Melissa Watson is Fired Up and Ready to Go

In his book about the 2008 presidential campaign “The Audacity to Win,” David Plouffe, Barack Obama’s campaign manager, emphasized again and again the importance of expanding the electorate. By this Plouffe meant that, in order to win, the campaign had to reach out to voters who previously had not been engaged politically.

Melissa Watson was one of those people who Plouffe et al was trying to reach. She got involved in 2008 when one of her friends, a Hillary Clinton supporter, asked her to volunteer. Watson obliged. But when she compared Clinton and Obama, she ended up supporting the former Illinois Senator (and didn’t tell her friend about her decision until after the primary was decided). After Obama defeated John McCain, Watson wasn’t ready to move aside. “We had worked so hard during the campaign and we wanted to keep it going,” Watson said.

Four years later, Watson is still involved, perhaps even moreso this time around. In 2008 she attended the Democratic Convention in Denver. This year she’s in Charlotte as the Second Vice Chair for South Carolina.  

 “The Republicans are very good at messaging,” said Watson, who is a government teacher at West Ashley High School. “But the Democrats are the only ones who’ve solved problems like the once we’re experiencing now.”

One of the reasons Watson got involved politically is because the Democrats appeal to all groups and not just a few. “We have same sex marriage, a strong emphasis on women’s, and we passed healthcare for all,” Watson said.

Still, Watson would like to see the party support more freedom for teachers and, in turn, students. “With all the emphasis on testing in the name of accountability, we’re turning these kids into robots,” Watson said.

Watson is confident that Obama will prevail, but knows there’s still a lot of work to be done in the next two months. “People see it’s going to be a close race and we need to work just as hard as we did in 2008,” Watson said.

While in Charlotte, Watson is looking forward to hearing Michelle Obama speak. “Outside of the President, she is the best messenger for Democrats.”

Watson also noted that Michelle Obama will likely strike a tone different than Ann Romney, who was one of the show-stoppers last week at the Republican Convention in Tampa. Watson was impressed and, she said she would give Republican Convention last week an ‘A.’ That doesn’t mean she liked what she heard.

“I thought they were patronizing (on issues of race and gender), Watson said. “The rhetoric and the record don’t match. It’s offensive.”