I'm a fourth grader at Cool Spring Elementary School. My teacher is Mrs. Kusterer, and I've been a political junkie for all my life.
9-year-old Sophia is not just an armchair analyst. She and her dad, Miles, have knocked on over 1,500 doors campaigning for Barack Obama in the critical swing state of Virginia.
"We've probably had 150 meaningful conversations from the 1,500 doors we've knocked on," says Miles.
If those 150 people vote for Obama, and there are 10,000 more people like us out there knocking on doors, that's a potential 1,500,000 votes.
Sophia and Miles have been using the Neighbor to Neighbor tool to easily find the names and addresses of people in their area that they can go canvass for Barack Obama. To put things in perspective, 250 doors is a lot of doors to knock. 1,500 is plain old inspiring.
And so are Sophia and Miles. Here's an excerpt from our interview with this awesome father-daughter volunteer team:
Q: So, what do you like about Obama?Miles: I like the way he thinks. I like his temperament. I like how calm he is. I trust him and his judgment.Sophia: I also like how he's very calm in situations and he can get things done. He's not a drama queen. In the beginning my main issue is the war in Iraq, because I'm the next generation. But as we got more involved in the campaign, I heard his other issues and realized he wasn't just any old democratic nominee. I was very inspired by all of his stands on issues like energy and health care and the war.Q: What kind of work have you done/hope to do for the campaign? Miles: We use the Neighbor to Neighbor tool and our field organizer sends us out on weekends and Thursday night canvasses. When we meet undecided voters who tell us an issue they're interested in, we copy material from Barack's website and bring it back to them with a personal note within 48 hours. We follow up with others in the neighborhood. Canvassing is a blast!Sophia: We have canvassed to the ends of Hanover County. When we get an undecided voter, I pipe in with "What are your issues?" What I love about canvassing is when you get an undecided voter that starts to think, you walk down the steps with this feeling of satisfaction like you're changing the world, and you are. Q: What would you want to say to the world to inspire them to get involved?Miles: If you live in a battleground state like Virginia, if you're not dropping everything to spend every spare moment working on this campaign, you're missing the opportunity of a lifetime. If you live in a blue state or a red state and you're an Obama supporter, if you're not arranging to sleep on the floor of a friend in a battleground state the weekend before the election, you're missing the opportunity of a lifetime. If you have kids of any age, take them canvassing. It's the most important and meaningful way I've ever spent time with my daughter. She is learning so much from the experience. She listens in on and participates in real, adult conversations that will teach her life lessons. Once we canvassed a 90-year-old man who was just happy to have a visitor. He was a McCain supporter but we wrote in the notes, "a very nice old man..." Many a person has taken Sophia's hands in theirs, regardless of their politics, and said, "Thank you for doing this..." Sophia: It's important that people know that we can turn Virginia purple, if not blue. You can't give up while canvassing. Every single thing you do, even if it's just a few houses on Neighbor to Neighbor, is giving a little bit of hope to middle-class families and people all over the earth. And the people you talk to -- to them, it's amazing that a campaign would come out to their door. Once, out in rural Hanover County, we talked to an old man and he said, "Nobody's ever come out here," and I realized we were going in places that hadn't had anybody ever come up to their door and ask who they were voting for. To them, nobody really cared that much. Even if they were a McCain supporter, you feel like you're making a difference.
Q: So, what do you like about Obama?
Miles: I like the way he thinks. I like his temperament. I like how calm he is. I trust him and his judgment.
Sophia: I also like how he's very calm in situations and he can get things done. He's not a drama queen. In the beginning my main issue is the war in Iraq, because I'm the next generation. But as we got more involved in the campaign, I heard his other issues and realized he wasn't just any old democratic nominee. I was very inspired by all of his stands on issues like energy and health care and the war.
Q: What kind of work have you done/hope to do for the campaign?
Miles: We use the Neighbor to Neighbor tool and our field organizer sends us out on weekends and Thursday night canvasses. When we meet undecided voters who tell us an issue they're interested in, we copy material from Barack's website and bring it back to them with a personal note within 48 hours. We follow up with others in the neighborhood. Canvassing is a blast!
Sophia: We have canvassed to the ends of Hanover County. When we get an undecided voter, I pipe in with "What are your issues?" What I love about canvassing is when you get an undecided voter that starts to think, you walk down the steps with this feeling of satisfaction like you're changing the world, and you are.
Q: What would you want to say to the world to inspire them to get involved?Miles: If you live in a battleground state like Virginia, if you're not dropping everything to spend every spare moment working on this campaign, you're missing the opportunity of a lifetime. If you live in a blue state or a red state and you're an Obama supporter, if you're not arranging to sleep on the floor of a friend in a battleground state the weekend before the election, you're missing the opportunity of a lifetime. If you have kids of any age, take them canvassing. It's the most important and meaningful way I've ever spent time with my daughter. She is learning so much from the experience. She listens in on and participates in real, adult conversations that will teach her life lessons. Once we canvassed a 90-year-old man who was just happy to have a visitor. He was a McCain supporter but we wrote in the notes, "a very nice old man..." Many a person has taken Sophia's hands in theirs, regardless of their politics, and said, "Thank you for doing this..." Sophia: It's important that people know that we can turn Virginia purple, if not blue. You can't give up while canvassing. Every single thing you do, even if it's just a few houses on Neighbor to Neighbor, is giving a little bit of hope to middle-class families and people all over the earth. And the people you talk to -- to them, it's amazing that a campaign would come out to their door. Once, out in rural Hanover County, we talked to an old man and he said, "Nobody's ever come out here," and I realized we were going in places that hadn't had anybody ever come up to their door and ask who they were voting for. To them, nobody really cared that much. Even if they were a McCain supporter, you feel like you're making a difference.
You feel like you're making a difference, because...you are!
Check out Neighbor to Neighbor right now and see how easy it is to print up a list of people to canvass right in your own neighborhood.
This post-debate weekend is the perfect weekend to get out there and talk to your neighbors about the real differences between Barack Obama and John McCain. Getting a real live visit from a real live supporter makes a difference at this crucial time when voters are making up their minds.
And it's also a great time to get your kids involved!
A wise man once said: it's the opportunity of a lifetime.
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