issue at hand. People are, of course, losing homes (though not just because of our economic crisis, we must remember that these losses were occurring prior in certain middle to low income brackets) and fighting wars on the street which are incomparable to the current political game being played. Politicians are still not talking to these people. No one is addressing the conflicts that so many Americans face on a daily basis, whether is be violence, crime, drugs, poverty, homelessness, etc. How can these people be active in an election that speaks a different language? This is not to say that people are unable to be interested, but it is more so a commentary and question about how they are expected to feel a part of a greater goal that does not pertain to majority of their lives.
All in all, my friend and I were successful in registering people to vote. We also left with an enriching and exciting experience.
I would call it a success on many levels.
Next stop: Pennsylvania on the weekend before the election.
Hang on to your hats, folks.
