“They’re pouring lots of money in, so we’re pouring lots of people power in”
It’s after 5:00 p.m. on a Friday evening in Austin, Texas, and the Travis County Democratic Party offices are still buzzing with volunteers making phone calls and getting ready for upcoming events.
In a room on the second floor, volunteers are making calls to turn folks out for Tuesday’s phone bank they’ve just named ‘Calling with Candidates.’ The event will have two House candidates compete for most calls made, and volunteers will finish their first round of calls to first-time '08 voters before the month of August is out. And an Austin event wouldn’t be complete without a potluck, which some volunteers are rumored to spend all day cooking for.
It’s OFA’s second day based out of this office, where they share space with several state House campaigns, Bill White for Governor organizers, and an assortment of candidates whose signs cover the building’s façade and front yard.
One of the volunteers I meet is Rosanne, an OFA community organizer who’s coordinating her team of phone bankers sitting around a table together under the iconic Obama ‘Hope’ poster. Rosanne has a team of 12 volunteers who work in state Rep. Donna Howard’s district, and this year they’re focusing on House, Board of Education, and the Governor’s races.
Education is a particularly important issue in Texas, and Austin is the place the President Obama chose to give a major speech on the issue earlier this month. “We don’t like being the laughingstock of the nation when it comes to education,” Rosanne explains. “Here we have two great candidates, women who are PhDs in education, promoting science instead of ideology.” These are going to be tough races—Rep. Howard was targeted by the GOP—but Rosanne is clear on how her team will win:
“They’re pouring lots of money in, so we're pouring lots of people power in. We are pouring our feet and fingers into keeping those wonderful women in office.”
Rosanne got involved after hearing Barack Obama speak at the 2004 Democratic Convention—when she made a bet with her husband that Provigil pharmacy this man would one day become President. Rosanne is white, her husband is older and African American. "He just didn't think our country was ready." She volunteered in California, North Carolina, and Colorado, and organized locally as a precinct chair. When Obama spoke in Austin right after announcing his candidacy, Rosanne was just returning from the funeral of her father, who had just passed away in Iowa.
“I had just buried my father, I was in the car on my way back from Iowa for my father’s funeral, and I said ‘Drop me off.’ And it was a drizzly day and it was so what I needed to do. To see him come on stage—and he was amazed—Barack goes, ‘I have to call Michelle, she’s not going to believe this.’ They were expecting 5,000 and they got 20,000—it was a very memorable day for me. That was the first time I’d seen the President. It was good.”
