FAQ: I want to help in Pennsylvania -- what can I do?

Great!

First, let me know who you are. I start working in PA on October 1, and I would love to put you to work, whether it's for a week, a weekend, a day, a few hours. I solemnly swear that I will put you to good use.

If you don't live in Pennsylvania.
That's ok. They really need your help there, and there are ways for you to get there and get involved. But be forewarned, right now, the campaign is primarily focused on finding and training people who can make a long commitment -- either for a few weeks, or for a few weekends in a row.

So, if you live in New York and are able to commit to several weekends in a row before election day, check out "Drive For Change" on ny.BarackObama.com. They'll set you up in your own field office, and you can do what I'm doing, but on the weekends.

If you want to do what I'm doing, then why the heck are you reading this blog? Apply to Camp Obama, right away! Now! Go! Get!

If you can't make that kind of commitment, there's still work to be done, but you might not hear back from the campaign very quickly -- see the separate post: "If the campaign needs volunteers so bad..."

After October 1, you can get in touch with me directly, and I will put you to work, give you a phone number, or otherwise point you in the right direction.

For now, make an account on my.barackobama.com (see separate post on that, too), to help you hook up with existing groups making trips down there. Or, if you are really itching to do something RIGHT NOW, you can organize your own trip. Print out a bunch of PA voter registration forms, take the bus to Philadelphia, and stand in front of a grocery store. You think I'm kidding? I'm not. That kind of action is how Obama won the primary in South Carolina. Don't wait for the campaign to tell you it's ok. Have an idea? Do it.


If you live in Pennsylvania
If you are interested in working with me, let me know. I will put you to good use. If you have any friends who are even a little interested in volunteering, send them my way. Tell them I am very fun and nice, and that I often give out very special prizes to my volunteers. Also, there will be scheduled breaks to "dance it off" at my office. Put the word out, yo.

Like I said before, print out a bunch of voter registration forms, and stand in front of the grocery store, the library, the bank, the post office, the YMCA, where ever you can. I'm seriously not kidding about this.

Can you host a volunteer from out of state? Do you have a spare room? Do you know anybody who does? Get in touch with your local field office (via pa.barackobama.com) and tell them you can offer "supporter housing." They'll know what you're talking about.

If you live in PA, and can afford it, here's a really, really nice thing to do: Find out where your local field office is, and call up the pizza place (or sandwich shop, or whoever else delivers), pull out your credit card, and send those tireless volunteers some foods. They're working really, really hard. For nothing.

If you live in Pennsylvania, and want to help but you can't give any more money and don't have any time, here's what you can do:

- Write letters to the editor of local papers. This is free advertising, and this kind of word of mouth is what got the Obama campaign moving in the first place.
- Carry voter registration forms with you wherever you go. Be vigilant about asking everyone you meet, and everyone that you are standing in line with, or on the bus with, or at the movies with, if they are registered to vote. Register them. Mail it for them, too.
- Drop off food and snacks to your local campaign office. A couple sodas. A bag of apples. A case of water. A box of doughnuts. A pound of coffee. Chex Mix. Whatever you've got, or can get. The volunteers will thank you for it, and the campaign can spend their precious dollars on advertising, not pizza.
- Tell everyone you know that the Obama campaign really, really needs more volunteers, and urge them to get in touch with their local office, via pa.barackobama.com. I cannot overemphasize the importance of this kind of word of mouth, grassroots communication. It really works better than anything else.
- Check out the separate post on the "Neighbor to Neighbor" tool on BarackObama.com
- Send this blog address to all the people you know.