"Yeah, they're gonna be a five..."

First canvass of the school year!  Well, I might just count it as the first canvass total.  I went back on one in July with my good friends Nathan (campaign manager for Deb McManus) and Lee Storrow (CH Town Council) to knock on some doors down in Chatham County.  And while it was really really awesome and successful and fun...it was also hot as s***.  So yeah, we can count today's as numero uno.

We (6 of us from Young Dems) headed down to Clayton which is about a 45 minute drive southeast of campus.  Straight up Republican stronghold.  It was a little intimidating.  We were canvassing for Representative Mike McIntyre's campaign, a Blue Dog, socially conservative Democrat who's had to cross party lines quite often the past few years to maintain a favorable view in his district.  Never in my life would I have imagined canvassing for a candidate who was pro-life, anti-bailout, and in the midst of a major push to distance himself from the president.  But hey, his opponent is horrible.  And I'll do anything to help a Democrat keep that seat.  Even if he's not MY ideal candidate, he's been that district's ideal candidate.  And that's what it takes in the South.

So we knocked on doors for about 2 and a half hours in some absolutely beautiful weather.  Not even kidding; perfect day to start canvassing.  I got to pair up with my buddy Luke as we hit up several different neighborhoods and covered multiple walk-lists.  And yeah, like I mentioned before, it was a little intimidating.  A lot of the people we were visiting were pretty damn conservative.  Extremely nice people (rural, country raising will do that, trust me) but conservative nonetheless.  A lot of people were marked as a '5' on our checklist (aka strong opposition supporter).  Though there were a few diamonds out there in those dark Republican mines.  There were many people we engaged who were hardline conservatives but still planned to vote for Rep. McIntyre because of his stances on the issues.  And that was really comforting to see: McIntyre doesn't align perfectly with my political ideals, but he knows exactly what his constituents want and need, and he isn't afraid to make a few hard votes to make it happen.

So yeah, freaking awesome day to start off our door-knocking.  Getting some rest and staying in on this Saturday night: we're back at it tomorrow!  Visiting Patty Philipps next door in Alamance County.  Can't wait to work on a NC House race; that's where we need to elect Democrats first and foremost.