Temple University students were treated to an appearance by President Barack Obama on Saturday for the Philadelphia canvass kick-off rally.
Obama told the crowd:
But you know what, coming to a rally, that’s not the hard part. What I need this weekend is 20,000 doors knocked on by all the volunteers who are here today. Is that something that you think you can do, 20,000?[…]
So I want everybody to get out there, knock on doors, make phone calls, volunteer, talk to your friends, talk to your neighbors, go into the beauty shops, go into the barber shops, when you’re in church or -- you know, this weekend, I want everybody to be talking about -- have folks voted.
Of the roughly 1,000 in attendance, I would estimate about 100 stopped by the tables and picked up forms to knock on doors and canvass the neighborhood.
Meanwhile in the Sunshine State, Charlie Crist and Bill Clinton are playing tricks on Kendrick Meek, the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate.
The New York Times reported:
Former President Bill Clinton’s political bank shot appears to have hit its mark with many black Democrats who were lined up at the polls here Friday.They were not voting for the Democratic congressman and neighbor they had long supported — Representative Kendrick B. Meek — but rather for Gov. Charlie Crist, a former Republican who is running for the Senate as an independent.
[…]
Strategists from both parties disagree on the likely impact of Mr. Clinton’s effort to single-handedly reshape one of the most closely watched races in the country by giving Democrats permission to sacrifice one of their own.
Florida Congressman Alcee Hastings blasted Crist in a statement:
In August, Democratic voters elected Kendrick to run in the general election. He stayed and fought his primary. Now, Charlie Crist is trying to make deals with special interests who want to force the legitimate nominee out of the race. Charlie didn’t have the guts to fight in his own primary. If the Democratic nominee was a Caucasian person this would not be happening.This historic campaign will propel the first black person to hold a U.S. Senate seat from Florida. Kendrick is the right person for the job. We cannot allow Crist and misguided people to get away with this.
Hastings and Meek’s message to black voters: Don’t be tricked. “If you vote, we win!”