Stories from the (Phone) Line: Patty

While volunteering this morning with the North Texas Victory Center, in Arlington, TX, I took the time out to speak with one of my fellow volunteers.  I wanted to get a sense of why other people where there, and what they were thinking.  Patty had been my "neighbor" since shortly after I'd arrived, and I got the sense she was a first time volunteer, like myself.  So I asked her a few questions.

That's Patty at the right.

Patty is a stay-at-home-mom, with three kids.  Two of those are now in college, the other is in High School.  She told me one of them lives in Virginia, now, and that she'd been pestering him to vote all last week.  Her husband is a physician, and they live near University Park.  She says she's always been a Republican, and the fiscal side of things is much more important to her than the social.

This was her first time volunteering.  Like me, she had limited time, but wanted to do what she could.  When I asked her why she decided to volunteer, she first told me it was her "Love of Country," and "Loyalty to the Republican Party."  Those are hardly unique to her, and I wanted to know what pushed her to volunteer.  After all, many share those qualities and weren't there this morning. 

"I really believe this election is hugely critical."  She told me that she feels the election is just so close, and that she felt she had to do something to make a difference.  The fire in her person as she spoke left no doubt, in my mind, that she'd like to take every Democrat and undecided voter she could get her hands on and just shake them. 

We spoke briefly about Benghazi.  Despite the virtual MFM blackout, she was aware of much of it.  She took the name of the blog, and may learn more about it later today. (Hi, Patty!).

Meeting Patty made me a lot more optimistic about today.  Texas is a virtual "gimme" for the Republican Party in Presidential Elections.  One of the reasons there are so few Victory Centers here in Texas is that those resources can be better spent elsewhere.  So knowing that, and knowing that she was still excited to volunteer and willing to sacrifice some of her time to ensure victory made me realize how much more determined and excited those in more hotly contested areas must be.