Just an hour after Barack Obama finished making his Closing Argument to a crowd of nearly 5,000 people at the Canton Civic Center, the local Campaign for Change office a mile away was buzzing with volunteers. Many had heeded Barack Obama's advice when he spoke about the work to be done with one week left:
Don’t believe for a second this election is over. Don’t think for a minute that power concedes. We have to work like our future depends on it in this last week, because it does.
Jeff, an active volunteer wearing a red shirt with YES WE CAN written in big gold letters, talked about what this election means here in Canton.
This area's like Youngstown and a lot of places around here. You could say we're economically depressed... so people here are looking for change.
Jeff has been an active volunteer in Democratic campaigns since Bill Clinton first ran for President.
I volunteered for Clinton and Kerry. (Gore didn't have an office in Stark County.) I haven't seen this kind of excitement about an election since 1992.
Morgan, a local field organizer, had the honor of firing up the crowd today (along with a field organizer named Chris, out of Alliance). Unaccustomed to speaking in front of such a large crowd, she was a little nervous at the beginning.
I've never spoken in front of that many people, and I looked at that big empty room and it was enormous. But then some of my volunteers started to show up. And I saw some of my NTLs. And then local union members and organizers kept filling in and I got less and less nervous. I looked around the room and thought, 'I know most of these people... I've seen them volunteering in our offices, or canvassing.' And then I realized it was just like a really big house meeting. These people were already excited about Barack Obama, and I just needed to ask them to get more involved. And then it was fun.
Morgan has been working here since early August, and been inspired repeatedly seeing volunteers working alongside members of the Canton community who they might not otherwise ever have met.
I was canvassing and I met a young man named Kenny, who lives in Highland Park (a low income housing project), and tried to get him to register to vote. He was extremely resistant because he has been disenfranchised for so long. I talked to him for a half hour before he finally agreed to register just to get me to leave him alone. As he signed up, he said 'you just want to get your fifteen dollars.' And I said 'No, I don't get paid... I'm here because of you. I'm here because of Barack Obama.' I didn't expect to hear from Kenny, but then we had an early vote event and he was the very first person there! And after he voted, he went with us to round up his friends and he made them go vote, too. He's come into the office to canvass several times. He realizes he's being empowered and he's answered the call.
Barack Obama summed up the feeling here in the Canton office very well, as he closed his speech:
That’s what’s at stake. That’s what we’re fighting for. And if in this last week, you will knock on some doors for me, and make some calls for me, and talk to your neighbors, and convince your friends; if you will stand with me, and fight with me, and give me your vote, then I promise you this – we will not just win Ohio, we will not just win this election, but together, we will change this country and we will change the world. Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless America. Now let's get to work.
Let's all get to work. There is one week left.
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