PITTSBURGH-- The man made a beeline toward us in the East Liberty neighborhood of Pittsburgh as we exited our car outside Barack Obama's campaign office.The man was wearing a heavy waterproof jacket with fleece lining, and sweat was pouring down his face. It was 80 degrees.
"Hi, I'm Bob," he said, matter-of-factly. "I'm an Obama volunteer... and I'm homeless."
Then he reached for our trunk to help us open it.
By some twist of irony, the car alarm to our rental PT Cruiser went off and no amount of button mashing could silence it (later we found out we'd hit the panic button, even more ironic). Bob stood on the side walk repeating, "You ladies are hopeless."
He might have been right.
Bob told me he was working office garbage duty that afternoon and pointed to the dumpsters in the alleyway.
"I can lift just about anything," he said.
Bob, who asked to have his last name withheld, said he became involved with the Obama campaign during a walk down Highland Mall Ave. last month when he noticed an Obama volunteer dragging cases of water down the street. Bob stopped her, lifted all of the cases at once and was instantly recruited. He's usually asked to make phone calls to residents or take out garbage, and in exchange the campaign staff provides him with food and water.
Bob led us to the office entrance and the three of us went inside.
Most of the volunteers were clustered in one room, reminding me of the Obama office in the Orangeburg region of Austin, Texas, which I saw during coverage of the state's primary last month. Orangeburg, like East Liberty, is a predominantly African-American neighborhood.
The first staffer who met with us quickly proved this office didn't have the chaotic, organic feel of Austin; it was regimented. Staffers loomed over us as we conducted interviews (which we heard was policy). I was told by campaign workers I could interview a volunteer. Then I was told I couldn't. Then told I could. Volunteer Janice Golding debriefed with a staffer afterward, revealing what she said to us.
It was an interesting opening interaction, since the Obama press manager who greeted us at the door had told us volunteers were encouraged to talk to the press.
Brian Schreiber, a first-time volunteer and there with his 12-year-old son Joshua, agreed to talk with me after I assured him I wouldn't get yelled at again by the staff.
He was making phone calls to fellow Pittsburgh residents, encouraging them to turn out for the primaries. He handed the cell phone to Joshua and said, "This is his first call."
To Joshua he said, "Now don't get frustrated, it'll take a while to get someone to pick up."
While splitting his focus between his son's call and my questions, Schreiber said he was there because of Obama's honesty, and believes he can best uphold the Constitution. He said Obama's comments about Pennsylvanians "bitter" nature hasn't dissuaded him.
"It's accurate," he said. "People are bitter."
Schreiber said he's disappointed in Hillary Clinton's criticisms of Obama. In a recent Pennsylvania television ad, Clinton supporters hammered Obama for his small town comments. Clyde Thomas said, "The good people of Pennsylvania deserve a lot better than what Barack Obama said."
"She was desperate to find anything against Obama," Schreiber said. "I think it's cheap, I think it's dishonest and it's a diversion."
While most of the Obama supporters we met with Friday used "honest" to describe Obama, "fighter" is the buzz word for Clinton, said Clinton press secretary Kristin Lee. And of course there's the standbys for the candidates: "change" and "experience."
The Clinton campaign's headquarters are one level above Baskets Galore and Pizza Fiesta in downtown Pittsburgh. After hitting the buzzer to Clinton's campaign office five or six times, we met with two volunteers, who couldn't or at least wouldn't give us their names.
Initially, I thought the hesitancy of both camps might have been due to recent slip-ups by the candidates. After Clinton's sniper fire story and Obama's bitter comment, if I was working in a campaign office, I wouldn't want to be responsible for accidentally fueling more media hysteria. But staffers assured me that's not the case. It's policy.
Clinton's Pitt Building office was spacious-- meeting rooms, offices, impressive archways-- but it was almost empty. Nine volunteers were manning the phones and I assumed most people were out canvassing.
Press Secretary Lee, really the only person willing and able to talk to us, said that although Obama is outspending Clinton 4 to 1 in advertising in Pennsylvania, Clinton is leading the polls. Lee attributes the lead to grass-roots support.
The term "grassroots" has more widely applied to Obama, with his well-reported community organization successes and internet campaigns. But Laura Flanders in her Truth Out editorial points out that Clinton hasn't left this label uncontested.
The presence of a nominee who was once himself a grassroots organizer and recognizes the value of such work, state by state, has had its own transformative effect. Altogether, grassroots organizers have made the candidacy of Obama, at one time a long-shot nominee, more than viable. And that's pushed Party veteran Clinton whose campaign-style is naturally more top-down and disciplined to invest her resources heavily in "field." Before this Tuesday, the candidates were both openly competing for the label "grassroots." "We've put together a grassroots campaign," Hillary Clinton told a rally the Friday before Super Tuesday. "We will call one million Californians this weekend." Obama's northern Californian spokesperson told reporters: "We are running the biggest field campaign in California since Robert Kennedy in '68."
Obama and Clinton are still vying for the Steelworkers endorsement in Pittsburgh and for the youth vote.
Lee said Obama doesn't have the monopoly on college support, even though she admits Obama support is significant. Students for Hillary groups and Facebook.com could be turning votes in her favor, but my fellow Seattlepoliticore reporter Laura and I wanted more substantial answers. We didn't find them in Clinton's office on Friday.
Maybe we'll find them at Penn State University, in the middle of the state, which is where we're headed today.