A loft in the East Village filled with the chatter of 24 volunteers making calls for the Obama campaign the night before the election. Crammed around a long dining table, scattered on the couch and at the kitchen counter, some volunteers even grabbed space on the floor.
David Travis, a tall, wiry, soft-spoken man with salt and pepper hair hopped from person to person, getting everyone set up for the “GO-Bama Calling Party,” which started on election eve and continued well into the next night.
Loft-y Goals
The party, held in a spacious five-floor residential walkup on East 4th Street, was home to 30 volunteers last night. Armed with cell phones and call sheets, the volunteers shuffled in and out with their laptops, making calls all over the country, including to Florida, Montana, Virginia and Colorado.
“I think it’s important that we gather together and try to prove to ourselves, prove to the nation, prove to the people in power that have been so corrupted by that power that they can’t do what they have been doing with impunity,” said Travis, 35.
Travis got the word out about his party on my.barackobama.com, but also made calls to people he knows. He said that he had never met about a third of the people here and the rest were a combination of his and co-host Heather Raftery’s friends.
“It’s going pretty well, mostly messages,” said Petra Bebas, 24, an absentee Florida voter and first-time Obama volunteer who was calling Democrats in Florida to make sure they knew where and when to vote. “I’ve actually gotten a couple of people voting for Obama, so its very nice.”
Pitchaya Sudbanthad, who was busy calling voters in Virginia, found this event on Obama’s Web site. On average he said he can make about 20 calls in an hour. He attended a similar event on Sunday, where he made 100 calls to Virginia voters.
Chips and Pizza
“I feel very confident that his brand of change will be very good for this country,” Sudbanthad said.
The counter was filled with a snack spread of vegetables, hummus, chips, pretzels and candy, with pizza on the way. Across the room, Karen Zippler, a 35-year-old actor wearing an orange “Obama Mama” T-shirt stretched tightly over her baby bump, made calls while kneeling on the wooden floor.
“I just think it’s one of the most important elections of our lifetime,” said Zippler.
The event’s attendance was just below its 30-person capacity, and the volunteers rarely looked up from their computers and call sheets.
“If the Republicans do manage to get a victory out of this,” said Travis. “I will be rioting in the streets because I will be convinced that there has been foul play.”
