SPARKS, Nev. — Over the past week, I've had the amazing opportunity to join up with the Obama for America campaign for an encore performance in San Antonio, Texas as a deputy field organizer.
While my Internet access was intermittent, at best, I had my trusty notebook with me and took notes at the end of each day to document everything that happened to one, big Indian in the Lone Star State while organizing precincts and coordinating Get Out The Vote/Get Out The Caucus activities.
Day One:
I'd arrived a little nonplussed from my turbulence-heavy arrival from Reno, Nev. to my connecting flight in Denver, Colo. and spent my two-hour layover traipsing around the Denver International Airport. As I said to a friend on the phone, "My demographic does not fit my surroundings. I am used to bus stations and gas stations, not airports." As I perused the $300-plus bottles of cologne in the airport shops, I needed some familiar surroundings, so I went to McDonalds and bought a double quarter-pounder meal for $9 and called my Aunt Rita for a familiar voice, close enough to know that should my connecting flight be canceled, I'd have a place to sleep in Denver.
Luckily, my flight was on time and as I rushed, beef patties in hand, to my gate, I arrived in San Antonio around midnight, Central time. David Zhao, my boss and former field organizer in Reno-Sparks, called me after I'd picked up my bag to arrange a pick-up location and as I left the comfort of the airport, the strangely familiar whiff of humidity hit me like a ton of bricks. Reno does not, as a matter of elevation and major waterway access, have humidity and San Antonio is plenteous in the stuff. It's been two years since I've lived in eastern South Dakota, so the fact that I could run without being winded was refreshing.
David greeted me in his friendly tone and pleasant demeanor and drove me around the multitude of freeways, Interstate highways, on-ramps, off-ramps, bridges, overpasses and underpasses that make up the San Antonio roadways like an expert. He pointed out the campaign office we'd be calling home for the next five days and more amazingly, took calls on his phone while driving a stick shift.
Finally, we arrived at our lodgings for the rest of my time in San Antonio. While I'm sure no particular hotel would appreciate this mention, the Antonian Hotel was basically an Obama for America dormitory because of its centralized location in the city. Then, I reunited with an old friend, Roger Horowitz and his deputy field organizer, who was kind enough to lend me his sleeping bag to cushion my floor space living.
I slept for a couple of hours before being awakened, fired up and ready to go. My first task was to do some preliminary phone-banking for the Obama campaign. Everything they say about Southern hospitality is true, so long as you don't wear out your welcome.
Reno-Sparks is typically Western in that no one wants to be bothered about religion and politics and would either hang up on me or debate me as soon as I utter the words, "Hi, my name is Alfred and I'm with the Obama for America campaign ... " But Texans, even if they were supporters of Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), greeted me like I was an old friend and engaged me in earnest conversation.
One voter I talked to was a staunch Hispanic, Catholic woman who had done early voting and told me, "You know, I so wanted to vote for that dear man, but then, the 'partial-birth abortion' question kept lingering in my head ... I voted for him, but where does he stand on that?" I explained that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) was in favor of upholding Roe vs. Wade which, initially, held that abortion was legal until the fetus became viable (able to live outside the womb) but that Obama had no other position on the question than that.
I expounded upon my own Catholic teaching and that we, as Christians, needed to refocus our energies into the community in supporting and educating young women on the responsibilities of motherhood, instead of condemning and praying ("as the hypocrites do") in the open, and she agreed that the onus was upon us to take care of our own. She agreed to become a precinct captain for our cause and asked me to send her a photo of me.
While the last request might blow a fuse for most people, I realized that her request wasn't for any diabolical purpose. It's a common tradition in Hispanic-Catholic families to have a photo of loved ones in the house in order to pray for intercession. While I won't venture a guess as to whether she was asking to pray for me to recant my secular humanism ways or for support, I encouraged her to come to my office so we could meet face-to-face.
Then, I met my fellow deputy, Michael Gaffney, and he gave me a small tour of downtown San Antonio, a visit to the official campaign headquarters, a drive by the AlamObama headquarters (the organization that gathered supporter names before the campaign came into town) and ultimately, a lit-drop at San Antonio Community College.
At first, I had reservations about approaching perfect strangers about the upcoming Obama rally but then I remembered my grassroots organizing background and advice from an old editor, "The worst they can tell you is, 'no,'" and handed out fliers on campus like a pro.
Gaffney is that typical, amiable everyman whose personality attracts you, and he worked it for all it was worth. The best I could hope for, with my genetic make-up, was connecting with the Hispanic students and other minorities, encouraging them to come to the rally. Luckily, only one person groaned when I passed the flier to them and several SACC students were appreciative to know that Obama would be in their city.
And then, the man himself graced our little city with his presence in a "Stand for Change" rally in the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre on the outskirts of San Antonio. The challenges of my organizing were put to the test and I was honored to hear the senator speak.
But more about that later.