My friend Total BS and I went canvassing in Pottstown, PA a few weeks ago, but I never got around to writing about it.  It was an amazing experience and one that I won’t forget.  I’ll never forget the woman who earned less than $7,000 a year and struggled to support herself and her four adorable children.  I won’t forget the relief she felt when I told her that, no, Obama would not take money from her paycheck to pay for other people’s abortions.

I won’t forget the man who scared Total BS and I half to death when he said that he didn’t want Obama to take away his guns (one of which was a machine gun) and when he said that Biden’s Violenece Against Women Act was the law that put him in jail three (yes, three) times.  I also won’t forget the door (yup, only one) that got slammed in our faces.  I won’t forget the odd sensation that came over us when we realized we were more comfortable canvassing in the low-income Pottstown than we were in the upper-class neighborhood of Limerick, despite the fact that the neighborhoods we grew up in were much more similar to the upper-class Limerick.

I won’t forget the tears that came to my eyes when we discussed the war in Iraq with a woman who had just seen two of her friends travel to Afghanistan (with their year-old baby in tow) to do humanitarian work.  I won’t forget the long talk Total BS and I had with the libertarian who wanted to vote for Obama and was convinced Obama would win PA, but decided to vote for Bob Barr because he felt the need for a viable third-party candidate in future elections.  I won’t forget the man who yelled at his dog, “sic ‘em” when we told him we were from the Obama campaign.  Finally, I won’t forget the sensation of hope (yes, hope) that coursed through my veins as Total BS and I knocked on more than 150 doors for Obama.

I never got around to writing much about that weekend, but I’m not the only person who was moved by canvassing for Obama.  Read one undecided voter’s experience.  He felt a lot of what Total BS and I felt.

~Vulcanella