Volunteers were spilling out the door when the SECB arrived this afternoon at the Seattle headquarters of the Washington State Democrats headquarters on Mercer. Dozens of bicycles were lashed against the guardrail next to the building, and the sidewalk was littered with Obama and Gregoire posters. (The SECB would have posted pictures, but the SECB was informed that no photos were allowed inside the Dems’ HQ).
Inside, the classroom-sized main room was packed with more than 60 volunteers, making last-ditch phone calls and heading out to wave signs on the street. We couldn’t find anyone who knew how many more volunteers were expected to turn up, or really, anyone who knew much of anything about what was going on. It was a little hectic. We did get to chat with the newly-arrived volunteers, who were sitting on a couch waiting to be called to the phone lines or drive voters to the polls.
Pam Goodman, who took the day off work to make calls, told the SECB about a conversation she had on the phone with a voter who was still undecided. “She was still worried about Obama’s relationship with Rev. [Jeremiah] Wright,” Goodman said. “I was able to convince her that it was all character assassination.” Mary, the woman next to her, was compelled to volunteer by Sarah Palin. “I don’t want to spend the next 40 years fighting all over again for women’s rights,” she said.
Every surface inside the HQ was plastered with Obama and Gregoire signs, the tables were littered with half-eaten doughnuts, and the walls were lined with telephones and computers, volunteers sitting elbow-to-elbow.
Twenty-eight-year-old Byron (the youngest person the SECB could find to talk to) told us between phone calls that he was volunteering to dispel some of his election anxiety. A Canadian named Chris was nervous enough to drive down from Vancouver Island to volunteer for Obama. “It was important for me as a person of color,” he said.
The real anxiety there was reserved for the Gregoire-Rossi race–volunteers are frustrated with the amount of voters who tell them they’re splitting their vote between Obama and Rossi. Still, volunteer Anne, who seemed to wield some authority over the bustling room, was all smiles. “We’re cautiously optimistic,” she said.
