Words cannot describe the incredible journey that took four of our SEIU California members to the state of Arizona to join many SEIU and other organizations' members working hard to affect change. CHANGE WE NEEDED, and for the millions of working class people just like us that have suffered due to the pitfalls of our economy, the loss of many jobs, and the stability of our lives, this change was finally realized on November 4, 2008, election day. Barack Obama, our new President, has restored new hope and dreams for a brighter, more stable and prosperous future.
It goes without saying that this journey was not easy, but with hard work and perseverance, our California Team, (Brian O'Neil, Gwyn Harshaw, David Gardi, and me) met and exceeded the expectations of the Arizona, SEIU local. It would be noteworthy to say that while McCain may have won his state by 54 - 45 percent for Obama, it was certainly not by a landslide as some would have expected. During the month of October polls indicated there was a closer range of only 4 percent and at one point only 2 percent where McCain was leading.
Arizona became a battlestate at one point. For Tucson, Arizona though, we were successful, given that the last polls showed Obama won. He garnished 52.45 percent (177,257) of the votes, while McCain received 46 percent (155,439) votes.
This was a real victory for us because when we first got there the polls indicated McCain was leading by almost 15 percent. We were told we were the only ones hitting the grounds canvassing and talking to voters. Each one of us has our own perspective of this journey, and our own story to tell I'm sure.
This is my story:
As I reflect back on my experiences, I can remember getting a call from Riko Mendez, our Political Director informing me that I had been selected to participate on the Obama campaign, and that I would need to be away for seven weeks. I was in Baton Rouge, LA at the time, working on another SEIU project, but immediately accepted, and was so grateful to him and the SEIU interviewing team for having had the confidence and trust in me to do a good job in this very important and historical election. I did my best as did my other team members to ensure we reached, spoke to, and convinced thousands of Tucson, Arizona, residents and other surrounding county voters to vote for the Obama/Biden, Gabrielle Giffard and Ann Kirkpatrick Democratic ticket. These candidates were our SEIU members' choice to best represent working class people.
The first few weeks were perhaps the hardest for me. We were out canvassing every day in the foothills of the city where turf was spread out, with long upwards and downwards hills. The heat was at times so unbearable, and I just about died the first week, but of course I didn't - I used plenty of sun block, a hat, and drank plenty of water. I survived. After a while, I just felt like the energizer bunny, and I just kept going and going, and going!! I never lost sight of our mission, and did my best to stay focused, in spite of the many experiences that brought tears, laughter, pain and fear. I remember knocking on doors and being asked, “Are you from ACORN,” over and over again. At times my heart would beat faster at the thought of encountering another hostile person.
I remember being surrounded by three teenage punks who held fake knifes and were dressed like Jason from the Halloween movie. I was pointing my flashlight at a street sign to determine my next stop. I got so scared because as I was looking at the street sign, I heard heavy breathing, and at first I thought it was a dog, but when I just slightly turned around, I saw what I thought was a man with a knife and a white mask, I immediately jumped back, and at that point saw three teenagers with their Halloween masks laughing because to them it was just a prank. I screamed and they ran away.
I called my lead Taylor and she immediately picked me up. I remember just crying that night. I remember knocking on doors and at times encountering people that were down right racist and nasty with their remarks, but I kept my posture and just smiled and said, "Have a nice day" and then walked away. This for me was the best way to deal with this kind of hostility. At one point, I was even convinced by one of my team members, and I won't mention his name, to jump over a fence that for me seemed liked 6 feet so that we would not have to walk all the way around the complex, of course it wasn't 6 feet, and I went ahead and jumped this fence. It wasn't easy though, my partner would say, “Just jump, I'll catch you.” And I would say, “NO. Just hold my backpack and hold my hands or my arms,” all the while laughing as I was jumping over the fence. I don't know how I did it, but I did. I jumped that fence. The problem is we were kicked out of the big apartment complex. Of course we laughed all afternoon just thinking about this incident.
I remember falling down and scraping my knees and hands. I was OK though. The greatest memory though is the night of the election, November 4th, when Barack Obama was said to have won by a landslide, something I had been hoping would happen. This day will be forever a memory I will treasure.
I'd like to thank our lead Taylor Whitten who was always on top of things to ensure we had our daily schedules and were ready to go. I would also like to thank Samantha Drews, Sint Sint Moe, and Lindsey Walker for their great leadership, encouragement and gratitude. You guys are all awesome!
Maria Castillo
Member Political Organizer
SEIU 521
Monterey County