I’m still fired up from the Democratic National Convention. So much so, as I believe I previously mentioned, I’m making donations to candidates who have a great chance of winning to flip the U.S. House of Representatives and maintain the majority in the Senate. It goes without saying I’ve also donated to the Harris/Walz ticket.
Those were fairly easy things to set-up. Just visit a website, click a button, and voilá, money is magically transferred into the candidates campaign fund. Not so easy, it appears, to offer time and effort.
In the past two election cycles I’ve helped with sending texts and writing postcards to potential voters. These were little nudges to remind a voter of important information, such as Election Day date and checking their voter registration status (very important with the Republicans doing mass purges of voters). For postcards, it was a kind invitation to vote and to vote for a specific candidate. It sometimes felt like a small thing to do, but many people doing small things add up to doing big things.
Canvassing door-to-door, cold-calling, or sitting at a booth in which I’d have to talk to people would be quite torturous to this introvert. Small talk and often listening to the nonsense people spew (I once did try to help by phone banking, and never again), is like nails on a chalkboard for me. This is why I do things that I can do in comfort alone somewhere.
In being fired-up, I’ve reached out to several campaigns, to the Indiana Democratic Party (yes there is one), and am trying to attend more Hendricks County Democratic Party meetings. The latter has been very helpful going into this election cycle because several candidates also regularly attend, as well as others show up to tell us who they are and why we should vote. Most recently the two attorney general candidates each attended a meeting in which to lay out why they are the best candidate. Their talks helped me decide who I wanted as the candidate (Destiny Wells). It was one of these meetings where I found out a town council member I like had decided to run for a seat in the state legislature, whom I support (Robert Pope).
Want to know how many of the campaigns or party leaders have gotten back to me about volunteering to help though—essentially zero. I say essentially because Robert Pope’s campaign reached out once, but when I responded back to them, it has been crickets ever since.
Makes me wonder if some of the candidates really want to win. Makes me wonder who is overseeing, or not maybe not overseeing, volunteer recruitment. Makes me wonder if they just don’t know what to do since the Democrats are the underdog with many barriers to winning in my state, that they just don’t know what they are doing. Sadly, if this is how it has always been, I can see why the Democrats don’t do very well here. Have they just given up and go through the motions each election without really pouring heart and soul into the races?
It is disappointing to say the least. It is also a bit aggravating due to the high stakes of this election not only at the national level, but also at the state level. I’ve written many times that although national elections, especially the presidency, do impact our lives, it is at the state and local levels in which our daily lives are impacted the most.
Personally, I don’t see myself as a community organizer. I do imagine working on a campaign can be all life encompassing and probably often a thankless vocation. But, if one signs-up to help run the campaign knowing what it entails, to oversee volunteers, to assist in enrolling voters to actually get out and vote for candidates, you would be doing all you can, with the technology at hand, to reach out to anyone offering in any way to help as quickly as you can.
When someone reaches out to help, they do expect to be tasked with something. In this day and age, getting someone to actually want to help is no small feat. However, the window to engage is a small one. When we make the effort to find the necessary website to sign-up, we expect a response. When we enter all of our information on the form, often more than one might think is needed, we expect a response. When we even tell the candidate no one has reached out and they say they’ll take care of it, we expect a response. When first contact is actually made and we respond with the necessary information, we expect to receive a response.
When there are no responses, it is almost like a slap in the face since we’re often being asked to help. These lack of responses can be the start of the process of becoming apathetic towards the candidate who needs our vote, and the process as a whole. This feeling of apathy can translate into voters who would have turned out for a candidate in multiple ways who may now just decide it isn’t worth it and tunes out politics and stays home. This could be a lost vote, or many lost votes, which I don’t think any Democrat can afford right now.
So, I really want candidates to reflect on what are they really wanting to achieve. What is their ultimate goal? If it is to serve the people and get elected, then they need to get their behinds in gear raising money and shaking as many hands as possible. But, they also need to realize these activities aren’t enough and they can’t shake the hand of every constituent. They actually need their volunteers. Meaning they need to up their game and get us involved in the ways in which we are willing to give our time.
For me, I don’t feel like I’m asking for much. All I need is a set of clear instructions—what website to use to send texts and language for the text. All I need is a list of voters to send a postcard to with sample language of what message you’d like to convey. All I seek is a place to pick-up yard signs and addresses to which to deliver. None of this is rocket science. It does mean you need a good team and if your team isn’t able to deliver, you are sending an unintended message to your supporters. The message is you don’t have it together, you may not be great at picking a team, and should I continue to trust you’ll be able to fulfill the duties of the elected office you are seeking and will represent your constituency well.
Remember, all you say and all you do sends a message.
The question is, what message are you wanting to send and what message is actually being sent?
I’ll be here waiting for direction on how to help, but, I won’t wait forever.
P.S.—As election day approaches, make sure to check your voter registration status. Republicans across the nation are purging voter rolls, kicking hundreds of thousands of people off voter rolls, thus hindering their legal right to vote. Check your status at vote.org at least weekly to make sure you have time to take any necessary action to have your vote counted should you no longer show as being registered.
Personal Reflections of a Middle-Aged Man 