The Day After

I got up at 3 a.m. and left for the airport while Teresa and Linda still slept. From the vantage of the parking garage I looked out to see if the news vans were still lined up in front of the hotel. Along with the news vans that hadn't yet departed, I saw discarded Obama signs lying on the sidewalk. The day before, a loud crowd of Obama supporters had been marching up and down the sidewalk in front of the hotel, carrying signs that spelled out "O-B-A-M-A." It seemed symbolic to see the signs discarded as litter on the side of the street.

I drove the twenty minutes to the airport on near-empty roads. I was wearing my Hillary jacket and everyone I spoke to (at the airport and rental car office) congratulated me on the win. When the final results were in, Hillary had won Pennsylvania by 9 points, but lost Delaware County by 12 points.

I got on the plane and was asleep before the plane took off. I slept most of the way back to Seattle, waking only to change planes.

I arrived home in time to pick Lenora up after school. It was a surreal experience, stepping off a plane and reentering the world I normally inhabit. My life here in Seattle remains relatively unchanged but I am deeply changed by the experiences I had and the people I met in the few days I was immersed in the campaign.

The Party!

Maybe you saw it on CNN. It was pretty exciting to be there in person. Teresa and Linda got prime position in front of the podium. I stayed back on the periphery, unwilling to be in the crush of people.

I spent the few hours with a campaign staffer I had met earlier in the week at the Radner High School event, Eric, and his parents, Joe and Diane. They are from Lancaster County, PA so, in addition to the personal investment in the campaign, this was their primary and their votes we were celebrating.

The celebrating really got under way when CNN called the election for Hillary Clinton!

The festive mood was apparent wherever one looked. I was particularly fond of the "Bring Socks Clinton Back to the White House" button!







During the party, reporters were wandering among the crowd interviewing revelers. I was interviewed by BBC Radio, Radio Sweden, and The Jewish Exponent. The guy from the BBC didn't take my name, so I'm pretty sure I didn't make the BBC. I couldn't find and article related to the victory party in The Jewish Exponent. And my Swedish isn't good enough to find out if I made it on Radio Sweden.

U.S. Representatives Allyson Schwartz and Joe Sestak were the first politicians to take the stage.

They were followed by Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell and Mayor Michael Nutter of Philadelphia. I didn't think it was possible for the crowd to be more excited, but Mayor Nutter and Governor Rendell had the crowd going wild as they introduced a victorious Senator Clinton and her family.

Chelsea, Bill, Hillary, and Hillary's mom were greeted with chants of "Madame President!"





I was unable to see Hillary's mom during the speech, but from my vantage point, I could see Bill and Chelsea looking on with admiration and pride.


I've never heard any kind of victory speech and I found it quite inspirational. (Of course, this could be a "cries at McDonald's commercials" thing!) You can watch her victory speech on YouTube or read the text. At the end of the speech, Vince let the confetti fly at exactly the right moment :)


After the speech, Senator Clinton, Bill, and Chelsea signed autographs on the rope line. Linda and Teresa met all three of them. Teresa, as a resident of Florida whose primary vote doesn't count due to the fiasco with the Democratic National Committee, had a few minutes to talk with all the Clintons about the fate of the Florida delegates.


When the ball room was mostly empty again, with just a few stragglers and the press corps, I took a moment behind the podium. I don't have any political aspirations, but, hey, it was a pretty cool photo op!


After the party wound down, it was up to the hotel room to head to bed. It would be time to leave for the airport at 3:45, less than 4 hours later.

The Confetti Dude

You know the confetti that goes flying at the end of a big celebratory event? Ever wondered where it comes from? I wonder about such things. While sitting in the empty (except for the press corps) ballroom, waiting for the crowd to be admitted, I learned about confetti.

I met Vince the confetti dude. He's the guy who makes the party look festive. It's a pretty cool contraption. Basically high pressure CO2 blows the confetti out as fast as they can pour it into the machine. I asked him how he knows when to let it fly. His answer: "Sometimes I get a cue. But usually I just know. There's a moment and I just know."

Vince thinks I'm a moron.

Election Day

Linda, Me, and Teresa plotting our strategy over lunch

I slept late on Election Day, venturing out of the hotel at about 11:30 to have lunch with Teresa (from Florida) and Linda (from Connecticut), volunteers I had met over the previous days. Our primary goal for the day was to figure out how to gain entrance to the evening's victory party, scheduled for the Grand Ballroom of our very own hotel!

We were in a festive mood; we had worked hard for the campaign and intended to play hard in celebration of the anticipated victory. We were impressed by the line up of the press vans and the general feeling of electricity in and around the hotel.

Teresa, Linda, and I ran all around the hotel, using contacts we had built over the previous week until we eventually gained entrance to the Grand Ballroom, as the first non-press attendees.

Leaving Delaware County

On Monday, it became apparent to me that it was time to leave Delaware County and end my time as a campaign volunteer in Pennsylvania. I was getting less than 5 hours of sleep each night and had developed painful sores in my mouth (likely a result of a combination of a reaction to medication and stress) making eating and drinking unbearably painful. I felt completely spent. The primary was the following day and I felt that the work I had done in the office leading up to primary day fulfilled what I had come to Pennsylvania to do.

So on Monday night, I said good-bye to Beth, Cindy, Billy, and Richard and headed east to Philadelphia. I checked into the Park Hyatt and promptly fell asleep in much-desired luxury!

Hillary's Mom

I was brought to tears many times this week over seemingly insignificant things. (Remember, I'm the girl who cries at McDonald's commercials?)

The thing that had me a blubbering mess, however, doesn't seem insignificant to me. Hillary's mother, Dorothy Rodham, was present at many of the Senator's campaign stops over the week. I looked at her looking at her daughter in admiration and just started sobbing. Can you imagine what it must be like to see your daughter breaking the ultimate gender barrier? I imagine the mother of every presidential candidate must be proud, but this woman gave birth to and raised the first woman to actually have a chance at the presidency of the United States!

My heart bursts with pride when my daughter makes a wobbly turn while ice skating or remembers to say say "please" and "thank you" when conversing with adults. I know my daughter will accomplish great things and she certainly doesn't have to run for president for me to be proud.

My hat is off to you, Dorothy Rodham, for raising a woman to make all women proud!

What's Philadelphia Without Cheese Steak?

I could only eat a few bites, but what I had was amazing! I understand the raves!

The People

I met so many wonderful people during my time in Delaware County. In addition to campaign staffers Beth, Cindy, and Billy, another fixture in the office was Richard, a former campaign staffer who worked the final days on the Pennsylvania campaign as a volunteer with an insider's perspective.

Jamee came to the office with her 3 daughters (Casey, 9; Madison, 5; and Laura, 2) to make signs and do visibility. We covered the girls in stickers and sent them out to a local street fair where they handed out fliers for an event with Chelsea Clinton. Later they went to the Chelsea event.

Debi and Debbie arrived on Saturday and seemed tireless in their canvassing and visibility. They arrived with their own 4' x 8' sign that they drove around Delaware County to various visibility events. One or both of them has been traveling with the campaign since early in the year. I regret that I didn't have more time to chat with them and learn their stories.

Barry is naturalized citizen from Afghanistan. He left Afghanistan during the war with the Soviets. He has a personal history with the Clintons from when his daughter died in 1995. I didn't understand the complete story, but I was touched by the fact that he received a personal condolence letter from the President and First Lady that meant a great deal to him. He is actively campaigning for another Clinton presidency.

On Sunday, a group of about 30 volunteers arrived from Westchester County, NY. This group of volunteers was mostly made up of personal friends and fundraisers for Senator Clinton. They were fired up to get out the vote for their friend!

I met so many more wonderful people. Clare and her dog, Hadley, from Washington, D.C. MaryEllen and Gladys, Robin, Kirby, Saiyada, Jeanne. The list could go on. I'll remember them and our shared passion for getting Hillary Clinton elected President!

We Want You!

Each day between 50 and 100 volunteers show up and say “I’m here. What should I do?” My inexact estimate is that approximately 1/2 of the volunteers are local and the others are from out of state. The out of state volunteers are mostly from surrounding states: Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Washington DC, Maryland, and Massachusetts. A few came to our office from Florida and California. We even had three show up from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada! And of course there’s me, from Seattle.

The first priority for assigning volunteers is to canvass neighborhoods. Canvassing is knocking on doors in the hopes of making personal contact with voters to encourage them to vote for Senator Clinton. Statistics given by the campaign say that it takes 15 doors knocked to equal vote compared to something like 300 phone calls for one vote. Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, I was actively involved in canvassing from the office side, organizing and instructing the volunteers going out canvassing. Beginning on Friday, the focus of canvassing was Get Out the Vote (GOTV). Each pair of canvassers is given a manila folder containing a walking map of a small neighborhood (usually a few blocks square) and a list of voters in that neighborhood who have been identified through previous contact, either by phone or in person, as “Hillary-positive” or undecided. Canvassers are instructed to focus on reminding people that their vote matters in the extremely tight race in Delaware County. If a person is undecided, canvassers are encouraged to tell the voter their own personal reasons for supporting Hillary and spend a few minutes trying to answer the person’s concerns but not to engage in argument or spend a lot of time at each door. If a person isn’t at home, literature is left at the door, mainly to let the person know we care enough about the person’s vote that we came to the door in person. During GOTV, the number of doors knocked with reminders to vote is the most important priority. Each canvass pair is usually gone for 2-3 hours working on their packet. The last three days before the election, we knocked on over three thousand doors!!! (Unfortunately, I never had an opportunity to go out canvassing. I was organizing canvassers from in the office. Before primary season is over I hope to have a chance to participate in canvassing, perhaps in Oregon.)

If a volunteer comes into the office and is unable to go out canvassing due to lack of time, desire, physical ability, or canvassing partner, we have them make phone calls. During GOTV the calls made are to Hillary-positive or undecided voters. The system for calling was completely new to me. It’s done using a system called “Activate.” There is a phone number to dial into that in turn dials a voter somewhere in Pennsylvania, wherever the current script is directed. For example, during the last few days of the campaign, many of the calls made were to invite people to attend events with Hillary, Bill, or Chelsea; if someone was calling on a script for a Hillary event in Scranton, the calls would be directed to voters in the Scranton area. If we weren’t inviting people to an event, we were talking to people around Pennsylvania, reminding them to go to the polls on Tuesday. I personally found phone calling frustrating and annoying. The system for calling was cumbersome and confusing and, when it did work, often resulted in a call to a voter who was tired of receiving campaign calls. I know how much I hate getting such calls and had sympathy for people who hung up as soon as they realized who was calling. However, some volunteers really seem to enjoy calling and are quite good at it. I hear them engaged in conversations about the event or Senator Clinton and I wonder how they got beyond the initial “My name is Teresa and I’m calling from the Hillary Clinton Campaign” without a hang up.

In an earlier post, I mentioned Visibility, the other main use of volunteers. Visibility is when people stand and greet people on a street corner or outside a polling place. The idea is that if voters see lots of people standing up for a candidate it acts as a personal endorsement from their neighbors. Each day, the campaign organizes “Viz” at strategic intersections during peak drive times. These street-side mini-demonstrations are referred to as “Honk-and-Waves.” In addition to the non-existent viz I wrote about earlier, I participated in an actual viz event at an intersection near the campaign office in Media. It was great fun to be standing on a street corner with fellow Hillary supporters and yelling and waving. Many supporters honk as they drive by. When I went back into the office, about a block away, I could hear the honks continue as long as we had volunteers out at the corner.

Blogging With the Press Corps

Sitting in the ballroom at the Park Hyatt in Philadelphia where Senator Clinton will be giving her victory speech later tonight. I am here a few hours before they open the doors to the public through a series of creative maneuvers involving using just about all of the contacts I've made over the past week. So now I sit and wait just like members of the press ALWAYS do.

(According to Eric, a Clinton campaign staffer, this press group is larger than they have been since New Hampshire. Apparently an historic night not to be missed!)

(Note: this post is out of order as it was posted in real time.)

Delaware County

When I called the Pennsylvania for Hillary office, I was assigned to Delaware County, in the western suburbs of Philadelphia. The Philadelphia suburbs have, until recently, been majority Republican. This article in the NY Times discusses the interesting dynamics occurring just outside Philadelphia.

The Delaware County campaign office, in Media, is in a brick office building that appears to have once been a boarding house. The building is shared with an attorney and the offices of Congressman Joe Sestak. Congressman Sestak’s staff and volunteers frequently wander up the stairs with offers of help and contribute to feeding the harried campaign workers.

The political climate in Delaware County is a battlefield between Clinton and Obama. Villanova and Swarthmore University, strong with Obama supporters both lie within the county. Another large portion of the Delaware County population is made up of the working class and laborers who comprise the Clinton base. Many voters in Delaware County are undecided and individual votes will make a difference on election night. An AP article suggests that Delaware County is one of the toughest battlegrounds in the state.

Congressman Sestak with Billy

As a girl who's never been to Pennsylvania, I was delighted to be located in this suburban county, giving me a broad sample of what Pennsylvania has to offer. I drove through farmland on the way to my hotel and I crossed the Delaware on my way into downtown Philadelphia when Billy and I ran an errand to the Pennsylvania Hillary Clinton Headquarters. I even participated in a time-honored ritual (according to locals whom I decline to name) when I crossed the border into Delaware to purchase a bottle of wine after the Pennsylvania liquor stores had closed for the evening.


As a Seattle-dweller, I was just happy to see the Starbucks across the street from the campaign office :)

A Firehouse Full of (What Else?) Sexy Men!

On Sunday evening, as we were in the final push toward primary day on Tuesday, Billy, Cindy, and I had a welcome break of going to a firehouse in Essington to hear President Bill Clinton speak on behalf of his wife.

Did I mention the event was held at a firehouse? When I arrived I was reminded of why it is that I like firehouses so very much: the lovely (and friendly) firefighters and paramedics who staff the station!

While were there to "work the event," not much work needed to be done and it was generally just a relaxing time of hanging out with new friends and listening to the most inspiring speaker I have ever heard.

Billy, Cindy, Teresa (From Florida) and Me (Teresa from Seattle)

I had heard from others that had heard him speak in person that Bill Clinton is speaker unlike any other, that his presence fills up a room as soon as he enters it, that when he speaks all other people in the room seem to disappear. I found this all to be true. I don't remember what he talked about but I do remember wanting to shout "Amen" more than once.

When he was done speaking, he quickly worked the rope line, shaking hands. Unlike his wife, he didn't take time to pose for pictures with everyone on the line. I asked him for a picture but he said "I can't. I have to be somewhere after this." I wasn't easily deterred. "But I'm a nurse!" I cried. "From Seattle!" That did the trick. He turned around and joined me and my friend, Teresa for a picture. There was no one to take the picture so I held the camera at arm's length and got what you see below. Not the best picture, but a picture that I fought hard to get!

Sometimes It's About the Food (And Maybe a Pocket Gnome)

Pierre, my pocket gnome, made appearances around the campaign office today. He seems to know when there's good food around so I wasn't surprised to see him.

Since arriving in Pennsylvania I've been asking people what local food is important to try. "Soft Pretzels" is always an immediate answer. Followed quickly by "Water Ice." I've had soft pretzels before and have never been quite a fan.

Until today when a volunteer walked into the campaign office with a bag of soft pretzels. She apologized that they were the pretzels from the end of the day and so not as good as they could be. They were amazing! I have no idea what makes them different from the other soft pretzels I've had but I couldn't put this pretzel down.


Except to take another bite of the amazing Water Ice/Custard dessert called Gelati. Water ice is like a combination between a Slurpee and sorbet. It comes in many flavors ranging from fruity to chocolate and vanilla. Custard is like soft serve ice cream that is much thicker and richer. Either of these desserts is quite yummy by itself but when combined (a layer of Water Ice, followed by a layer of Custard, followed by another layer of Water Ice and another layer of Custard) to make Gelati, the yumminess goes to another level. I can't believe that nothing like this exists in Seattle!

It's All About the Kids!

Cassandra (4 years old) and Her Parents

When I got back to the office, Billy and I headed straight to Radner High School. Our main job was to provide crowd guidance for seating, pass out stickers and signs, and hold the microphones when people in the crowd were asking questions. I met some amazing high school kids who are totally excited for Hillary.

Katelyn and Geri were in charge of making sure that every person had exactly one sticker.

While listening to Senator Clinton speak, I was suddenly impressed with the history associated with Pennsylvania. She made many allusions to American history and compared her campaign to historical acts surrounding the founding of our country. (I wish I could remember what she said because it sounds so corny when I write about it now but it didn't sound corny at all when she said it!) A few miles from where I was sitting was where Washington and the troops spent the winter in Valley Forge. The historical significance of this election was suddenly enormous to me and I'll admit it brought tears to my eyes. (But please remember that I'm the girl who cries at McDonald's commercials . . .)

My favorite part of the event was when an 8-year-old girl named Hope asked a question of Senator Clinton. She asked "What are you going to do for kids?" Hillary's answer was fantastic! She answered her in straightforward terms that could be understood by a child without talking down to her. She talked about helping kids by keeping them healthy and safe and about her history helping kids her entire career. (Tears again. Perhaps time to start packing Kleenex along with me?)


After the event, I waited for a chance to meet Senator Clinton again. Billy was thrilled to meet her and I'll admit I was excited this second time around :)

What the Viz?

6:55 a.m.
Waiting at the corner of Westchester Pike and State Route 320 to give signs to the volunteers who will be doing a “viz” shift this morning. Visibility. People standing on the street corner waving signs and being excited about Hillary Clinton during the morning rush hour. It’s a gorgeous morning in Pennsylvania. It’s supposed to be in the low 80s today and that makes for a lovely sunrise and early morning.

7:25 a.m.
The viz volunteers didn’t show this morning. But I learned a lot about standing on a street corner alone waving a sign for a mere 20 minutes.
• Some people are pathetic enough to swear at you and flip you off and yell things such as “Hillary Sucks,” “Boo” and other things I shouldn’t repeat because children might read this blog. Seriously. I was standing on the street corner all by myself and people were saying mean things. They must really have a chip on their shoulders.
• Most people are friendly and wave or honk.
• From now on, I’ll honk when I drive past people campaigning for something I believe in. Those honks and waves were encouraging and made me smile and wave.
• NEVER pick your nose at a stop light. COME ON PEOPLE!! Your car has windows that go both ways!
• When you sign up to be somewhere, BE THERE!!

(The guy who took this picture took picture took pity on me. He seemed a bit smug when I asked him to take the picture. Then when I asked if he planned to vote for Hillary in the primary on Tuesday, he said "No way! I'm a Republican!" Ah, well. It's all character building, right?)

Look Mom! I'm a Campaign Volunteer!

The time stamp on this post is a bit misleading. According to Blogger it's about 11 p.m. In Pennsylvania it's actually about 2 a.m. But I am so excited about what’s happening here in Pennsylvania that I can’t even think about sleep right now. (OK, that’s a bit of a lie. I’m tired but my mind is going a million miles an hour that I need to get this all written so my mind will stop spinning and I can get some sleep.)

I got to the campaign office in Media, Pennsylvania at about 5:30, after taking taking more time than I had planned to get refreshed at the hotel. If you must know, I took a shower to revive myself after the long flight and I kinda accidentally took a bit of a nap that lasted about 2-3 hours. It was much-needed rest since I didn’t leave the campaign office until 11:30 and am starting EARLY tomorrow morning.

The office is staffed by 3 campaign employees, all in their early- to mid-twenties: Beth, Cindy, and Billy. I’m sure I’ll get to know them better over the course of the next 5 days but here are my initial impressions. Beth is the boss of the office. She hails from New York and is a recent college grad who majored in Political Science (and something else that I don’t remember—maybe music?) She’s been with the Clinton campaign since New Hampshire. She’s a bit bitter about the fact that she worked in (maybe headed the campaign in) Delaware when the campaign was “pretty much ignoring the small states.” She’s also been to Texas and possibly somewhere else with the campaign. Cindy is from Texas, also a recent college grad, and has been with the campaign since June. Billy is from Ohio (though he went to high school in Santa Barbara, CA), and joined the campaign as an employee after volunteering in Ohio. He left culinary school to work for the campaign.

Cindy, Billy, and Beth

You can tell that these young staffers are passionate about getting Hillary elected president. They are doing amazing things organizing volunteers and showing leadership to the many volunteers who walk through the office doors each day. During the time that I was in the office this evening, I met at least 10 volunteers and I know that many more were in and out of the office as I was in a back corner making phone calls. While it seems unorganized at times, and I think Beth, Cindy, and Billy are really ready for a break, they somehow keep the office moving and keep inspiring volunteers to get where they need to be.

So what do all these volunteers do? I’ll answer that on another day. I’m finally getting sleepy so just want to say a few more things about my day before I get a little sleep.

On arrival at the campaign office, one of the first things I learned is that I will be accompanying Billy to a Town Hall event tomorrow morning. I could hardly contain my excitement as this will be an event similar to the event Lenora and I attended in February. I’ll be a microphone holder for people asking questions. (Is there some irony in the fact that I asked my question without a microphone?) Can’t wait to report back on that!!!

My main task today was calling other out-of-state volunteers, planning to arrive over the next couple of days, to confirm when they’re planning to come so we can create an accurate volunteer schedule. Everyone I talked to is so excited to be coming to Pennsylvania to help get Hillary elected. The few who needed to change plans and were unable to come wanted to know what they could do to help win Pennsylvania. I directed them to hillaryclinton.com where there’s a link with instructions on calling voters. It’s currently set up to call voters in Pennsylvania and Oregon. Living in the “Hillary Lovefest” it’s hard to remember that she has a tough road ahead of her if she’s going to win the nomination. But one task at a time. The next couple days are all about Pennsylvania!