Marla is a home health therapist in Florida -- when elderly patients come home from the hospital, she's there to help them get around the house, get dressed, navigate the shower, and balance their checkbook.
This part of Florida is like the deep South -- most of my patients think they should be Republicans. Hey, I thought I was a Republican.
That was before she really started looking into the issues. Once Marla found out about Barack's plan to initiate a new era of affordable healthcare that would put the interests of patients first, she started to lean towards Obama. When she learned that Barack has been against this war from the beginning, (and Marla has a cousin of her own who will be deployed to iraq this winter) she really started to take Obama seriously. Then, looking at Barack's plan to jumpstart the economy, and his plan to protect Social Security, and it all made a lot of sense to Marla. In fact the more she learned, the more impressed she became.
At the beginning, it was a question of getting informed. Now it's a question of making the effort to get that information out there.
And if those are the questions, Marla is making sure that she is part of the answer. Using the Neighbor to Neighbor tool, Marla has canvassed an impressive 250 neighbors in her tiny community, all by herself.
I remember what my questions were about Barack Obama, my reservations -- and so that's what I talk about when people open the door. One issue in particular that resonates with many of the older Florida folks is of course Social Security. I talk about it with my clients all the time. The problem is: people don't really know what privatizing Social Security means. First things first: John McCain wants to privatize Social Security, Barack Obama does not. McCain makes no bones about it. But people still don't really know what that entails. They look at stocks going up and down on Wall Street, and they think that's just about the fat cats who can afford to play the market. So I tell people -- you know how you keep waking up every day and the stock market keeps dropping 200, 500, 700 points? Privatizing Social Security means that your money, your Social Security gets put into the stock market -- and your money, your Social Security could drop 200, 500, 700 points. That's a good way to convert a Florida McCain supporter.
I remember what my questions were about Barack Obama, my reservations -- and so that's what I talk about when people open the door. One issue in particular that resonates with many of the older Florida folks is of course Social Security. I talk about it with my clients all the time. The problem is: people don't really know what privatizing Social Security means.
First things first: John McCain wants to privatize Social Security, Barack Obama does not. McCain makes no bones about it. But people still don't really know what that entails. They look at stocks going up and down on Wall Street, and they think that's just about the fat cats who can afford to play the market. So I tell people -- you know how you keep waking up every day and the stock market keeps dropping 200, 500, 700 points? Privatizing Social Security means that your money, your Social Security gets put into the stock market -- and your money, your Social Security could drop 200, 500, 700 points.
That's a good way to convert a Florida McCain supporter.
Marla is full of good ways to convert McCain supporters -- often pointing out that Barack Obama recently paid off his student loans. That he was raised by single mom and his grandparents, sometimes on food stamps. And that John McCain, on the other hand, has seven houses.
If you have too much money, you can't possibly begin to understand people like my mom who won't be able to pay her electric bill at the end of the month.
Which is why Marla's whole family, who she describes, "very, very Catholic," are all voting for Barack Obama.
Of course there are a lot of Catholics who vote Republican because of one or two issues. But we're talking about the future of this country -- and we have to look at the broader picture: healthcare, the economy, education, Social Security, the way we're respected around the world. Barack is the clear choice when it comes to any of these issues.
Please help Marla continue to keep up the good work educating residents in Florida -- a critical swing state -- one voter at a time. You can even call Florida residents right now, using this handy calling tool.
And wherever you are, check out Neighbor to Neighbor like Marla did -- which gives you the names and addresses of people right in your neighborhood -- and start talking to some people on your own block:
This election is too important to sit on the sidelines -- so get out there, and get started!
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