Democratic Registrations in Coatesville and Western Chester County

Our local Obama volunteers in the Coatesville and Western Chester County are coming back with an incredible number of Democratic voter registrations.

The number of registrations was at 1400 Sunday afternoon and many more came in Sunday night and Monday. That is from about 60 local volunteers in Coatesville, Parkesburg, and Downingtown and as far east as Exton. I don’t dare to try to estimate the final tally that “United4Obama in Chester County Region 2” has totaled, I always under-estimate the numbers of registrations that we finally bring in.

Beginning on Saturday morning we covered ourselves with Obama pins and stickers, fanned out from our meeting at the old Lukens office building in Coatesville and trudged up and down the hills of the City of Coatesville and Valley Township. We asked anyone who was home if they were registered to vote and stood by while they filled out registrations. Those of us who were seniors called it a day at about 3:00 pm while the younger folks kept up until dark. Some of us were on sidewalks at busy corners. A few of us did more canvassing on Easter Sunday and Monday.

Another Obama volunteer and I circled around the area on Monday knocking on doors finding people to fill in small omissions that they made on their registrations. At about 3:00 pm they were picked up and went to Kathleen’s home for final checking and delivery to Voter Services.

The excitement for Barack Obama is something that I have never seen before. Most elections are about voting against whoever the other candidate is. Voting against the Bush and the Republicans in general is certainly a big part in this election. What I see are people who believe that Mr. Obama is someone who can lead a Nation. A Nation not just of power brokers but a Nation that includes all of us. A Nation that can be respected by other Nations once more.

Many times we came across a Republican who was changing his or her registration to vote for Barack Obama. In part the Republican’s that are changing their registrations to Democratic are doing so because of dissatisfaction with Bush and the local Republican Party in Chester County. But there is another even more compelling reason that I see when I talk to Republicans here, many of whom are close friends. They see something in Senator Obama that they really like. I can’t really speak for them but I believe that they see Barack Obama as a leader with real convictions and the strength of character to put those convictions into action.

The Obama volunteers here began the voter registration drive in January. They built it into the rolling snowball that it is today without any help from the Obama Campaign. We did it on our own without any help from the national campaign until about 3 weeks ago.

When Obama runs in November we will have an established dug in group of volunteers ready to roll over the Republican Party in Chester County.

Jim Pitcherella