Obama knocks on doors, surprises voters

Obama knocks on doors, surprises voters
Democratic nominee settles into Ohio for three days of debate prep
Posted October 12, 2008 4:34 PM
The Swamp

by Jill Zuckman

Barack Obama jetted back to Ohio today to spend three days preparing for his final debate with John McCain. But before he holed up with his advisers, the candidate began knocking on doors in Holland, Ohio, making his way through a neighborhood of modest ranch and split-level homes.

His move to the Toledo area comes as a new Ohio Newspaper poll puts the race at a dead heat, 48-46 for McCain. That's tightened considerably since the group's September survey had Obama down six points, 48-42.

Sue Sekel, a 43-year old healthcare worker dressed for a day of Sunday housecleaning, opened her front door to discover Obama standing before her.

He asked her what she did for a living and how she was managing in the economic downturn. Sekel said she was doing fine and that she voted early.

Later, she declined to tell reporters who she voted for, but she said, "I told him what I did." She also said Sunday was "the one day I come home to clean ceiling fans and look like crap, and then this happens."

Despite her fluster at finding a presidential candidate on her doorstep, Sekel still snapped a cell phone photo with Obama and said she thought his visit would help him in this working-class neighborhood.

As word spread that Obama was in the neighborhood, a few dozen people gathered across the street to watch, as three teenage girls raced across the street in bare feet and socks, armed with cameras.

"Where are your shoes?" Obama asked them, before taking photos with them and crossing the street. There he shook hands with about a dozen neighbors, asking them what they did for a living and offering words of concern.

Shelly Kretz, a 38-year old Proctor & Gamble worker who lives around the corner, said that she had been on the fence, but that Obama made her a believer with his answers to her neighbors' questions.

"It's really awesome that he takes the time to talk to the middle class and answer questions," she said, adding that her brothers, who live in the neighborhood, were in the group and also were swayed by Obama's appearance.

<SNIP>

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/10/barack_obama_john_mccain_ohio_1.html

gaining ground in FL and now he's in Ohio. Smart move.

it's great!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1exiyBYnJ00

However, I, too, would wish to get a little heads-up to at least make sure I'd showered and wasn't still sweaty and wearing my gross workout clothes. :)

I'm sick as hell and my house is a mess.

Obama was in my neighborhood yesterday for a rally 6 blocks from my house, but thankfully he didn't stay to canvass! ;)

It's not the same as sweet potato pie, of course, but he might appreciate it. :D

It's my favorite. :)

I've got homemade soup on the stove and the pumpkin pie is cooling on the counter.

I'm about to make a big pot of veggie soup myself. So grateful that soup weather is finally upon us.

Time to heat up some veggie soup myself...best time of year, until spring that is. ;-)

:hi:

:)

:bounce:


Can anyone come close to imagining McCain doing this? :rofl:

I think that McCain has about as much charisma as Cheney. I think that Obama's 527 people should have somehow made some type of identification with Cheney. He is one of least respected people on the face of the earth. They both strike me as arrogant first rate bastards that have been cut out of the same mold. If I hear that "My Friends" crap one more time I think I will vomit. I noticed that Biden alluded to it yesterday. Wasn't Hillary's address terrific?

I agree with everything you said. And I LOVED Hillary! :bounce:

cleaning and doing laundry all day today and I'm a mess. If Obama was on my front porch I would be torn between how horrible I look and how great it would be to meet him.

I would surely regret that decision for the rest of my life.

Not that I woudn't be so startstuck that I could do much of anything other than drool...

and saw I Obama I would definetly answer the door even though my apt isn't the best right now what with obsessesing about the election.

I've been wearing my Obama button and walking around town the last couple of days, seeing as I don't have a yard in which to put a sign.

with him knocking on doors.

It's a very wise move for Obama. Too bad he couldn't knock on more doors.

just curious. However, super cool approach.

He probably misses going door to door.

And I mean that in a good way.

Direct contact with voters can't hurt. The more people see him the more they like him in my opinion. (unlike Palin)

:rofl:

it's done! :bounce:

Always with the new ideas..I love it!

This went from 4 to 12 votes in as long as it took me to recommend it!

that's MY president :)

I'm in NY State, very solidly dark blue, so he has nothing to do in NY except maybe attend a fundraiser in Manhattan somewhere. No rallies or anything for us NYers.:(

thats about 100 miles away. Lately Bill & Bill have been popping into the Hudson Valley visitng.

is treated the same. When you're blue, w/ big electoral numbers you get token appearances, usually only in the big cities like LA & San Francisco.

now who else would have done that?? so cool and smart!!

is pretty much down the street and around the corner from my house! Ok, it's a couple of miles away, but I know exactly where that is. I was out and about today but not on that side of town.

I just love the Dad coming out in him with that question! :)

Nice to see that in a leader for the first time in, oh, 8 years or so...

But I would still be happy to see Obama standing there.

that's quite the visual.....
but what's the porkpie hat?

:hi:

soon. Watch out Obama.

Pretty cool.

;)

Man, it takes forever just to do a block or two!!!

"Okay guys, so all we have to do is have Sen. McCain knock on every door in America between now and election day and we will win in a landslide!" "Brilliant!" "Thank you!"

...I'd ask him if he was lost.

"Shouldn't you be knocking on doors in battleground states, like Missouri, Indiana, and North Carolina?"

tell him to get the fuck off my property, and slam the door in his face.

"Get off my Lawn"

I was out knocking on doors FOR Obama for four hours yesterday-- with my luck-- he would have knocked when I wasn't home.
And then-- for sure, I would have just killed myself :-)

I have a feeling he wil be one of those presidnets that does this all the time :)

K&R :kick: :)

If I answered the door and found Obama on my front porch, I'm not sure how I'd handle it. But it would be thrilling, nevertheless.

I'm just curious...I have a huge 4 ft. x 2 ft. Obama/Biden sign in front yard. Do you think he'd even bother ringing my doorbell?

I don't think so.

It would cut into their Klan rally or $10,000 a plate luncheon time.

That way, she might not get the door slammed in her face.

I'd lean down, put my arm around her, and whisper in her ear.

She'd walk back to the sidewalk and say, "Mommy, what does 'bitch' mean??"

:evilgrin:

I would probably "accidentally" spill my coffee on her.

I really wonder about working class Republicans who McCain and his ilk wouldn't think of actually associating with. They are regarded as just useful idiotic low class trash by these arrogant bastards. Don't they get the message.

They are like the shabby poor kids with their noses push up against the window looking in at all the rich folks having a lavish $25,000 a plate dinner party at their expense. If McCain went out canvassing among the common folk like Obama, he would be wearing a surgical mask and gloves and have a decontamination crew standing by the limo.

Oh my.

You get votes....up close and personal.

His ground game continues to amaze.
I can't wait for his 30 minute TV spots.

oh, wait..you didn't mean me...LOL!!

(for a brief brain fried second, I thought you did!)

:rofl:

Thanks for posting :bounce:

Still a Dad being a Dad....

This is more than politics for him. This is about us. When he said this stuff was personal, there's no doubt it is for him and I'm happy he's taken the time out when he could to get to the people and see what was going on.

"Barack Obama and Joe Biden are for YOU, and that's why I'm for Barack Obama and Joe Biden!"

As word spread that Obama was in the neighborhood, a few dozen people gathered across the street to watch, as three teenage girls raced across the street in bare feet and socks, armed with cameras.

"Where are your shoes?" Obama asked them, before taking photos with them and crossing the street.

That sounds like a question a dad would ask. :loveya: I just love him for his down to earth matter of fact self!

:loveya:

Out of the mouth of babys come wisdom.

Obama goes door-to-door to drum up votes in Ohio

By Arshad Mohammed 13 minutes ago

HOLLAND, Ohio (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama walked door-to-door in a working class Ohio neighborhood on Sunday, urging committed Democrats to vote for him and trying to win over wavering independents.

Obama's stroll down Shrewsbury Street in Holland, Ohio, was a relatively rare foray into retail politics for the Illinois senator, who appears to be pulling away from Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona according to national opinion polls.

"Remember: everybody can vote right now. There is early voting in Ohio. Don't wait," Obama, his sleeves rolled up, said as walked down the street knocking on doors, shaking hands and fielding questions in the Toledo suburb of modest brick homes.

With 20 of the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the November 4 presidential election, Ohio is a central front in this year's campaign and was the state that secured Republican President George W. Bush his 2004 reelection victory.

Obama will spend the next three days in Ohio, where recent polls show a statistical dead heat with him slightly ahead of McCain, to prepare for their last televised debate on Wednesday.

Several of the people Obama met stressed their anxieties about the U.S. economy, which many economists believe is headed for a recession amid the global financial crisis that dragged major U.S. stock indices down some 18 percent last week.

<SNIP>

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081012/pl_nm/us_usa_politics_obama

Barack Obama met voters in Holland, Ohio on Sunday. (Photo: Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times)



TOLEDO, Ohio – For months, supporters of Senator Barack Obama have been knocking on doors across the country to rally enthusiasm for his candidacy. On Sunday, he joined them at a few doorsteps.

As Mr. Obama arrived in northern Ohio to begin preparing for his third debate with Senator John McCain later this week, he made a detour to the Lincoln Green neighborhood of Holland for nearly an hour of impromptu door-to-door campaigning.

The locations of Mr. Obama’s debate camp have been built around the politics of battleground geography. For the first debate, he and his circle of advisers converged on Florida. For his next debate, the Obama team hunkered down in North Carolina. And for the final encounter with Mr. McCain, the Obama campaign selected the Toledo area.

His visit on Shrewsbury Street clearly took some residents by surprise, including Sue Sekel, 43, who was cleaning her house when the presidential candidate rang the doorbell.

“The one day I come home to clean ceiling fans and look like crap, and then this happens,” said Ms. Sekel, who pulled out her cell phone to snap a photograph with Mr. Obama. She told him that she had already voted early, but declined to tell a small group of pool reporters who she supported.

But Mr. Obama seemed to give away the secret, saying: “I appreciate that,” before moving to the next house on the block.

As word spread that he was in the neighborhood, a crowd began to gather, nearly all of whom seemed to be excited by the political visit. Before leaving, though, he was confronted by a man, who shouted: “Do you believe in the American Dream?”

When Mr. Obama answered yes, the man said he had a follow-up question.

<SNIP>

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/obama-knocks-on-doors-in-ohio/

Maybe he's a techno-geek! :)

What terrific pictures. The man looks good in white, that's for sure. (Also seems like it was a gorgeous fall day out there.)

My husband and I live right near the place Obama is staying tonight at Maumee Bay State Park. We waited there for his bus hoping to see him, but they took him in a back way and all we saw was the rumor of him in a car. We were a little disappointed that he didn't come out to talk to everybody, but we thought it likely that he got to his room and crashed.
Anyway, I put a Halloween sign in my yard that says, "Sarah Palin for V.P.?? Now that's scary!" It has a little drawing of a frightened looking wolf on it. wouldn't it be cool if Obama's bus happened to pass our house and he saw it?

...John McCain going door to door? What about Sarah? I'm sure she wouldn't be caught dead knocking on someone's door without making sure it was carefully scripted. Look what happens when she meets real people - she tells them what she thinks they want to hear, then has to have John appear with her to 'explain' what she meant - that she didn't really contradict him, she's just expressing her 'maverick nature.'

I don't ever remember a presidential candidate EVER going door to door to say hello to people.

Guess he's not that scary after all. :-)

I remember Harry Truman out for his daily stroll around Washington D.C. He stopped and chatted with people and reporters along the way. My favorite line was when he said, "I will stop telling the truth about you when you stop telling lies about me." Before he was president, he went out by himself to a KKK rally and challenged them calling them a pack of cowards. I think that Obama has the wisdom and charisma of FDR and the courage of Truman.

I get all embarrassed so I play it cool. But I almost KNOW that I would cry a bit if I got to meet my new president. :) He is truly something different and it's so exciting to be alive right now. There would be photos, no matter how insane my hair is!

edit to add - he's not just a "celebrity" to me, but you get my drift.

All I can say is Barack is going to make a HELL of a president.

The people's President, oh yes, oh yes!


:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

You never know!

:bounce:

I want a human in the White House. Is that asking too little? Or too much?

A real human in the White House would be bad for business. But you know what, I want my country back. The country I know has nothing to do with commerce. It's about people.

That man is brave. And real. It fills me with pride. And I'm not a proud person.

for OHIOBAMA!:hi: :kick:

Gotta love that man!

no text. sorry ... but their were no spaces left to tell you in the header.

Can you imagine if Lumpy went door to door? bwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwa ha ha ha hahahahaha. He would be wearing feathers before the end of the street!

A candidate who really cares, among the people. Nov 4 can't come soon enough!

:nuke: :patriot: :nuke:

;)

How can anyone intending to vote be undecided at this point?!?

Demonstrated absence of ethics, brushes with the law, representing a political party with enough corruption investigations and convictions in the last eight years to give a mafia boss a coronary, inability to form coherent sentences, witchhunt tactics at rallies, proven lack of sympathy for anyone who didn't inherit a billion bucks at birth, .... it's too painful to go on.

Undecided means you are still weighing your options. I don't think "undecideds" have stepped up to the scale yet.

Sorry, but if you're undecided you just aren't fucking paying attention!

Then again I've so lost all objectivity, I think anyone supporting McCain is little better than a Borg or Cyberman. So I could be going a little over the top here. :)

Can you imagine what an impact this must have meade on thousands of his volunteers? He is a true leader and a great inspiration!

You are fantastic! Your pictures and news are always welcome!

This is heartwarming and made me cry! I have been through so much these past 5 years - Son in Iraq - Almost loosing another son because of no insurance and no heath care for his Progressive MS - lost our home because we couldn't find a good job in Florida and all the money we spent to keep our son going for a year and a half with food, shelter, and medicine. This will truly be a joyous time for me in November when we all prove that the Dream is Still Alive!

Blessings to you!

:bounce::woohoo::bounce:

Looked like she'd just won the Publisher's Clearing House Sweepstakes!

Gods, I'd freak if Barack showed up at our house. Of course, with our Obama sign in the yard, he might not feel the need to. :D

This country, this world, deserves Obama and Biden after the nightmare of 8 years of Bush and Cheney.

Go go go.

Obama is featured this Palin Cartoon!

Let's Spread it together!

Link:
http://www.youtube.com/user/TomRyanFilms




Other Websites related to the video:
www.votetomryan.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/TomRyanFilms

Welcome back to america....minus 8 years...probably how long it will take to get HALF of our Country Back.

..well, considering where I live and that no one can find my front door anyway, this is obviously a work of fiction. But here's what would happen.

I'd open the door, probably dressed in baggy sweats or stinky work-out clothes, see President Obama on my porch, and immediately be on the phone to my best friend asking him where he hired such a good likeness. It would take a lot for President Obama to convince me it was really him.

IOW, I'd make a TOTAL idiot of myself!!!:spank: :spank:

That would seriously be AWESOME!

I would love to talk to him about the issues.