Report from the Kerryvan to Reno - 7/31

by Matthew Gabriele in Current Affairs, Events Gone By, Reports, Swing, Visibility, Voter Registration and GOTV.

58 volunteers, from Santa Cruz to San Jose to San Francisco to Sacramento, crossed the mountains to join the Nevada Democratic Party's efforts to deliver Nevada for Kerry-Edwards and to re-elect Sen. Harry Reid. Our results were nothing short of amazing.

On Saturday, we knocked on over 2300 doors and surveyed over 350 people. Despite temperatures reaching the 90s, some of our volunteers were unsatisfied with only a half day in the field. They returned to the office at 2, grabbed something to eat, and went back out, determined to finish their entire precincts. One devoted pair of volunteers worked all the way until 7 pm to finally meet us at the social event in Reno, campaign materials still in hand. I don't have numbers back from Carson City yet, but anecdotally I know that we found quite a few people who wanted to register, who perhaps never would have if we hadn't been there.

Just a sampling of the stories our volunteers had to share:

"My best experience was meeting a 40-ish woman who asked us inside because she was too ill to come to the door. She was being denied the medical care she needed. She was registered but undecided. We listened to her story and told her about Kerry's commitment to healthcare for all while her teenage daughter listened on. They were clearly moved ... and perhaps hopeful for the future. I think she made up her mind to vote for Kerry during our visit, and I believe her life will be changed for the better when President Kerry takes office."

"We went to the door of a man . . . with a severe eye problem, when we began asking about voting he started jumping up and down in support of Kerry; All of a sudden this sick and down person became alive and excited! He then brought us in to meet his finacee (who was on our list) she was equally thrilled to meet us. .... Great experience. Everyone in our country should do it once!!!"

"Young lady in Carson City who got so excited that we had come to offer registration that she advised the caller on her cell phone that she would have to call him/her back as she has more important things to deal with"

"One of the first houses I called on, the woman asked if she could canvass with me."

"the soon-to-be 18 yr old blond curly headed young woman who, when she came to the door of her trailer and spotted my Kerry button said "yes, I want to vote for him" "Mama come here - you'll vote too". Mama says "I never voted before" "That's ok, can I have a brochure?""

"The WW2 vet who told me 'you just can't imagine how I feel right now, what Bush is doing in Iraq. I'm definitely voting for Kerry, thank you for doing this."

"The many people who were super gung-ho on Kerry and so happy to tell you about it! Also, just meeting the other volunteers- really fun."

"we were looking for a woman in a large house subdivided into apartments. Her landlady . . . told us the woman had moved out some time ago. Then, as we were leaving, she saw our shirts and buttons and asked us if we were from the Kerry campaign. She said she really wanted to get rid of Bush but didn't know
much about Kerry, and invited us in. After a few minutes of talking, she gave us her card and said if the local Democrats gave her some lawn signs, she would put them up on her properties, of which there were at least 10 in the area. Then her daughter, who was also in the apartment, said she also wanted to get
rid of Bush but was not registered to vote, so we gave her a form and she registered as a Democrat. (She wasn't sure what party to register for, but her mother said, "Bush is a Republican, dear" and she said, "then I'm a Democrat!")"

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