As political activism, expected voter turnout, and media hype reached their zenith in the presidential race, so did tensions in signature swing states. In an effort to drum up support for Democratic candidates from Virginia, the Columbia University College Democrats headed down to the state’s 10th congressional district over the long weekend of Oct. 31 to Nov. 4. Spectator’s Kim Kirschenbaum joined the Dems on their campaign, and reported via the paper’s election blog. Below are selections from the blog on Kirschenbaum’s travels with the group—for more information, check out the full blog at http://specblogs.com/chicago/.
Day 1—Friday, Oct. 31
Exhausted after the long day’s drive, 132 College Democrats groggily checked into the Days Inn in Leesburg, Va. at around 7 p.m.
Yet the fatigue quickly waned an hour later as the district’s candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, Judy Feder, greeted them with a welcoming speech.
Feder has been actively pursuing Democratic health care policy initiatives for the past three decades, serving as staff director of the Congressional Pepper Commission—a bipartisan coalition on comprehensive health care—and working in the Department of Health and Human Services. Feder ran against incumbent Frank Wolf for the congressional seat in 2006, and faced the Republican once again this year .
“It’s going to be an uphill battle, but we can do it.” Feder said. “We can beat Wolf.”
Day 2—Saturday, Nov. 1
No one said traveling the campaign trail would be easy.
Kevin McKenna, CC ’10, approached the door of a home in Virginia’s 10th congressional district. The woman who opened the door took one look at his Democratic paraphernalia, and said, “I’m not interested in either of those candidates,” and subsequently slammed the door shut.
Such is the nature of the canvassing experience. Since Virginia is a battleground state, the Dems had their fair share of challenges as they canvassed earlier today.
They went door-to-door for several hours to encourage local residents to go to the polls—and more specifically, to vote for the Democratic ticket. Their energies concentrated on tying Barack Obama to Virginia Senate contender Mark Warner and to Feder.
In spite of the challenges, the Dems also saw some hope for their cause.
“There have been a lot of ups and downs,” Michael Schwartz, GS/JTS ’09, said. “There have been a few people who have said, ‘you’ve already been here, I’m not interested,’ but for the most part, they’ve been extremely receptive.”
Other College Dems’ experiences seem to coincide with Schwartz’s. Area residents ranged from ardent Obama supporters to on-the-fence voters, shifting over to lukewarm conservatives and far-flung Republicans.
“I arrived at the house of a 50-year-old man who was apparently a very strong Republican,” said David Gebhard, an intern at Feder’s office who had helped teach the Dems the art of canvassing. “When I asked him if he was planning on voting for Obama on Election Day, he said, ‘Are you kidding me? I’m not voting for a fucking Muslim’ and he pushed me. Naturally, I left his yard.”
Meanwhile, Nate Morgante, CC ’09, said when he stopped off at a local ice cream parlor, he met a Republican employee who fervently supports Obama. Upon seeing Morgante clad in Obama stickers and carrying Democratic literature, he gave him ice cream on the house.
Day 3—Sunday, Nov. 2
The lawns of Virginia homes have become a checker-boarded landscape of alternating red and blue signs. There are no clusters of either sort, and for yards lacking campaign signs, there is no predicting the residents’ political affiliations. This political divisiveness has cut its way through families, neighborly relationships, and business alliances.
Richard Zulewski of Leesburg, Va. had a story to tell along those lines. After Zulewski put up a sign in his yard, his neighbor—who supports McCain—protested the sign being there, saying it violated homeowner’s association rules to use a sign not rented by the association. Zulewski said his sign disappeared days later.
“The sad part is, this guy and I are good friends,” Zulewski said. “I wouldn’t have dreamed in a million years that he would betray me like that.”
An employer at Bruto’s, a Leesburg ice cream store, said that he wasn’t publicly endorse Obama in his front window because he feared retaliation from the owner of a local gun store.
Day 4—Monday, Nov. 3
“I don’t know what it is about Obama, but every time I hear him speak I cry like a baby,” Lanetta McWilliams of Germantown, Md. said in between sobs while sprawled out on a picnic blanket on Prince William County Fairgrounds, not far from Washington, D.C.
McWilliams was among the 90,000 who attended then-presidential candidate Barack Obama’s final rally in Manassas, Va. before the Nov. 4 election.
Obama stressed the importance of education, calling it “the key to our country’s competitiveness in the 21st century.” Yet amid all of Obama’s promises of sweeping reforms, he also acknowledged the hardships of the path to improvement.
Audience members said that in spite of Obama’s lateness—he was supposed to arrive at 9 p.m. and arrived due to traffic delays at 10:30 p.m.—hearing him speak was well worth the wait.
“We traveled two hours to come here,” Mussie G. of Manassas, Va. said. “Yeah, I waited over an hour outside in the freezing cold, but Obama lifted me and [his speech] made me feel warm.”
Left with a sense of faith in the country’s future under an Obama administration, many College Dems called the event the “high point” of their trip.
“I’ve heard this speech before, but what made it so special was being with other people like me,” Isabel Broer, CC ’10, said.
Day 5—Tuesday, Nov. 4
The offices of the Democratic headquarters in Ashburn, Va. were abuzz with activity this morning. Volunteers swarmed about the sign-in sheets and complimentary food tables and phones rung off the hook as organizers tackled last-minute tasks amid the final hours of the campaign.
Today, the Ashburn office will sent out nearly 175 volunteers to go door-to-door in Loudoun County, Va. Columbia University College Democrats will be among those circulating the homes in the area.
“This is a family-oriented county, so it’s great to have this energy,” Ashburn office hub director Fran Coughlin said. “I love it because it energizes me.”
“I’m terrified,” College Dem member Emily Wilson, CC ’10, said. “Last night at the rally, knowing it was the last event of the Obama campaign, I realized, this is it. It’s the last 12 hours. And we’ll know if we made a difference by tonight. And that’s powerful.”
Election Night
After hours spent at polling locations and doing last-minute canvassing, College Dems began their trek back to New York City, listening to NPR’s election results in lieu of overplayed iTrip music. Electoral decisions elicited vociferous cheers or boos with the announcements of the presidential, senatorial, and congressional results. Although Judy Feder ultimately lost her bid, the anticipation of the presidential verdict continued to mount. At 11:00 p.m., Barack Obama was proclaimed victor, and celebratory screams filled the vans, Ecstatic Dems drove through the streets shouting his name out the van windows and proclaiming, “Yes we did!”
“I think this is fantastic for our country, ” Columbia University College Democrats President Chris Daniels, CC ’09, said. “I am incredibly proud of the Columbia Dems for all of their hard work. I think we managed to turn Virginia blue, and it shows the power of what young people can accomplish.”
Those back at the Ashburn, Va. office also acknowledged the power of this group.
“I think that in Virginia we were blessed to have a top-notch field program,” Jared Leopold, communications director of the Democratic Party of Virginia’s coordinated campaign, said. “We were lucky to have support from people all over the place, including people from Columbia. I really appreciate the fact that these students came down and helped put us over the edge.”
Like Leopold, College Dems noted the significance of their trip to Virginia.
“If you look at the numbers in Virginia, the counties that put us over in these races are the ones we were working in,” Columbia University College Democrats media director Avi Edelman, CC ’11, said. “It’s really amazing just thinking about the important role that our organization has played in making all of this happen. We’re a part of history.”
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