Why McCain and Obama Volunteers Volunteer (SLIDESHOW)

Last Thursday I left Michigan for a two-day dip into the Midwest battleground states of Ohio and Indiana. I wanted to speak with and photograph volunteers for both sides of the election. Through McCain's website and Obama's website, I found cities that had offices for both campaigns and then plotted my route. I approached everyone the same way. I explained that I was a freelance photographer and asked permission to speak with and photograph one of their unpaid volunteers. I did not choose the volunteers, they were either chosen by a staff person or volunteered themselves. Everyone was asked the same question: What is it about this
election year that inspires you to volunteer? Here is what they said.

Ohio/Indiana Volunteers

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Thurday October 23, 10:30 am - Obama, Campaign for Change regional office, Toledo, Ohio Jasmine Arnold- "I am a student, I'm done in December, a social work student, so I am all about encouraging other, doing for others, trying to make a difference, trying to better the community and the people around me and I just feel that Barack Obama is a person that just really has that in him. It's a sense that you get from him. "The first time I did see him, the only time, he didn't really have to say much, it was just there. And from then on it was just like, OK, I just really want to be on board. I really want to be in the process. I want to be able to tell my kids and my grandkids and my great-grandkids, hopefully, that I was a part of it."

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Thurday October 23, 10:30 am - Obama, Campaign for Change regional office, Toledo, Ohio Jasmine Arnold- "I am a student, I'm done in December, a social work student, so I am all about encouraging other, doing for others, trying to make a difference, trying to better the community and the people around me and I just feel that Barack Obama is a person that just really has that in him. It's a sense that you get from him. "The first time I did see him, the only time, he didn't really have to say much, it was just there. And from then on it was just like, OK, I just really want to be on board. I really want to be in the process. I want to be able to tell my kids and my grandkids and my great-grandkids, hopefully, that I was a part of it."

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10:30 am - McCain Champaign, Victory Center, Toledo, Ohio Jeannelle Hart- "I volunteered for past elections...I just get caught up in the excitement of it. I just...when I vote, I get tears in my eyes because I am so serious about it and I just feel that it is such the American way, and the American privilege that we have in this country and I wish more people would take it as seriously as I do. I was raised that way, to take voting very seriously and to vote on Election Day. You find a way, you fit it into your schedule and there is no excuses."

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12:30 pm - Obama, Campaign for Change regional office, Lima, Ohio Craig Hughes- "I don't feel that my vote, especially in Ohio has counted in the last two elections. I think George Bush stole the election in 2000 and I think in 2004 something underhanded was played in Cleveland and we lost votes. So, I don't feel my vote has counted. That was one reason. Two, when Barack came into this...I feel like I've always been too poor to vote Republican and too rich to vote Democrat but Barack was one that I felt represented the middle-class." "I felt that he represented me more than anyone ever has in the Republican Party, or for that matter, a lot of people in the Democrat Party. Plus when you see, especially here where we are, in downtown Lima, you see people, you see the good and the bad in all the population of Lima and you're seeing a lot of hope in people who have never had hope before. You're seeing, I think, more rallying of people both young and the older people, than you've ever seen before."

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1:30 pm - McCain Champaign, Victory Center, Lima, Ohio Barbara Epple - "To start off with, my husband is over in Iraq. We are part of the military and we feel that it's very important, you know, to have a president who is gonna support the military and be a part of the military, a great Commander-in-Chief. I think McCain has those qualities...You know, I got involved because of my husband's position, he's fighting over there, you know, I'm kind of doing my part here to help out. We have never been involved before in the political campaign and I saw this election and it was different and so I thought I needed to be involved. You know, adding Sarah Palin to that just enhanced it, you know, made it, you know, I am so excited to have a woman running on the Republican ticket."

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4:00 pm - McCain Champaign, Victory Center, Dayton, Ohio Jan Kelly- "The same thing that motivates me every election year, to get Republicans elected to office."

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4:20 - Obama, Campaign for Change regional office, Dayton, Ohio Ruth Rowley- "Oh, well two things really, getting rid of the current administration in Washington and the basic character and inspiration of Obama."

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5:30 pm - McCain Champaign, Victory Center, Cincinnati, Ohio Rob Lutz - "My motivation lies within the standards and values of the conservative movement of the Republican Party. I believe from A-to-Z whether it be economic policy, foreign policy, social issues, I am on the side of conservative values, traditional American values and I think this election, more than any other, is paramount to these goals. Because, number one, the economic situation we are facing right now. Number two, the treat we face from abroad with the war on terror and whatnot and I think both parties are radically different from each other on how they want to approach that. I think we should take the fight to them as we have under George Bush. And lastly, the social issues. I think the next president will appoint several Supreme Court Justices and I certainly want to hope that John McCain is the one doing that and not Barack Obama."

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6:00 - Obama, Campaign for Change regional office, Cincinnati, Ohio Clair Fischer- "I think, like most people, that the last eight years have been extremely frustrating. I have a background in international security. I have a Master's degree from Georgetown in international security so I've spent the last four years studying the Iraq war and Afghanistan and terrorism, and just being extremely frustrated with the way this administration has handled it. I kind of came to a point, maybe like in September, where I realized it's better to stop bitching and start doing. My parents live three blocks that way and I knew that Ohio was a big battleground state, so I just decided to kind of drop everything and come back. So I've been here since October first, full-time volunteer and feeling really great about what we're doing. It's actually one of the best decisions I've ever made."

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Friday October 24, 10:00 am - Obama, Campaign for Change regional office, Bloomington Indiana Suzanne Larson- "I have not volunteered before this year. There are two parts. One is Senator Obama. I was very enthusiastic about him during the primary. The other is the nature of the Republican candidate. I have thought that John McCain was a Republican I could have considered voting for but the way this campaign has turned...it's not the same John McCain. There is an element of lying and quite frankly racism from Senator McCain, which is so scary. And of course, his choice of Sarah Palin says something about his irresponsibility, impulsive personality and she terrifies me."

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10:40 am - McCain campaign, Republican headquarters, Bloomington Indiana Joe Grott- "I have been a Republican since I was 16, that's more years than you've been on this earth. I believe in the Republican principles. I lived up north and saw what the Democrats did to Michigan City. It was an industrial community. They taxed the businesses out and now it's nothing but a bedroom community for Chicago and for gambling. Two years ago when the Democrats got into Congress, got control of Congress, I lost my job. A year after that, I lost my house. I wound up down here. I saw what the Democrats are doing in Monroe County especially Bloomington, the same thing they did to Michigan City, they are taxing the business out. And to be totally honest, I am fearless but Obama, (leans into the microphone and says loudly) Obama Bin Laden, scares me to pieces. Do your research on that man, he is not what he claims to be. He still has not been able to provide a legitimate copy of his birth certificate."

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12:45 pm - McCain campaign, Republican headquarters, Indianapolis Indiana David J. Newhouse- "The main number one thing for me is the strides that have been made. The Supreme Court Justices that have been appointed are pro-life and I feel like that Roe vs. Wade is close to being overturned and I don't want that progress to be negated back another four years."

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1:30 pm - Obama, Campaign for Change regional office, Indianapolis Indiana Roger Roe- "The candidate is the main inspiration. I just feel like when I heard Obama speak during the primary season I felt that he was a leader and a person I really, really could believe in. I've never done anything like this before..I thought, well, it will just be the same old thing where I'm in a traditionally dark red state and our primary is really, really late so there is nothing I can do. I'll probably travel to Ohio or Michigan and try and do a little bit if I can. But the primaries counted and the Indiana primary really looked like it was going to be a big deal. I got even more impressed and more excited and then I started volunteering. I experienced neighborhoods and parts of my community that I had never been to and that opened my mind and eyes to a lot and I thought this is a great thing and I need to keep doing it. It's so exciting to me to be in a place that hasn't mattered or hasn't counted in the past."

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4:00 pm - Obama, Campaign for Change regional office, Fort Wayne Indiana Aurthur Finco- "I can tell you I'm 76 years old. I have never volunteered but I think our country is in such dire straights that the change that Senator Obama promotes is absolutely necessary so I am willing to give a few hours of my time to the cause, if you will."

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5:00 pm - McCain campaign, Republican headquarters, Fort Wayne, Indiana Sheldon E. Landgrave- "For me it's the difference between capitalism and socialism. I can see which party wants to keep our Constitution intact and which one does not. I think it is a complete abomination of our Constitution to give my vote the wrong way. I do believe in helping people in need, I do not believe in sharing my wealth because, again, my Constitution says that the land of opportunity and because it gives me the drive to succeed and if I have that drive to succeed I don't think my success should help people who are unwilling or unable to have that same drive. On the other hand I believe, such as the blind and the handicap and everything, that they are in great need. I will help them out tremendously. It's just the people that do not want to have the drive to succeed. That's my whole thing, socialism and capitalism."

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On my way back to Michigan Friday night I listened my recorder, to all the answers from the fourteen volunteers I had spoken with.  I reviewed the countless untaped conversations and thought about all that I had seen and photographed. I felt differently about this election compared to way I felt when leaving for the trip only a day before. You see, what I didn't tell these folks when I approached them was that I, too, am a volunteer, a very active volunteer with the Michigan Campaign for Change office in Ann Arbor. I work with a very organized, thoughtful, committed and enthusiastic group of people. They have impressed me but because it's Ann Arbor (a very liberal community), it made me wonder if I was just part of a rare group or if this was everywhere. That is why I made this trip and what I discovered was that my group, although special to me, was not unique.

So, in keeping with my theme of asking volunteers, "What is it about this election year that inspires you to volunteer?" I will answer it as well:

I started volunteering because of Barack Obama's policies. But on the morning after my trip, when I set out to canvass neighborhoods, it was because of the promise that Obama represents to the countless Americans who for the first time in their lives feel like they have a voice. He has engaged and inspired so many people to be a part of this process and that alone will make this country better.

A president hasn't been chosen yet but things are already different and, I
think it's fair to say, will never be the same.

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