It’s been astonishing to witness the sheer number of people who have decided to own a piece of this campaign. Folks from all over the country have flooded into Texas. Three weeks ago there were no staff on the ground here in San Antonio. This weekend there are at least 80 paid staff - everything from advance teams and core campaign staff to field organizers, along with battalions of volunteers. We were plugged seamlessly into a well-oiled volunteer machine that began with an out-of-state volunteer training held at a downtown hotel Saturday morning. The training room was packed with folks from all over, but there was a strong presence from the Bay Area and the Pacific Northwest. At the training, volunteers were assigned to one of the six campaign offices in San Antonio. We have been working through the northern office, located in an abandoned strip mall that is completely dead except for the vibrant little corner occupied by the field office.

Not only are non-Texans descending upon the state in person, but there are thousands sitting in their homes around the country calling voters here in Texas. Our good friend Ted Strawser threw a phone call party in San Francisco Sunday afternoon to make calls to Texans to explain the hybrid primary / caucus system here in the state – what the Obama campaign cutely calls the “Texas Two Step.” Ted told us that at his party alone they made 600 calls. Cat’s brother, in whose home we are staying, has received at least three calls a day from the campaign. And he’s not even a registered Democrat. There is no doubt that the volunteer capacity of the Obama campaign has outstripped his Democratic rival.

There is a reason the polls have shown this race evening out in Texas. Senator Clinton’s support appears static. In our canvassing on the north side, we have encountered Clinton supporters, but they often seem to be doing so out of obligation, not passion. The support of those who intend to vote or have voted for Senator Clinton seems more often than not to end at the ballot box. Obama’s support on the other hand is electric and viral.

As we talk to voters here in San Antonio one of the most touching and effective factors in swaying their vote is the simple fact that we traveled so far to influence them. This tangible, personalized and relational style of campaigning is highly effective. We can count many votes we know we have swayed for Obama.

One thing Julian has found remarkable about candidate Obama is that as this wind of support fills his sails, he has taken the opportunity to expand rather than contract his message. Usually the trend among Democratic candidates is a noticeable constriction of progressive ideas as the campaigns enter “hostile” territory like Texas where voters are not used to the celebration of things like the minimum wage, social services, etc. The once idealistic and unabashed environmentalist Al Gore limited himself to stumping about Social Security in 2000 while a once active and energetic young Kerry had become a stilted and stiff politician by the end of 2004. Obama has by contrast begun to express his progressive values more and more as the campaign has evolved, and we are witnessing how Texan voters are responding.

For Cat, who cut her political teeth in San Francisco, it has been refreshing and uplifting to campaign in her home state and see how liberal and progressive values actually exist here -- and are often extremely strong -- but have been neglected in past campaign cycles. This is a state that simply can’t be painted with a broad brush - like it has become in the minds of most Americans as a result of the current Administration. Texans are diverse and defy traditional political categories. In San Antonio specifically we have had countless conversations with independent thinking folks who are fed up with the past eight years and willing – and often very excited - to consider a candidate like Obama.

The Obama we have seen already twice here in Texas – once Friday night at a large rally and once Monday morning at a small town hall-style event with veterans that we were lucky enough to be volunteering at – is an Obama who is not holding his tongue as Democratic nominees did before him. In San Antonio on Friday evening, Obama spoke eloquently about restoring Habeas Corpus, closing Guantanamo, withdrawing from Iraq before the end of 2009 and defending the U.S. Constitution against the ravages of the Bush years. He is also now stressing his support for indexing the minimum wage to inflation, something that few areas outside of progressive San Francisco have been able to accomplish and a policy rooted in the belief that workers in this country should not be languishing in poverty. The fact that Obama has chosen Texas to express his progressive policy agenda is as encouraging as it is surprising.

Today Texans are voting in droves. Over the past few days the polls have gone back and forth for Obama and Clinton, just like the Texas weather has gone from 80 degree days to freezing nights - and no one at this point disputes how tight this race is or is willing to wager too much on how it will turn out. It could go either way. But this is still a commanding win because we have had the opportunity to see the movement strong and growing in a place like Texas where Clinton once held a commanding lead. And it has been a win for us personally – we have been inspired by the candidate, his supporters, and the voters of Texas beyond what we anticipated. When the results come in tonight, Obama will be here in San Antonio, and we will be there too, hopefully to witness history and the beginning of the next phase of the Presidential contest…