It's All Relative

Barack and Roll

Last weekend was one to remember, that's for sure.

For the past month or so, I've been volunteering for the Obama campaign here in Nevada. This mostly entailed spending a couple hours a week making phones calls and getting people to commit to caucusing on the 19th for Obama. 36 hours before the caucuses, I was asked to step in as a precinct captain. This really wasn't a big deal, except for the fact that I had no idea what a precinct captain actually did. But I went to the pre-caucus meeting, listened in on the conference call with Obama Nevada campaign advisers, loaded up my car with various caucus gear and went for it. I was a little disappointed that I wasn't able to really execute any significant attempt to recruit caucus goers, but I did my best.

Friday night was spent at the Obama rally which was amazing, especially when I stood front and center and got to shake the senator's hand. He made his way around the front of the barrier and when he got to me, looked me straight in the eyes and said "thank you" I couldn't think of anything clever or intelligent to say, so I just said "No, thank you." He lingered in front of me for a few minutes while a fellow supporter showed him a photoshopped picture of him and his wife Michelle on the back of this Harley, with the tagline "Easy Rider" splashed across it. He laughed and showed it to his surrounding staff and secret service. One of the things I am most impressed with Obama is his realness. He's no doubt a gifted politician, but he's also refreshingly genuine. Every hand, including mine, that darts in front of him is met with eye contact, like he follows the hand, to the arm, to the person it's attached and thanks them. He's a rail though, that's for sure. Real skinny, and not as tall as I originally thought. He probably stands no taller than 6 ft. But he is definitely a good looking guy. Flawless skin. Anyway, I was so excited I was able to get all up in his face. It was a great event and made me so much more determined to win.

Well, Saturday started at 5 AM for me, with a campaign meeting at 6 and some last minute canvasing from 7-10. I ran my little heart out around Rhodes Ranch, dropping fliers off at every registered democrat and pledged caucus goers home before I had to run over to my caucus location and set up. My precinct was one of the largest in Las Vegas, so we were expecting a couple hundred people. I was in charge of registering new voters, which there were a lot of. I did periodic scans of the crowd to see how we were holding up, and it looked 50/50 from the second the doors opened. A few minutes before noon, I walked around the Obama section and rallied the troops, trying to get them stoked for the count. Now, I was no cheerleader in high school, but I'm not going to lie, we had a R-O-W-D-I-E group of supporters and it was so fun to get everyone so fired up and ready to go. After the doors closed at noon, the Caucus chair (an Obama supporter) read a statement from Sen. Harry Reid and then we started the 1st alignment. The count was Hillary: 84 and Barack: 83. Edwards:4 and 6 Uncommitted. The Hillary people claimed we miscounted so we did another count, which ended up being 82, so of course they were all "Oh never mind, we'll take the first number." Edwards was deemed unviable so those supporters had to realign with a different campaign, or be uncommitted. And this is when it got real fun. Supporters from both sides swept in and tried to convince the Edwards and Uncommitteds to switch teams, if you will. It was intense. I loved it. In the end, 1 went to Hillary, the other went to Obama and two people were all "Screw this, we're out" and literally walked out the door. Their beef was they didn't want to go to either candidates side or be uncommitted. "We ARE committed. TO EDWARDS." Was their excuse. Whatever, I eventually got so fed up and pointed to the door. I had no time for that. The uncommitted were easier to convince. I got the feeling that the uncommitted folks were more hungry for attention then they were undecided, but whatever. We got 3 and Hillary got 1. In the end, Obama won our precinct by 3 votes.

In the end, he lost Nevada.

Thus is the disappointment that is being emotionally invested something. From the highest high, to the lowest low...

But even though we lost the state, I was so glad I got involved. Not only did I have a blast, I met some pretty great people, neighbors who I'd never met, but who I can call friends now. Getting so into the caucus also made me realize that I could do this, I mean like really do this. Campaigning is exactly like sports. It's a team, it's working hard, it's getting up in the other guys face, it's the competitiveness that I love. Even though it was stressful, it was the good kind of stress, the kind that drains you, but motivates you to keep at it. I love that feeling. And even though the loss was depressing, it's nice to be so invested in something that is not about me or my own agenda. I loved it.

Here are some photos from the rally:

Fired Up...

Dude can work a crowd..

Saying hello....

Ok, right before he shook my hand...

....and right after.