Not doing my part

I regret not volunteering to help out with the campaign. Although I've been an Obama fan since I read his first book, long before he declared his candidacy for president, I've hesitated to volunteer. Mostly I just didn't want to knock on doors and make cold calls. But as I've read more and more accounts of canvassing, I start to think that I would have actually enjoyed it.

This man in North Carolina certainly got a lot out of it. He too was skeptical at first, but ended up volunteering again:

We knocked on every door we could find and checked off every name on our list. We did our job, but Obama may not have been the one who got the most out of the day's work.

I learned in just those three hours that this election is not about what we think of as the "big things." It's not about taxes. I'm pretty sure mine are going to go up no matter who is elected. It's not about foreign policy. I think we'll figure out a way to get out of Iraq and Afghanistan no matter which party controls the White House, mostly because the people who live there don't want us there anymore. I don't see either of the candidates as having all the answers.

I've learned that this election is about the heart of America. It's about the young people who are losing hope and the old people who have been forgotten. It's about those who have worked all their lives and never fully realized the promise of America, but see that promise for their grandchildren in Barack Obama. The poor see a chance, when they often have few. I saw hope in the eyes and faces in those doorways.

My wife and I went out last weekend to knock on more doors. But this time, not because it was her idea. I don't know what it's going to do for the Obama campaign, but it's doing a lot for me.

That is the appeal of Barack Obama. No politician will make everyone happy with his or her stances on the issues. But someone who inspires people on this level, who makes them feel confident that everything will be ok even when circumstances are grim, and who gets people excited and hopeful about their future and their place in this country- that is someone I want in the White House. I've known this all along, but I wish I'd figured out sooner what I was willing to do to help.