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Anna Olsen at Obama rally in Denver's Civic Center (Courtesy: Anna Olsen)
Anna Prai Murphy Olsen speaks with passion in crisp, precise English about her path to involvment in this presidential election.
"I saw Barack and Michelle Obama on Oprah three years ago, and the minute I saw them, I was really inspired to hear a politician not talk like a politician," she says.
The 32-year-old Obama volunteer in Denver is such a fervant believer in the cause of the Democrat that last August, she quit her job as a journalist in Denmark to come to America. "I'd never been involved in politics in Denmark," she notes. Her only goal was to be in Denver for the Democratic Convention, and after a roundabout trip on public transportation from New York to Washington, D.C. to Chicago and the Midwest, she arrived here.
Renting a room in a house, she has proceeded to volunteer along with other Europeans -- from England, Germany and Holland, among other countries, here in Denver -- and across the United States.
"Whoever leads the United States is very important to Europe," she says. And after being bitterly disappointed with George W. Bush's re-election, she became encouraged by Obama's candidacy. "He opened my eyes to a person I believe is genuine, decent and has the desire to use power in a good way. He is a leader."
Still, doubt and fear, too, set in. "I was afraid that maybe Americans would not elect him," she says.
She notes that she's not anti-John McCain, just pro-Obama. To that end, during her travels, she had many long conversations with American citizens, especially the undecided voters. That, in part, is how she came to work as a full-time volunteer helping run phone banks, canvassing and training from a campaign office at 9th and Bannock. She's running on three or four hours of sleep per night because "there's so much to do." Some other volunteers are embarassed to see a person from a foreign country working so hard, she says with a laugh.
Just as Americans have learned from her, Olsen acknowledges she's also gained a broader understanding: "I realized Americans are just like Europeans, only in a bigger country. They are very curious, open people."
She feels she has made an impact, but is braced for disappointment. "I don't want to think of it," she adds, noting "it would be a sad day if he loses. Still, McCain would be an improvement." The happier thought, as she returns to her native country 10 days after Election Day, would be that Obama is going to be president. "Barack Obama is not perfect. He can't deliver in four years everything he's promised, but he has priorities. And he's showed so far he has a good sense of picking people for advisers who can help."
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