Day 1

Well, I decided to cut my trip a little short; I came home today instead of wednesday. Kind of hard to explain why, but suffice it to say I felt in a good place and decided I'd met my goals. I did some volunteering, I visited some good friends, and had some good food.

My arrival at the campaign headquarters in MN was a bit hectic. I had packed up all my things and excitedly jumped in my car only to discover it wouldn't start! I ended up having to wait 5 hours for a jump (I decided to wait, rather than pay for a tow) and then finally got on the road about 2 pm. The drive over was fine; having the mp3 player really makes mid-central WI go much faster. I got to campaign headquarters about 7 pm. I had previously called the contact I had in an email to let them know I would either be arriving late that evening or tomorrow as the organizers had asked, but once I arrived I realized that absolutely no one had any idea who I was or noticed that I had been late. (Actually, the contact name I had was one of the up and ups who had 1000 things more important to do than take a call from some lowly volunteer, so why I was given that phone number is beyond me.)

The room was just like you'd imagine it; people all over with cell phones and laptops making calls wherever they could find an outlet and a chair. The crowded room was friendly, with many people asking if I needed help getting set up, but having trouble actually doing that. One guy would ask me my name, check a list, and then run off looking for someone and inevitably get way-laid in the meantime. Another guy would do the same, run off, and then the first guy would come back saying the second guy was helping me, he'd be right back, and then a third guy would repeat from the top.

Eventually someone took pity on me and brought me to another room to wait; it had been discovered (they thought) that my field organizer was at another location and would be back shortly. I asked if they had any menial tasks for me to do(sic) and they laughed and someone set me to counting donations. One guy yelled "Where the hell is Johnny?!" (apparently my organizer) and emphatically starting dialing his cell to call him. No ans.

Just a small pile of envelopes yielded several thousand dollars in cash, checks, credit cards. The smallest was $3.00 cash and the largest a $2000.00 credit card receipt. One man had tucked in a page long note explaining that he was a 3rd generation republican (75-years old) and that he was voting for a democrat for the first time in his life. Once I finished this the same gal who set me up showed me a little about how they map walklists (specifically defined areas targeting supporters to be contacted). There was food everywhere. Half eaten, of course, and looking a bit suspect, but I'm sure it was good at the time.

I got up and asked again if someone had something for me to do; the people (mostly mid-level organizers at this point, who were not really responsible for dealing with me) apologized and said they did not. Again I hear "Where the hell is Johnny?!" and cell phones whip out. At this point it's amusing me because the gentleman trying to help me is pretty good natured but clearly annoyed that he has a volunteer with nothing to do.

No one has anything for me to do yet. I consider cleaning the room up a bit, but decide against it and sit down. A few minutes later someone grabs me and says "I'm stealing you until Johnny gets back". He sets me up at a desk made from an overturned card-board box with a big "O" painted on side and had me call people to remind them to caucus. I do this, awkwardly, for an hour before they stop all voter contact at 9pm. I mutter a silent prayer of thanks that I don't have to make anymore phone calls. There's a script that I did my best follow but inevitably I ended up getting flustered and skipping sections. Not a big deal, I figure the calls I botched I made up for by the calls I got people to commit. Maybe. My favorites were the ones were I got to just leave a message. As for actual cals, one gentleman freaked me out by telling me I had called "Obama headquarters" and I apologize, embarrassed, I must have gotten the numbers mixed up, before he laughs and says no, no, I'm his biggest supporter. Ahh. I see. He flirts a bit (I can hear his wife teasing him in the backround) before hanging up. An old lady tells me she's not voting for him and I give her her caucus station anyway without thinking (oops). A young woman (probably 19) tells me she's coming and bringing her republican mom too. A guy complains that we've called him four times already and would we please stop it. I apologize, I'd be irritated too. I get told I have a wrong number by someone most likely who's name I'm mispronouncing. I figure that's fair, but I still feel awkward. Disconnected. Disconnected. Leave a message. 9 pm, done.

My leader, the mysterious Johnny finally shows up and introduces himself. A very nice guy, very laid back. He had actually been doing something legitimate (I don't remember what) and since I arrived so late in the day it's not like anyone could blame him. He gives me a rundown on the game plan (talk to people we think will vote for Obama and get them to the caucus). He also sits, with another volunteer recently arrived, very close to me on the couch. (Not inappropriatley, just in that, 'We're all family here kind of way". We're all kind of packed on the couch, behind the box-desk like sardines. After a bit of chatting, Hillary bashing (which I didn't agree with, but I'm not about to call out the staff!) Johnny takes us into the hall for a speaker phone conference that the leaders are all clearly annoyed with. People are clearly stressed; it's the end of the day and apparently been a long one.

I decide to head over to Kari's dorm and we buy food, watch a fairly silly movie and eat popcorn. At this point it was about 10pm and I hadn't had any dinner (the half-eaten food just hadn't been appealing) so the lean cuisine we get is quite tasy. We talk about Kari's many suitors. All in all a good time. Time to sleep! More tomorrow.