Campaign Journal: Turning Indiana Blue

Nancy Bruski is an OffTheBus Grassroots Correspondent and journals about her volunteer experiences for the publication.

Until this past weekend, although I had canvassed in Hammond, Portage, and East Chicago, Indiana, I did not really believe Indiana would turn blue. However, this past weekend's adventure in Indianapolis has given me high hopes, even confidence that the blue wave really is overtaking the country...even in bright red Indiana.

We had a chilly day on Saturday, and a gorgeous, breezy fall day on Sunday, knocked on two hundred and twenty one doors, and found lots of Obama voters, not to mention the tons of Obama yardsigns we saw throughout the various neighborhoods we drove through.

The Obama office was humming with volunteers, people picking up canvassing packets, people putting together packets/campaign materials, walking in and out, eager to work and believing in the cause.

Every time I canvass, wonderful things happen...this weekend there was the developmentally disabled middle aged man in the apartment complex who sadly explained to me that he couldn't vote this time because he forgot to register, but asked me for an Obama button...I gave him one and he marched back into his apt, where the social worker was helping him and his roomates bring in their groceries, and announced, "The lady gave me an Obama button!" He was thrilled.

There was the young couple who had recently moved into their apartment, not the outdated names on my list, but eager to volunteer with the getoutthevote effort in Indianapolis and willing to vote early, a major goal of this past weekend's canvassing.

There was the African American man who preferred to vote on election day, who agreed to vote early after my explanation of why the campaign was so eager to have their supporters do so (potential long lines on election day, voting machine problems, voter registration/i.d. problems, etc etc), and when I threw in a Moveon Obama/Biden bumper sticker to seal the deal.

There was the middle aged woman who was going to take her elderly mom to early vote during the week, taking along a folding chair and a book in case the lines were long. (This past weekend, some lines were over two hours long, I was told)

And just as we were preparing to return to Chicago, after stopping at famous Shapiro's deli in Indianapolis for matzo ball soup and a corned beef sandwich, we struck up a conversation with a couple wearing lots of Obama paraphernalia. It turned out that the husband was the president of the AFL-CIO in Indiana, and he announced that he has been traveling throughout the state and is confident that it will turn blue on the 4th. This was just the assurance we needed as we headed for the car!

Comments

[SusaninIN]

I'm from southern Indiana and I'm always happy and usually surprised to find fellow Obama supporters in the area. I have gotten the impression that some are cautious about voicing their support. Possibly the reverse Bradley affect? This is a very conservative area, but Obama does have support here which has given me hope that Indiana may vote well turn blue.

[IndyReader]

I understand that I live in a pretty blue city in west-central Indiana, but I'm glad big swaths of the state are catching up, too.