Hi everyone!  Sorry I didn’t get an update in yesterday.  I just got in a few minutes ago and it is almost 2 am.  This has been an exciting two days.  I have canvassed throughout NE Philadelphia and the support for Senator Clinton continues to soar. 
 
TOMORROW (TUE 4/22) IS THE BIG DAY. 
 
Today I canvassed with two young men — one an African American fellow who carries around boxing gloves so when people ask him if he is a boxer or a fighter, he tells them he fights for Hillary.  He told me today he is still floored that gender has been a much bigger obstacle than race.  He doesn’t understand it and never expected this.  We canvassed three different neighborhoods and knocked on 340 doors!! Whew, we went pretty fast.  As soon as we were done, we headed over to University of Pennsylvania for a visibility event prior to the rally at the UPenn where Bill, Chelsea and Hillary were to appear.
 
I had a very interesting conversation with a young female college student who came out holding an Obama sign.  I asked her why she was for Obama and she said, “mainly because I just hate Hillary.”  I was pretty calm but I asked her why.  She said she didn’t know but that it was like if you ever meet someone for the first time and just hate them for no reason.  I told I didn’t know what that was like, but asked if she had ever met Hillary.  She said “No, but I’ve seen her on TV.”  I encouraged her to go see her talk tonight because she will be blown away by her brilliance and her strength of character.  She told me she would.  Then, a fellow chimed in who was one of the organizers for Obama visibility events.  He and I started talking and I said, did he really believe in his heart that Obama could win the election in November.  Okay, guys, here is the big one — he said “NO, I don’t, but everybody loves him and that’s I’m on board.”
 
I did read Nancy’s post about Obama not answering questions in the last 10 days — no kidding, he hates questions for the press and his irritation is showing everywhere.  He only likes to have huge rallies with lots of music and cheers where he can start his “revival” style of preaching.  And that’s why women always faint at his “revivals.”  He doesn’t solicit questions, he only talks and everyone listens.
 
Gov Rendell and the mayor of Philadelphia came out tonight for the big rally. 
 
Today I talked again to Teresa Krusor, the superdelegate from Kansas.  She and I have had a very similar experience while canvassing.  Neither of us can complain about canvassing in the African American communities because they have been so nice to us.  I still believe there are lots of African Americans (women especially) who will vote for Hillary.  We both talked about how the Hillary supporters are less vocal.  For example, when you go to a door and ask if we can count on your vote for Hillary on Tuesday, the supporters often times will be very soft spoken and say “yes, I’ll be voting for her.”  The Obama people are very open, proud, and loud.  The “undecided” in Pennsylvania are about 10% of the vote and I believe the majority of all undecideds will vote for her. 
 
Sunday and today we concentrated on re-contacting all known Hillary supporters who have a less-than-stellar voting record, i.e. they seem to vote only half the time.  Our goal today was to remind them how much we need them and are depending on them, and we located polling places for lots of those people.  I believe we are going to have a huge turnout.
 
I have met so many people who I had seen in Texas and I am really enjoying the other volunteers and staff.  There is a great team here who has done a great job of pushing forth the strategy.  I know the media and the news programs always have their opinion.  For instance, they have said Westchester County is the place to be and that is where the state will be won.  This is not the strategy they are using.  Yes, a huge effort has been placed in Westchester; however, they have placed an even stronger effort in the areas they KNOW they have huge support, but the challenge is getting out the vote.  That is everything we have done throughout the weekend. 
 
Today I visited lots of places that were being visited for the second time in 3 days.  I explained to those voters that their vote counts so much in this election and we want to make sure they are able to get to the polls.  I believe it is working because they are very enthusiastic — much more so than 5 days ago.  We have been followed by the Obama campaigners — they have lots of expensive looking door hangers, and have a paid staff for phone banking.  They have outspent Hillary almost 4-to-1 and still are not making a big dent.
 
The campaign here has saturated the area with contacts — Hillary’s volunteer base is much larger even though she has less money and less offices.  She has a much more grassroots effort in Pennsylvania and her voter base is very loyal.
 
Tomorrow is going to be huge.  We will be out at 6:30 am in designated areas holding signs and reminding people to vote.  We will also continue to call and canvass in areas where people are less likely to vote unless they are encouraged.  We will have poll sitters calling in every hour providing us with lists of who has voted so we don’t bother to contact them.  We will continue to contact voters throughout the day who have not yet voted.  And, we’ll be busy providing transportation for voters who would otherwise not be able to get out to vote.
 
Hillary will probably be in Scranton the night of the election since that is her home town.  There will be plenty of celebrations planned for Philadelphia and I plan to party.  When I was in Texas, I worked all night long in the legal dept taking reports of “irregularities” at the caucuses. 
 
Despite the Obama campaign paying an organization to do all of the phone banking, I still feel our team is far superior when it comes to dedication and support, and I know it is going to show when the election results are in tomorrow.
 
Thank you for all your calling — tomorrow is the biggest day for calling and if you can call early in the day, it would help tremendously.
 
Thanks again everyone!! Woooooooooooooo Hoooooooooooooooo GO HILLARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Cathy Wittel

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