Addendum.

4) One guy was out smoking on the porch, this scrawny (white) guy in his late 30s who looked like a recovering drug addict.

The walk list said "do not knock", which meant that it was either someone who had refused or was a Romney supporter, but I said hi anyways and he was a bit chatty so we talked some.

As it turns out, his parents are Republican and he's always supported Republicans though he's never voted (?), but he's been looking at issues, and he thinks he's just not a Republican anymore because they're not for the working class.

"And that Ryan," he was like.  "I just hate the guy."

So, we talked through issues - education (he's got kids), economy (Obama saved the auto industry and has supported building windmills in Iowa), social security and Medicare (the guy turned out to have aging parents) - and he was totally on board to vote for Obama and the local rep, but he was a bit hesitant about the senate race, because the former governor was running for the Republicans.

"Hey," I was like, "My family has voted for Republicans in the past, but that has party has changed.  I don't know the details, but Tommy Thompson has changed too."

"Yeah, he was taking all that lobbying money," the guy was like.

I then told him about how Tammy Baldwin was raised by her grandparents "because her mom wasn't there for her" and had to take care of her grandma while she was dying, so she's personally invested in all the programs that seniors need, even Medicaid, which Thompson wants to cut but helps seniors afford nursing homes.

That sold him,  and I got him info on same-day voter registration info, and then I asked about his wife.

"There's no talking with her," she was like. "She just gets irrational, she hates Obama so much.  You can't even talk about anything, she just hates the man."

I said that was too bad because her vote affected their kids' futures in a bad way, and he agreed.

5) I accidentally did part of another route, and there were two (black) women in their mid-40s who were also volunteering who I had to straighten stuff out with.

We talked a lot about what an important election it was and other stuff, and the one said she just loved my enthusiasm.

When we left to go our separate ways, I made sure to fistbump both of them, and as I turned to leave, she called out, "Now you have a blessed day!".

6) When I had volunteered during the recall, there was this blonde high school student who was finishing her junior year and doing bad in government, so she took up her teacher's extra credit assignment to volunteer in the recall for the side of her choice and write a 1-page paper reflecting on her experience.

She was so put off by all the hubbub, but I said I'd show her what to do, so I gave her good training, and then because Tammy Baldwin and the local candidate for congress were there and giving remarks, I made sure to introduce her to them after their short speeches, and say she was a high school student about to go out on her 1st canvassing shift.

Both talked with her and were super nice, esp. Tammy Baldwin.

"That is so cool!", she was like, and it turns out she had a ball canvassing.

So, yesterday, I was in the campaign office like 5:15pm after my (long) 2nd walk pack, and I hear this voice, "Hey, [my name]!", and it turns out to be the high school girl.

Despite the fact that it's her senior year and she's in 5 AP classes, dance, and orchestra (and college applications, I'd guess?), she came out to give one afternoon to Obama and the other Dems.

I was just so happy, and she was next to some older (white) woman who I introduced herself to thinking it was her mother or something, only to find out it was some random volunteer who walked in at the same time and wasn't sure what to do - and my high school student took her under her wing, trained her, and went out to do a route with her.

Oddly, Tammy Baldwin and the Democratic rep candidate had popped in to the office before 3pm that same day, so her 1st-time canvassing partner got to hear them speak too!

It was very satisfying, to see history repeat itself, and a very nice high schooler giving time for a cause she believes in.