They're coming from all over the country, lured by their faith in Barack Obama, to spend a weekend in Tamarac, then six weeks bringing the Obama message to Floridians. It's part of a massive mobilization of volunteers for Obama's campaign throughout the nation. The 3,600 volunteers — the campaign calls them "fellows" — include 400 in the key battleground state of Florida."fellows?" For crying out loud.
They're unpaid, save for food and gas stipends for some, and they covered their own expenses to travel to the 2 1/2 days of training that begins today. Mom and dad's credit cards. It's a heck of a resource, especially if you're 40 and only halfway to your BA.
About two-thirds will return home after training and will work in their communities. The rest will spend the next six weeks in South Florida and other parts of the state, working from early morning until late at night, sleeping in spare bedrooms in the homes of local Democrats donating the space.
"Kumbaya, my lord, kumbaya...."
"I've never seen this level of excitement in a presidential campaign — or any campaign — ever," said County Commissioner Stacy Ritter, Broward chairwoman of Obama for America.
What else would she say?
Obama needs the help in Florida. The state's voters will award 27 electoral votes in November — one-tenth of the 270 needed to win the presidency. Polls have shown Republican John McCain, the Arizona senator, doing better in Florida than Obama, the Illinois senator. McCain enjoys another advantage: the backing of Gov. Charlie Crist.
McCain spokesman Jeff Sadosky said the candidate is "building a strong ground game based on Floridians reaching out to their neighbors to spread John McCain's message." He didn't provide details.
The Sunshine State, and especially South Florida, has been strong Hillary Clinton territory. And because Obama didn't campaign in Florida because of the candidates' boycott of the disputed Jan. 29 primary, he never had the kind of massive, up-close exposure he enjoyed in other states.
Many of the fellows are what you'd expect for a big campaign, especially the effort for Obama, who has energized legions of young people and brought them into the political process. It's mostly people not tied down with families, Ritter said. Some are middle-aged or retired. "There are a lot of 20-year-olds."
Many have never been involved in politics, said campaign spokesman Josh Earnest.
Robin Rorapaugh, a Broward political consultant and Obama supporter, said the volunteer fellows could give Obama a big advantage. "The best way to validate a candidate you do not know is having live people speak about the candidate," she said. "Having actual people out in the community, young and excited, is going to do nothing but help."
Like most political campaigns, the Obama camp strictly controls its message, so volunteers weren't available for comment. The campaign said it would consider making some fellows available to comment, but didn't end up doing so.
Florida fellows will be split between the Tamarac Community Center, chosen because it's an easily accessible, and Gainesville. Earnest said the fellows, selected based on applications and telephone interviews, would be trained today, Sunday and part of Monday. After the
Earnest said their roles would be different from the envelope stuffing and phone calling familiar to previous generations of campaign volunteers. "We've tried to empower and engage these volunteers — empower them to be responsible for organizing in their community," he said.
They can exponentially expand the campaign's reach in Florida, where Obama now has about 20 paid staffers.
Though the election is five months away, Rorapaugh said it's not too early. "There hasn't been a lot of infrastructure built in huge Democratic areas like Broward in many, many years, and to get the kind of voter turnout that he is seeking ... you've got to start early," she said. "People are very, very engaged in this election, and they're hungry for information." Mortuary records?
There is likely to be a massive backlash against the disenfranchisement of Florida Democrats in the primaries, and against the DNC's deplorable "slave-census" resolution that counts a Florida Dem at half the value of one from, say, Berkeley. Hard-core kool-aid drinkers and Kumbayists are out of reach of course but others, including many Hillary fans, are likely to cross over in hordes in November.