Canvassing for Obama with Cole and Pieter

On October 6, my twin brother Pieter, my friend Cole, and I volunteered with Barack Obama's reelection campaign. Like my previous experience in August, we went door-to-door in a neighborhood not far from Grimsley as part of a get-out-the-vote effort, making sure people were registered to vote and that the knew where their polling location was, etc. Over the course of the morning, we went to over fifty addresses. Most of the time, we encountered no one, which was a little discouraging as it felt as if we were not accomplishing anything. Some of the people we did meet were ambivalent at best or slightly hostile at worst. I suppose that's to be expected with the nature of our work; it may even be unethical, since we are in a sense invading people's privacy by coming to their houses and asking them how they will vote. At the same time, though, one has to consider the importance of voting and all that may be at stake.

Overall, though, the people we did meet were very friendly. It's always encouraging to meet people that are just as concerned about the direction of the country that you are, and these experiences are helping me become more comfortable with interacting with total strangers, a useful skill to have.

This sort of work is very important to me. Whoever is the leader of the country will impact the entire world, and I believe a Romney presidency will be bad for everyone. More importantly, an active electorate is the key to a vibrant democracy, which is why the ultimate goal of the canvassing efforts is to get people to vote, no matter who they choose.