Lemme 'Splain.

No. There is too much.

Lemme sum up.

November 1 - 4: 2.5 million doors knocked.

Close to 2,ooo volunteers come to Delaware County from Out of State during those four days.

Obama wins PA by 55%.
(PA hasn't been won by more than 51% since LBJ)

Obama wins Delaware County by almost 61%.
(There was a time when you couldn't admit you were a Democrat in Delaware County. And there are still people in DelCo who didn't want Obama door hangers on their doors, because it "put them in danger.")

Obama wins all the Philadelphia suburbs by a very comfortable margin.

PA is called for Obama at 8:01, because the exit polls in the Philadelphia suburbs are so overwhelmingly for Obama.

At the time, I was in Chester, blind knocking on doors, making sure everyone had voted. They all had. Then, it was about making sure everyone stayed in line. They did. Then, it was about making sure that no one was intimidated away from the polls. No one was. Then, it was about keeping the polls open later -- they didn't need to be.

It all went according to plan. We watched the returns in a room in a church on a little tv with poor reception - and no one could really believe it. It was all over so quickly -- we'd prepared for a long fight, but it was just over, just like that.

We were prepared to get on the phone to Western states to make sure that they all got to the polls. We didn't need to. It was all taken care of.

We all went to a bar to watch. Dazed, exhausted, wrung out, in disbelief. And when they announced it, I just fell apart. I just fell right apart.

Most of you who know me know that I don't have much of a problem crying in public. I spent the first year of graduate school in tears. It's cool. But as amazing as it must have been to be in New York, or DC, or San Francisco when the news came out, there was something incredibly powerful about being in a place that had been so hard fought -- where everyone had worked as hard as they could to make sure that it happened in their town, in their county, in their state, in their country.

Pennsylvania, and the Philly suburbs, had been the center of the bulls eye for the last several weeks -- McCain had spoken at my high school, for goodness sake! And there was this sense of holding tight against the storm, and using up the last of our reserves to fight back as hard as we could. McCain spent more money in Pennsylvania than anywhere else. And it was just relentless, in those last few weeks. And it manifested in more and more people calling the office to say "I heard Obama isn't an American citizen. Is that true?" We were back to that. Or people cruising the parking lot, looking to start an argument, in order to distract the volunteers from doing the work that needed to be done.

So, there wasn't the same kind of dancing in the streets jubilation, because there were people at that very bar who were disappointed in the result (the bartenders were certainly among them). Which was an interesting experience, because I didn't want to hurt their feelings or rub it in, but at the same time, for the love of Pete, look what was happening!

Among supporters, the overwhelming feeling was relief. And then disbelief. And then relief. And then the realization of what had happened, while we were all so busy trying to make something happen.

It's like I'd lost sight of what it was that I was working towards -- what the goal was. And then it happened. And I remembered what all this work was for, and what it meant, and what we'd done. And I just cried, and cried, and cried. I cried all the way through McCain's speech. And then all the way through Obama's speech. And couldn't speak for crying when they called Virginia and Ohio and Florida.

People came over to comfort me. "Girl, it's gonna be ok. We won." And I did that shaky, can't catch your breath "I-I-I-know-I-I-I-just-can't-believe-I-forgot-how-much-this-means-and-why-we-were-working-so-oh-oh-oh-hard-and-I-just-can't...(sob,sob,sob).

So, you guys, I don't know if you feel it the same way, but I want to tell you, one more time, that we did it. More specifically, you did it. There were about 50+ people from my own friends and family who came down to Delaware County to help out, and by all accounts, you guys were rock stars. People heard about "Elizabeth's friends" and wanted a piece of that, believe me, because you guys rocked it, and gave us the boost that we needed in order to do what had to be done. You did it -- it wouldn't have happened without you. You did it, you guys -- you changed the world. That's yours now -- forever.

Now, I'm very sorry that I didn't get to see you when you were in Pennsylvania, but for those of you who did see me, briefly, you can confirm that I was a crazy person at the time and not much worth seeing.

Those of you who gave me money to do this thing, please know that you were the ones who made made it possible. I simply could not have done this without you. It's just the truth. I was amazed and endlessly buoyed by the support you gave, one dollar bill at a time.

Those of you who sent good wishes, and luck, and support from afar, I could feel it. I was working for you. It's a powerful and beautiful thing to feel that people are counting on you, and believe in you, and it's what kept me going. I didn't want to let you down. Thanks for putting the fire in my belly, and pushing me to keep going -- you probably didn't know you were doing it, but you were.

And now, because of all of you, I have this incredible gift of an experience that has already changed my life, and I believe, will change this great country, and the world. And it's because of you.

So, thank you. Thank you for that. I won't forget it. Promise.

Election Eve Story.

Ok, ok, ok.  

By this time tomorrow, the polls will be closed in PA, and I'll be on the phone to voters in Colorado, or embroiled in some legal thing, keeping the polls open late here, or singing and dancing to entertain people who are waiting in line, or lying in a ball on the floor. PA is really heating up, and we're all anxious about what might happen tomorrow at the polls.  Will we run out of ballots?  Will the police kick us out of our offices? Will all the voting machines break? Will it rain?

So, before any of that starts happening, here's what you've been asking for. 

Here’s the story of what happened at the rally.

So, on Monday night. I stayed up late and thought about what I was going to say. I recorded it onto a little tape recorder, and figured I could listen to it a bunch of times so I could remember the important parts, and improvise the rest. I’m a quick study, and I’ve been using the same pitch to get volunteers here for the last month, and it’s worked ok. Which is, I guess, why they asked me to do this.

So, I went to sleep. And then woke up at 4 in the morning. Because I needed to leave the house at 5, and I needed to look nice.

So, I put on my black and white dress, and my blue coat, and my boots, and my favorite Obama pin, and fixed my hair in a way that said “I’m working hard and just threw my hair back, and look how perfectly it falls! You know why? Because of Barack Obama, that’s why.”

And I got in the car and drove the 10 minutes to Chester.

It was freezing outside. I thought it was just that early morning cold. It was still dark out, and drizzling a little.

When I got to the site, I parked the car. At 5:30, there were already about 1,000 people in line.
So, for those of you who don’t know, Chester is a predominantly African American city of about 40,000. About 30% of the city lives below the poverty line. There are a lot of Barack Obama supporters there, and all the schools were cancelled for the day in the district, so the students could come.

So people were excited.

I took some pictures in the early morning, but they all turned out terrible, because it was dark.
So, basically, we stood around in the dark, cold, rain for a while, organizing volunteers, while the advance team set up the security. At one point I was dispatched to pull people out of line and give them pink bracelets – these people were being selected to stand behind Barack when he spoke. People caught on to what I was up to pretty quick, and I only narrowly escaped a stampede of grandmothers.

So, about this time, I met the woman who I would be “co-pitching” with.

Yes, the night before, they told me that I would be co-pitching with a field organizer from another office, who has an amazing personal story, is very energetic and outgoing and awesome. So, I thought, great! Fine! No problem. We talked a little about who would say what part, and agreed to practice in the morning.

Now, by this time, I was pretty much soaked through. I had nothing on that could be considered waterproof or warm. I was wearing a dress, and my legs were bare. Soon, I put on a plastic poncho that someone handed me that was pretty much a very, very flimsy trash bag. Like the kind that comes in the trash can in the hotel bathroom.

And it was raining harder and harder, and I had no gloves, and no hat, and the wind kept blowing my plastic poncho off and my “staff” tag was soaked through and was disintegrating, and I couldn’t feel my fingers anymore.

So, I asked my boss if I could go sit in her car for a few minutes. She said ok. So, I sat in the car, and listened to my speech on my little tape recorder, and was visited in the car by other staff members who needed to thaw.

We were collecting volunteer sign-ups at the rally, and were hoping to get a large number of people to sign up to volunteer for Obama while they were standing in line, but having people write on pieces of paper proved to be difficult. Plus, everyone was pretty miserable in the cold windy rain.

So, I sat in the car, and then I went to my co-speaker’s car, and we practiced a little bit, and then we got a call that we had to get inside the gates! Right away!

So, we went towards the gates, and through security, and ran towards the stage, and met my boss, who said “Are you ready?”

Uh, ok.

So, we went into this little hallway, and there were some official looking people bustling around, and then before you know it, they made me take off my plastic poncho (good choice) and we were out behind the place where the little stage was, with the secret service and the police, and then Congressman Bob Brady got up and introduced me and my co-speaker, and then we ran up to the little stage.

It was really little! Like, 10 x 12. And there was a podium and a mike. You couldn’t really see the crowd, because of the way it was placed, and also because there were big, giant lights pointed at my face.

And here’s what I said. Basically.

Hello Delaware County!
(crowd cheers)

Is everybody fired up and ready to go?
(crowd shouts, "Yes!"

Lemme hear it then! Are you fired up? 

(Fired up!) 

Ready to go? 

(Ready to go!)

Oh yeah? Are you ready to see Barack Obama?
(Big cheer)

Are you ready to elect Barack Obama the next president of the United States?
(Really big cheer)

My name is Elizabeth Audley – I grew up here in Delaware County, and I am so happy to see all of you here! I’ve never been so proud to be from Delaware County. I’ve never been so proud to be from Pennsylvania. And I’ve never been so proud to be an American as I am today.

I started as a volunteer with the campaign just 6 weeks ago.

When they called me up again, and asked me if I would come to Pennsylvania, I said yes. I said yes, yes I can. I put everything on hold, and I came back to my hometown to work for my candidate, and to do everything I could to make sure Barack Obama was elected president. And I’ve been working full time ever since. And it’s the best, and the most important, and most inspiring thing I’ve ever done in my life.

(Then my co-speaker gave a pitch about Voter Protection, and the rules about voting)

(Then the crowd got restless. And people started shouting, “We can’t hear you!” So I said, “You can’t hear us?” And all the people to my right said “No!” So I said “Can we turn the mikes up?” And nothing happened. And then I said “How about now? Can you hear me now?” And they said “No!” And I said, “uhhh. Can we turn the mikes up some more?” And the event staff scurried around and no one said anything. So, my co-speaker and I sort of looked at each other and started shouting “Yes We Can!” and “Fired Up! Ready to Go!” until it was obvious that we were just vamping for time, and so I continued…)

Listen up everyone – here’s the thing. In one week, I know that everyone here is going to go out and elect Barack Obama the next president of the United States. Am I right?
(crowd cheers)

But, listen up -- here’s the other thing. If we’re going to win this, we need more than your vote. We need your help. There’s one thing left to do. We have to get out the vote.

In this last week, we need you to get out there and tell all those people who want to vote for Senator Obama where their polling place is, and what time the polls open, and what to bring with them, and what their rights are. And we need you to tell people how important it is that they vote. We need you to tell people that if the lines are long, that means that it’s working! You need to remind them that the whole country is watching us here, in Pennsylvania. The country is counting on us to get to the polls, and win Pennsylvania, and win this election and take back this country. We need to knock on every single Obama supporters door in those four days, and we can’t do it without your help.

Many of you have volunteered before, and many of you have been volunteering for a long time. This campaign would not be here today if it were not for people like you – and you are the people who convinced me to join this campaign. There are thousands and thousands of volunteers have been working for almost 2 years in 48 states to put Barack Obama in office. All across the country, people are giving everything they’ve got to make sure that Barack Obama is the next president of the United State. And I don’t want to let them down. They are depending on us in Pennsylvania. They are depending on us get out there, and turn out the vote, and win the election for Barack Obama. We cannot let them down.

So, let me ask you: how much do you want this? Ask yourself, honestly, are you really doing everything you can do to make sure this happens? I know, I know, it’s hard to find the time. You’re busy, you have commitments, and families, and jobs. But all we are asking for is one afternoon, or one morning, and we will give you four years of Barack Obama. I think that’s a pretty good deal. Find the time. Dig a little deeper.

Also, this is it, you guys. This is your shot. This is your chance to be a part of history. You have the opportunity to be a part of something that will change the world. You can tell your children, and your grandchildren, not just that you were there, but that you were the one who did it. You were the one who changed the world. This is the opportunity that you have in front of you – do not pass it up.

And I am telling you, you will never feel as good as you will on November 5th, when you wake up, and Barack Obama is elected president of the United States, and you know that it’s because of you.

And then it was over. I would like to say that the crowd went wild with cheering, but most of them were still just pissed off that it was raining, and worried that the sound system didn’t work, and that they wouldn’t be able to hear Barack when he came.

And I left the stage, and stood in the rain some more. I shared an umbrella with the President of Widener University.

(“Hello, I’m the President of Widener University. Would you like to stand under my umbrella?” “Oh, yes, that would be nice. I guess they let you have an umbrella because you're in charge of this place, huh.” “Yeah. So, what do you do?” “I work for the Obama campaign. I’m also an actress.” “That’s great!” “Yeah.” “So, you like Barack Obama, too?” “Yup. I do.”)

There was a slow and steady unraveling of vanity all around me. People just wearing plastic bags. On their heads. And on their feet.

I listened to Barack speak (the sound system was, indeed, broken and you could not hear if you were up close and to the side), and mostly watched the crowd watch him. It was interesting to see people watching him up close. It was interesting that more people were taking pictures than actually listening – they didn’t need to hear what he was saying. They’d heard it all before – this was about being close to him.

And it got me wondering about the point of political rallies. Do people come to them who haven’t made up their minds? I don’t think they do. Is it something that the candidate has to do to prove that he’s of the people? Because I would prefer it that Barack Obama not stand out in the freezing rain for even a half hour. It’s important to me that he not catch pneumonia.

Now, I have to say, that it was kind of badass that while Barack spoke in the freezing rain, McCain cancelled his PA appearances for the day, due to weather. And it was nice to see all of these people come out, despite everything. But I don’t think we got any new votes out of it, and I don’t know how many volunteer shifts we got out of it, because many of the pieces of paper dissolved in the rain, or were illegible.

So, what’s the point of the candidate tearing around the country to make in person appearances? What’s the point of putting the whole staff outside in the rain for 6 hours, one week before the election, during the most difficult punishing week of the campaign? There are a lot of things that we do, and the reason that we do them the way that we do them is because that’s the way it’s done.  We're working like crazy this week, and I don't know if it has to be this way for us to win, or if it has to be this way so that we feel like we are working as hard as we possibly can.  I just don't know. 

To me, it seems like a test. Like, you have to do this incredibly hard, physically exhausting thing – you have to, literally, run this race. And whoever wins the race, wins the race. Maybe?

Don't know.  But I can't wait to be across the finish line. 

(Postscript: When I was checking volunteers in yesterday, someone recognized me from the rally. He said, “That was a great speech! It got me all fired up.” Alas, no photos or video of me speaking have surfaced. If they do, I’ll let you know. Promise.)

Rides to the Polls, debunked.

Everyone wants to give people rides to the polls.

Guess what? 

No one needs a ride.

I'm calling the people who "requested" rides to the polls right now. They all just yell at me that they DON'T need a ride, and we better get ourselves ORGANIZED better than this, or we're going to LOSE.  

Also, they tell me that they BETTER not have to wait in a long line.

Um....

Democracy doesn't look quite so shiny tonight.  I hope a whole lot of people show up to cheerlead for Obama tomorrow, because we're going to need it.

Put a hat on, Obama! This is how William Henry Harrison died!

Here are some pictures from the Obama rally in Chester last Tuesday.

As you can see, it was very, very rainy.

What you cannot see, is that it was also 30 degrees outside, and windy.

It was totally miserable. But also, kind of awesome. Because even though it was the most terrible, disgusting, freezing awful kind of weather, 10,000 people still showed up.








(the last picture was taken by my sister Kat, who flew all the way in from Portland for the event!)

The Change I Need is Very, Very Specific.

Tough days here at the Obama campaign in PA. Long hours, frayed nerves, low spirits. I kicked the cord of my laptop, and instead of popping out like it was supposed to, the laptop fell on the floor. Now, it looks like this. The cost to fix it is, you guessed it, almost the same as the cost of a new computer -- even though this one is only 3 months old.

I have nothing else to say on that subject. I'm hooked up to an external moniter for now, which is tedious, not portable, but fine, for now.

Get Out the Vote plans are going forward, but I can't talk about that because, apparently, there are spies everywhere.

John McCain spoke at my high school this morning, which made me want to work a little harder. Thankfully, he spoke in the gym, where I almost never went, unless I was forced.

Very, very special shout out to all of you who came up to get the vote out this weekend. These are the folks I know of, who have come from out of state to work with me in PA so far.

Dana Fialco
KC Masters
Kat Audley
Jen Audley

Mik Muller
Brent Vimtrup
Laura Montes
Jim Gomez
Karyn Schwartz
Rebecca Smith
Josh Clayton
Hannah Swihart
Sean Tarrant
Liz Rosier
Tom Neely
Amanda Duffy
Grayson Laird
Stacey Margolis
Erin Wilson
Daniel East
Alexis Black
Avi Glickstein
Allison Mclemore
Stacey McMath

A-men Rasheed

Jessica Rasheed
John Giammarino
Sarah Michelson
Jeff Matteuzzi
Katie Portman
Quinn Wageman
Megan Wageman
Joey Grussenmeyer
Emily Young
Leah Pike
Brian Turnbaugh


When we win, bragging rights are yours. Plus, I have a special sticker for each of you. If you email me your address to eaudley@voteforchangepa.com, I'll mail it to you. Hurry! E-mail address expires on November 5.

Everyone else -- jealous, much? No, seriously, I know you're all doing as much as you possibly can.

My list of donors is a mile long, and I know I haven't done a proper job of thanking you yet, but I will soon.

yes, yes, I know.

A lot of people have been asking about the speech -- details are forthcoming, I promise.

For now, I'm busy, busy, busy getting ready for Get Out the Vote (GOTV) weekend, where everything gets bigger and faster and crazier. Also, it's when weird things start happening.

Like, for example, today, one of our staging locations (the place where we tell volunteers to meet, and where we set up little makeshift offices, phone banks, and canvassing centers for the 4 days before the election) was shut down. For "code violation."

Ok, so. This staging location was all fine and set to go up until now -- it had been an office before, and it was being used as an office now, everything was set with the landlord, everyone was fine.

Except, oh, wait, the precinct that the office was in is super Republican. Like, mean, angry Republican land. So, you know, obviously, "code violation."

The dirty tricks begin. In the past, Obama organizers have come to their offices to find the locks superglued shut, or to find all of their cars blocked in by other cars on election day. Windows broken, eggs thrown, things stolen/vandalized.

Add Halloween to the mix, and I'll be surprised to find the building intact tomorrow morning.

It's going to be crazy, and we're going to have to think on our feet and adapt quickly, but I'm excited and confident, even though I have absolutely no idea what to expect.

Thanks to all of you who are coming down to PA. So many people responded to my call to action/shaming diatribe! Those of you who are not coming down to PA -- well, we can still be friends.

xo
Elizabeth

Barack Star

Hey you guys.

So, I bet you thought this blog was going to be all “listen to this funny yet moving story with cool insider information from the campaign office,” huh.

Like, you probably thought it was going to be all West Wing-y, with a pinch of The Office thrown in.

And you’ve returned again and again, only to find that I'm still just harassing you in eight different ways to come and volunteer for the campaign.

Lamest. Blog. Ever.

So, I feel I owe you an explanation. And there’s a special surprise at the end of the post.

1. We actually really need the volunteers. So please come.
2. I found out shortly after I got here that I’m not actually allowed to blog about the campaign. You know, loose lips and all that.

So, sorry about that. I do have a lot of funny and awesome stories, but I can’t really share them until after election day.

But here’s something I can tell you right now.

Barack Obama is coming to Delaware County on Tuesday!

He’s coming to Chester, PA and speaking at 10am. We’re expecting about 20,000 people to show up. At least.

But here’s the really exciting thing.

I’m going to give a speech at the rally.

Hold on. Let me say that again. Just in case you didn’t totally understand it. Because I didn’t really understand what they were telling me at first either.

I’M GOING TO GIVE A SPEECH AT THE RALLY WITH BARACK OBAMA ON TUESDAY.

So, the speech that I’m going to give is a volunteer recruitment pitch – the same damn pitch I’ve been giving all of you, but to a group of 20,000 people.

I’m very excited, but I have no idea what to expect. I’ve spoken before big groups before, but not this big.

Also, I’ve never made a speech that is this important. Like, if it works, and we get everyone to volunteer to help get out the vote, we’ll win the election. And if it doesn’t work, and we don’t get enough volunteers, we might lose. You know, no pressure.

Also, did I mention that Barack Obama will be there?

So, wish me luck, you guys. And think of me on Tuesday morning. I may not sleep until then.