Get Out the Vote -- Part 3

Yesterday was week 3 of canvassing. This was the first time that Obama supporters clearly outnumbered McCain supporters. Was it the neighborhood? The result of this week’s debate?

We had a mix of town houses and garden apartments. Once again most of the people who answered the door were not white. They were Hispanic, African American, or from some other foreign country.

There were still a lot of no-answers. But of those who did open the door, the ratio was 6 to 1 for Obama. They actually said things like, “This election is so important for the future of our country.”

A teenage girl asked if there was something she could do as a volunteer. Another person completed a voter registration form just in the nick of time. Yet another took an application for an absentee ballot to send to his daughter in California.

One man said somewhat apologetically that he was voting for McCain because he was a veteran, as though there were no veterans voting for Obama.

But lest we become complacent, this is Northern Virginia, not typical of the rest of the state. And even though our numbers looked good today, the Post still reports Virginia as a toss-up.

So we will continue to go out and knock on doors up until the election.

Meanwhile as the Republicans ramp up their smear campaign, I hope the rest of the country will be smart enough to recognize it for what it is and demand that they address important issues like the economy instead of dipping into their bag of dirty tricks.