Debate Night! (2 of 2): Fellow volunteer.

There's this one (hispanic) biology grad student who I've met on campus and who I know through friends, and for some reason when I ask people I know if they'd be interested in volunteering in Wisconsin, he's been the only person who's wanted to.

Two times ago when I went, he was changing apartments, and last time when I went, his girlfriend was moving apartments, but he joined me and my other friends to watch the debate last night, and he said he was serious about going with me to volunteer on Sat., and he's even recruited someone I know who he's much better friends with.

"I want to know more about politics," he was like, explaining part of why he was going with me.  "So I don't think I have enough to really talk with voters yet, I need to do some research before I go, so I know the policies and can talk with people."

I then told him that part of it was knowing some policies, but most of it was finding out the person at the door's issues, telling your personal story and why you support the candidate, and then relating your story to the person at the door's situation.

I then told him my spiel: My big issue is the economy, it's not where we want it yet, but Obama has proven leadership and saved the auto industry when Romney said "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt," which would have been catastrophic for the Detroit area where my family lives and then the tourist jobs in the part of the state where I grew up, since "there wouldn't be any more tourists."

"So why are you a Democrat?", I was like.

"Well," he was like, "I just know I'm supposed to be, but a lot of it is because they're progressive, they're pro-gay, they try to do the right thing by immigration, and I don't know the particulars, but I know they support the lower and middle class, not the upper class."

First off, I warned him that people read things differently, so to say that the Democrats are for everyone, while Republicans are for the "mega-rich".

"Remember," I was like, "If you go to a nicer house and it's a dual income couple, they might be making $150,000 a year, and see themselves as part of an upper class mooched off by lazy brown people."

Then, I asked him what his biography was, and it turns out that his parents were refugees from El Salvador in 1979, are now citizens, and his dad's a mechanic and his mom works for the local school district.

"What job?", I was like.

"School cafeteria," he was like.

Then, I asked him if either had gone to college, and neither had.

"So how did you end up doing a Ph.D.?", I was like.

He said there was a program to expose youth who went to public schools to science careers and encourage them, and he then went to a community college and then a state university, and things took off from there.

Then, again in response to my question, he said he studies prostate cancer.

"That is an awesome story," I was like.  "Voters may never have met someone like you, here's what you say: my parents are refugees and never went to college, one's a mechanic and the other works in a cafeteria, but because of science programs and strong public education from community colleges, I'm finishing my Ph.D. in immunology and fighting against cancer, and what I'm doing will help people and develop new drugs and technologies and help make our economy strong.  Then, say there's a lot of rhetoric that divides people, but every child deserves opportunities to develop their talents, and the whole country will be better off, and that's why you took a day to go volunteer for Barack Obama."

Then, I added, "Especially if you're talking with young moms, they're going to want their kids to be as successful as you."

He said he wanted to write that down, and had wondered if people would even open the door for him, since he's hispanic and has braids. 

"I was thinking of dressing up," he was like, "Not like all Mormon with a tie, but a little nicer than usual, so people will open the door."

He also said he was wondering if there would be black or hispanic neighborhoods he could volunteer in - and he's fluent in Spanish!

I'm def. going to check on that when I call to RSVP for volunteering this Sat.