Obama supporters spent last Saturday canvassing to show their support the president
Anya Cohen
News Editor
Eleven College of Wooster students gathered at the Wayne County Obama campaign headquarters on Saturday for a “Day of Action for Obama.” The students were joined by Wayne County locals who have regularly contributed to the Obama campaign.
While many of the community volunteers spent the day phone banking, all of the Wooster students were broken into pairs or groups of three, given a list of 60 names and addresses and sent out to canvass the Wooster area.
“Canvassing helps us to get a consensus of what the polls look like for the area,” said Molly Young ’13, who works as a fellow for the Wayne County campaign for Obama. “It also gives us an opportunity to educate community members on how Obama has changed the life of Ohioans and how people can get out to vote early.”
The students canvassing had a loose script that posed questions to the residents such as whom they planned to vote for in the upcoming election, whether they were interested in early voting and if they would be willing to get involved with the Wayne County campaign for Obama.
While some of the residents were happy to see young people involved in the support of politics, others seemed disinterested or even angry about having canvassers come to their door.
“Because Ohio is such an important state in the election, residents are so tired of being bombarded with emails, phone calls and people knocking on their door,” said Young. “A lot of people say ‘no, let me get on with my life.’ But there are also a lot of people interested in the election and interested in talking to people about it.”
Educating community members about the candidates and registering them for early voting are the main goals of the Wayne County campaign for Obama. By registering people to vote early, the campaign hopes more votes will be cast in the overall election.
Another goal of the Wayne County campaign for Obama is getting college students in the area registered to vote in the state of Ohio.
“The reason that Ohio went blue in the 2008 presidential election is because of how many college students got out to vote,” said Young. “We have the power to sway this election too.”
After all of the students had returned from canvassing, the “Day of Action” concluded with a buffet lunch for all volunteers. While the volunteers ate, John Maglio, a Democratic candidate for Ohio State Congress, spoke about the importance of getting people out to vote in the upcoming election.
Elliot Flautt ’13, a volunteer at the event, enjoyed the opportunity to volunteer his time to the campaign.
“I liked that it provided an easy opportunity for an inexperienced volunteer like myself to get involved in the Obama campaign right here in Wooster,” said Flautt. “In some small way, I do believe that my volunteering this weekend made a difference.”
For those interested in getting involved in the Wayne County campaign for Obama, phone banking takes place from 6 to 8 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday at the Organizing for America headquarters, located at 135 North Bever Street.