Matt's Excellent Keystone Adventure

Canvassing in Philadelphia, 11 October

So, Saturday morning I drove a canvassing team in Philadelphia, and we knocked on doors in one of the more hard-hit areas of town. From the conversations with residents there -- a mix of mostly Puerto Rican, but also some Dominican, African-American, and Anglo voters -- it seemed a lot of them were forced to move due to economic circumstances recently, some because of subprime foreclosures. Almost everybody had more than one job, if they had one at all.
(Picture to left, my canvassing partner, Sharon, and me.)

A few random observations:

• One mother with her 8 or 9- year old son on their steps called me over as I was gathering up the canvassing team to return. She asked me what Obama was going to do for the neighborhood. In the course of our conversation, her son asked me, "Why does Obama want me to go to school full year?" They were basically seeing very local issues, perhaps even conflating what a President could do with what a Mayor could. It was a very interesting conversation, and I talked a bit about what Obama did with his own community when he was a local organizer. The mother hadn't heard that bit about Obama's biography. I asked the little boy what he didn't like about full-year school (not what we'd call a national issue) and he said he didn't get to play as much. I said that when I was his age, I'd forget half the stuff I had learned over the summer, so I thought it was maybe a good idea to go to school full year. The mother said to him, "You see? That's just what I told you!" I don't know that the conversation will turn any votes, but I felt that the whole day was worth just this one moment.
  
• I ran into two Republicans, or rather, talked at length to one and to the neighbor of another. The first one was on my list with three other residents, who were all registered democrats, none of whom were home. I asked him if he was supporting Obama, and he pulled out a Hillary sign from the primaries and showed it to me: 'That's MY Candidate!' I went through the perhaps predictable conversation with him about if he liked Hillary, he should stand with Barack. He wouldn't get around to whatever issues he was most interested in, but was adamant that he was a proud ticket splitter. He wasn't at all positive about McCain; one senses there was a little family dynamic going on about him having his own drummer for the politics of the household. (I suggested he could become a Democrat, and then when he wanted to split a ticket he could just do it the opposite direction. Not sure if this is a good idea or not.) In the end, he said he'd look into this "rumor" (as he called it) that Hillary had endorsed Obama. I'm not sure if this is a lesson that Clinton should've been more aggressive about her endorsement earlier and more often, or whether the battles of the primary are very difficult to unwind.
  
  The other Republican in evidence was a McCain-Palin sign in the window of a house with several Puerto Rican flags and an "Estamos Unidos - McCain" sign as well. The politics of the island are a little complex, the local parties down there don't have direct correspondences to Republican and Democratic parties, although my recollection is that PR used to trend more Republican a generation ago. In any event, the family's neighbor, who was a Democrat and on my list, told me this particular voter in the house with the McCain sign was a very observant Catholic and couldn't vote for Obama because of the abortion issue. They had argued about that before, he was in agreement with Obama about almost everything else, but the issue trumped all for him.
  
  In any event, don't judge a neighborhood homogenously - as there are blue voters in the reddest of areas, so are there red voters in the bluest.
  
• Always carry extra campaign literature. We ran into one lady who was GREAT, she works for WIC and was a very enthusiastic supporter, but had difficulty getting literature from the Obama campaign. Our flyer focussed on contrasting the two candidates' health care plans, and she was really happy to get a stack to give to her friends and colleagues. Obviously it's a big and related issue when you're in the nutrition sector. Another example of how a hot day of canvassing can swing some unexpected rewards.

The "Can't Vote if You Were Foreclosed" Lie Hits Philly

I talked to a couple of canvassers today who had heard from multiple friends in Manayunk that "people" are going

door to door there saying if you vote and you're being foreclosed or you have been foreclosed, you are committing a crime. This is all third or fourth hand, but the story is indeed making the rounds of the African American community here...and people are pissed. I'll try to see what I can find in the way of more direct verification of this story, but it wouldn't be surprising to find that this tactic has made its way to Penn's Woods.

 

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

I drove basically from river to river today across the northern part of Philly to get from where I'm staying to one of the offices where I'm working, and I did a sign count (I'll put up a gallery of pictures later on the Campaign Photo album), and also did another sign count in Tulpehocken-Germantown when I went out for a walk later. No shockers about who's going to win based on the signs: Obama outpolled the second-place finisher by about 40-1. However, the second place finisher was none other than Bob Barr. (I was particularly struck by the Barr household in a very, very large house that was stuck between a halfway house facility and an assisted care facility. The making of a libertarian).

A couple of odd things about Philly that have changed since I lived here. First, there's a lot more Latinos in town, particularly non-Puerto Ricans. I saw pick-up soccer games and signs for "Envios a Mexico" in the corner stores, just like Sunday back at home in California.

The neighborhoods definitely look better than they did in the 1980s, which is not to say the Philadelphia doesn't have its problems. The foreclosure crisis seems evident by the number of signs indicating (1) for sale, (2) mortgage refinancing seminars, (3) quick cash for homes. I wonder if the impending economic crisis, uncontrolled, might mean a return to worser days for working Philadelphia. I already knew how important this election is but it does add a sense of urgency about the final month. The stakes are pretty high here.

Another odd thing: it's October and it doesn't feel like fall. The weather's actually warmer than it was in California (admittedly I live in a colder part thereof). There is only the barest tinge of color in the trees. It was shirtsleeves and shorts weather today, downright hot at one point. Global warming? I remember reading someplace (Jared Diamond?) that environmental changes are often more noticed by those who have lived in a place and reutrn after a long absence, since they don't get that effect of not seeing very gradual change. (I'm sure I'm wishing a cold sleet storm on myself soon enough.)

It's the final full day of registration here, and there were some funny (encouraginly so) things: in a few spots, competing registrars from the Obama campaign and various grassroots organizations. The folks who have been doing the hard work of registration here are probably glad to be at the end of that part of the push (the registration deadline is tomorrow in PA) but have that aura of having done good work -- that good-end-of-the-day-tired.

There's a tiny bit of buzz that Republican officials are going to try to enforce an interpretation of the no-electioneering at polling place laws to prevent people from wearing t-shirts supporting particular candidates from entering polling places. Taking off a button is one thing, but taking off a t-shirt is a problem if you're not wearing anything else. I'm a little familiar with this from having been a polling place inspector, but we were always instructed by the county that t-shirts and buttons were totally OK. The law was intended to prevent active electioneering, buttonholing voters in line, that sort of thing. It's obviously a blatant attempt at voter suppression. A voter who has to literally go home and change his or her clothes -- who is proudly wearing her or his colors, as it were -- is one that has to make an extra effort to vote. And it's obvious (to me at least) that selective enforcement here can be targeted against particular (Obama) voters. The effort was reported a few weeks ago in the Philadelphia Inquirer, but we now here there are emails circulating around warning people not to wear their gear into the polling place. I'm not sure if this is well-intentioned to try to prevent people from being surprised on election day, or just more subtle voter suppression by worrying people about being hassled. In any event, all the more reason to maximize registration and turnout. Double digit leads in the polls might have a way of evaporating if voters are systematically turned away for whatever reason. God help us all if that happens...

McCain, Feh!

Gotta love this one: go visit your grandparents -- they always complain you don't visit enough, anyway, right? -- and give them some education about Obama.  Take the Great Schlep.

Take special notes of the "Talking Points" tab.