Reams of newsprint and gobs of pixels will be expended in the next few days pontificating about the influence of the netroots in Ned Lamont's stunning victory over Joe Lieberman in yesterday's primary. But the netroots didn't win this election for Lamont any more than baseball bats win games for the Boston Red Sox. Ultimately, it's the players who matter -- and the Ned Lamont campaign put an all-star team on the field. And it wasn't just the starting lineup; the bench, the announcers, the groundskeepers and the concession workers were all top-notch members of the team.
I had the pleasure of spending three days up in Connecticut in the closing days of the campaign, Friday through Sunday. Heeding the call for volunteers, and well aware that the future of American democracy could very well be at stake here, I hopped into my old Honda Accord and made the six-hour drive from my home in western Maryland to Meriden, and just walked into the headquarters. It was a beehive of activity, but the volunteers quickly put me to work, giving me a phonebanking sheet. I went through the sheet, a little apprehensive at first, but once I realized that not EVERYBODY who gets an unexpected phone call wants to rip your ear off I settled down and started the pro-Lamont spiel. In many cases, the mention of the word "Lamont" elicited an immediate positive reaction; in others, some skepticism but no real negativity. I took this as a promising sign, and after plowing through my sheet I counted a small advantage for Lamont. I heaved a sigh of relief; apparently the latest Lieberman smear attempts hadn't gained any traction.
But what impressed me most was the volunteers themselves, all around me. I had the pleasure of meeting the man who started it all, ctkeith of dumpjoe.com fame. A delightful older man named Patrick was phonebanking next to me. We compared notes. Blogger royalty mingled with us, as Matt Stoller walked in the room and started phonebanking, just like the rest of us. And the many other unsung volunteers just kept hopping from station to station, keeping busy, never missing an opportunity to promote Ned. Tim Tagaris walked in and surveyed the scene. Those who had been working on this campaign for the duration were beginning to show some strain and anxiety as the big day approached, but that just inspired everyone to work harder.
Saturday came. I arrived at the headquarters and attended a canvasser orientation briefing, whereupon I teamed up with three other volunteers and hit the Middletown streets. Two of them were Kossacks: Bess from Worcester, Mass. and Goldberry from New Jersey. The other was that seventysomething dynamo, Patrick, who kept calling me by my MyDD handle Master Jack. We went, we canvassed, and found encouraging support for Ned in working-class neighborhoods, even registering six new voters. Patrick was especially successful; he just would not quit on an uncommitted voter. We saw a twentysomething white working-class guy just sitting on his porch taking in the sun. He wasn't on our walklist, but we just walked up and three minutes later Ned had a new supporter. We enjoyed a long, engaging conversation with a middle-aged black man, a reverend, a veteran, and a conservative, who was undecided but open to Lamont. He was a tough nut, playing devil's advocate on every pro-Lamont argument we could lob. But I think we got though to him.
After a lunch break we split up into groups of two. Bess and I hit a slighly more affluent part of Middletown, and after a bunch of empty homes we found three new residents who liked Lamont but hadn't had a chance to regsiter; we got them signed up, and they thanked us! One lady called up her husband at work to get his personal information so that she could register HIM, too. Never underestimate the value of personal contact.
When we got back to the headquarters I saw someone I had met at the Western Maryland Democratic Caucus in Cumberland back in May; she'd also made the drive and did a double take when she saw a car in the parking lot with Andrew Duck and Martin O'Malley stickers. I picked up another canvassing list, and headed to Meriden with Bess and Patrick. After hitting a few homes, very successfully, Patrick invited Bess and I over to his nearby house in Southington, where we enjoyed a beer and met his wife. We registered a new voter at the Citgo service station when we stopped for gas. The mood was VERY pro-Lamont everywhere we went, and while there weren't many lawn signs, Lamont had Lieberman beat there.
That evening I briefly stopped at the headquarters again before heading to Blogger Central in New Haven. It was intersting to overhear blogger gossip at the HQ -- "So-and-so is freaking out again". "Josh Marshall actually took a stand about something." Then that night it was time for the New Haven party. Street parking was impossible, but there was a garage nearby. The Kiss Float was there for all to see. A LieberYouth teen walked by with her Joe sign and sneered. We sneered back. A Boston Globe columnist fished around for quotes. Bloggers, bloggers everywhere. Good times and good beer -- and NOBODY looks like I ever envisioned them by their handles.
On Sunday morning I went to Mass in Rocky Hill, close to my hotel. The priest made a reference to the election in his homily -- "With this election approaching, you're hearing lots and lots of words. Remember that words are meaningless without actions. It's not what politicians say they are, it's what they do that matters." No names were mentioned, but the reference was obvious. At the end of Mass the priest urged the congregation to go out and vote.
Then it was back to headquarters. The parking lot was quite full -- a great sign that there were plenty of volunteers. Megan in the center was doling out canvassing maps right and left. Patrick was there; he graciously gave me and Bess a gift of a fresh sheet of two-dollar bills as a memento. An unbelievably nice gesture. Bess and I and a very nice young man named Daniel teamed up and headed back into Middletown, but this time to rich neighborhoods, the kinds of neighborhoods where the house numbers go 12, 18, 26, 34, 46. Daniel, hailing from Philadelphia, had never canvassed before, so we did one street with him to show him the ropes. It helped that the very first house we visited was a couple of Lamont volunteers. That put us all at ease. We then fanned out, and again most people weren't home. This day was not quite as successful as Saturday; Bess snorted, "I just ran into my first Lieberman supporter." Still, there were plenty of Lamont people, and from talking to the homeowners it was apparent that the LieberYouth hadn't hit that neighborhood at all. Maybe the voters were too high-information.
I had one unpleasant encounter with a man who virtually chased me off with pitchforks, growling "Lamont's run a mudslinging negative campaign and I can't stand that." I wasn't ready for THAT spiel, so I just weakly said "But it's factual" and walked away. But the next house featured an older lady who was undecided. She's been loyal to Joe but was deeply disappointed in his support for the war. She didn't know much about Lamont but was willing to listen. That was probably my most successful conversion.
We drove on. We approached a home where a family was enjoying a barbecue. As we walked up the mother broke into a big smile and said "Thank God you're here!" Man, we've hit gold in this house. Well, it turns out they had a skunk in their backyard and they'd called animal control. They thought we were there to remove the skunk. We hated to disappoint them, but they were hardcore NedHeads anyway so a good laugh was had by all. I counted a couple more triumphs: a senior citizen who didn't like Lieberman but wasn't going to vote until I showed up at his door and talked him into it -- he was very impressed that I was spending a beautiful Sunday afternoon volunteering for Ned. I also approached a thritysomething woman washing her car. She'd been following the race with some interest but wasn't all that INTO it, but she took my Ned literature and sincerely thanked me for dropping by; she was appreciative of the attention.
Towards the end of the day we went to a huge house in a big field. After what seemed like a ten-minute walk to the front door I rang the doorbell and heard some big dogs bark; about a minute later a middle-aged man opens the door and before I could get a word out he looks at my button and says "He's got both our votes!" I thanked him and headed back out to Bess's car, with a smile and a thumbs-up.
Back to headquarters in the late afternoon. Matt Stoller and another phonebanker are comparing results; Matt's going great, the lady's reporting less encouraging results. I spent a little time there and then headed down to New Haven for the evening fun. I met Neil Fink, of My Left Nutmeg fame, and Gina Cooper, the Yearly Kos organizer. Gina asked me to write this diary, to show that Ned's campaign was less about bloggers than it was about the many dedicated ground volunteers. I can only speak for my own experience, but I hope I've done her request justice.
Monday morning I drove home. I forced myself to NOT check out the Quinnipac survey because I didn't want to be grumpy for the ride back, especially given that the final week in Connecticut was a big media infomerical for Joe. Then I watched the remaining day of the campiagn from here. And Tuesday night around midnight I finally exhaled.
Thanks again to the amazing Lamont groundcrew. You guys all rocked.