A Letter from Jennifer Boysko.
I just want to give you an update on what is going on in our grassroots effort here on Locust Street in Herndon. I'm not going to address issues, or tell you what to do on Tuesday, just how this campaign has affected me personally.My house has been used as a canvassing station in the Town of Herndon for the Barack Obama campaign. That means that people who sign up to go door to door to speak to voters first come to my house and with the daily help of Will Tantoco a full-time volunteer and our staffer Caitlin Currie who leads us from the headquarters, I volunteer my time and space to help train them and get them ready to meet their neighbors and have real conversations about things that matter to them. Then after their shift they come back to my house and share what they learned. Will and I make sure the campaign receives all of that information. While on paper it sounds dry, what we are doing is community building in the best sense. Neighbors from Herndon are spending time getting outside themselves and asking others how they feel about the state of our nation and the world. Thousands and thousands of conversations have taken place.
For the volunteers ourselves, we've all gotten to know one another. People I never would have met otherwise have become new friends and are engaging in reaching out to others in a way I have never seen.
For example, yesterday at 6 pm we had calculated that over 40 volunteers had come though in one day. Each of those volunteers took a packet of households to visit with an average of 40 houses in each packet. Imagine the number of conversations! We thought the day was coming to an end. Then I looked across the street and saw more cars arriving with big groups getting out to cross the street to come to our house. It was folks from Washington, DC who individually started by showing up at the DNC in Washington at 4:30 and finally they arrived together, ready to work an hour and a half later as the sun was setting. We sent them out with flashlights and good cheer. Our volunteers were all colors, all ages. I learned through the course of the night that two of them were jr. high classmates from Pine Bluff, Arkansas and they were thrilled to learn that I was born there too. Here we all were in Northern VA, working together for what will be possibly the first black president of the USA. We hugged and laughed at the nature of our small world. They knew Grace Episcopal Church where my father served as minister and we laughed that the same billboard that has been there for over 40 years where the little girl on a swing for Sunbeam bread is still there swinging in her swing. People are connecting in the most amazing and positive way - reaching out listening to one another. By 9:30 pm as Will- who is the most amazing full time volunteer - and I cleaned up the porch for the day we counted that over 50 volunteers had come through and spent time with us in Herndon. Most of these people are volunteering on the campaign for the first time in their lives.I don't know if you can appreciate how tremendous that number of 50 volunteers in one day is. That means from my porch, approximately 2,000 households were visited in one day in the small town of Herndon. Two thousand in one little town. And the same thing is happening all over the country in other little towns and big cities everywhere. People are connecting. People are listening to one another. People are treating one another with respect and kindness. These are moms and dads, grandparents and students, whites, blacks, Latinos, Asians, Muslims, Christians and Jews all coming together to speak to our neighbors about this most important election we face.
In most campaigns I've worked on, I've been excited with 5 canvassing volunteers in a day! We got 10 times that in one day. And today, we are going to get up and do it again. And Monday too and election day as well. Will and I will go over voting rights, precinct locations and tell volunteers to tell their stories and ask the voters about theirs.Some people are cynical and say that Barack Obama is going to be just another politician. Some are troubled on other fronts. After seeing the graceful, positive, respectful manner in which he has conducted his campaign and the way our grassroots effort has been so amazing, I expect great things from him. I think we are going to see a profound positive shift in the way the highest office relates to the the citizens and in the way citizens are regarded. The fundamental policy of the Obama campaign is that everyone matters. Regular people like me and my friend Will- who stays up until 4 am putting canvassing packs together then spends the entire day working with me - we matter. You matter, even if you don't agree. We all matter.
I am so sick of divisive politicking. It's unhealthy of everyone.
With Obama's campaign, from my front porch, we treat each and every person with respect. No one is going to be called a terrorist. No one is going to be called un-American. I believe the way a person conducts his campaign is a good indication of the way he or she will govern. The people who have been hired as campaign staffers to lead us volunteers are committed, respectful and professional. They don't use dirty tricks. Instead they encourage us volunteers to find the best we have in ourselves. They are well organized and efficient. I have never felt like I was wasting my time in volunteering. I believe that in an Obama administration, he will hire high quality, prepared professionals to fill the posts in all areas of government. I don't believe he will hire cronies or make appointments to assuage certain sectors in the political special interest world. His funding comes from millions regular Americans like me giving $100 at a time. His political "machine" is made of regular people like me and Will and Caitlin (our staffer), who have nothing to gain for ourselves but good government. How refreshing!
On Tuesday the nation will speak. On Wednesday we all have the ability to move forward with the choice of the American people. Maybe I am being presumptuous, but I think Obama will win. I think America will be a better nation for it. I hope those who oppose him will make every effort to re-unify. Our nation needs that.
I can speak for the nature this campaign has been based upon. I've been living it daily for a long time now. There is nothing to fear. Citizens are coming together to listen to one another and to take part in democracy. That sounds pretty good to me.
With respect,
Jennifer