Still on the Ledge (and building a deck?)

In a moment of negligence, I answered my cell phone.  It was Organizing for America, asking if I would help them with their canvassing efforts.  I haven’t been phone banking.  I haven’t gone door to door.  I put up a yard sign and that’s about it.  So, although they didn’t push, my guilty conscience said ‘Yes’.  

Saturday morning, I got up, had my coffee, briefly thought about backing out, and then put on my good pants and went to the coffee shop where they were meeting.  There were only about five people who showed up to go canvassing.   I was relieved to know that the houses had been selected for voters who had voted sporadically democratic in the past.  At least I wouldn’t have to confront any Republicans.  I don’t like confrontation.

I elected to go out by myself.  I was given an area very close to where I live.  Maybe I would get to meet some of my neighbors.  Well, I met five of my neighbors.   Briefly.   “I’m here with Organizing for America to encourage people to vote.  Will you vote?” 

“Yes.”

“Will you support the Democrats?”

“Yes.”

“Will you mail in your ballot early?” 

“Yes.”

“Thank you.”

I went to about 25 houses.  Most people weren’t home, or weren’t answering their door that Saturday morning.   A lovely Saturday morning, and a nice day for a walk.   That is, until my bladder rebelled.  You don’t want to know the details.

I went back to the coffee shop to turn in my clipboard.  One of the men there asked me if I had been at the district caucus last April.  I nodded, and we discussed which precincts we were in.  He said, “Can I put you down for PCO for your district?”  PCO is Precinct Committee Officer.

It sounds really boring, but this is something that I have been thinking about.  Thom Hartmann says we need to be PCOs because that is the position that helps to decide who will run for office.  I considered it, since I was the only one from my precinct who showed up, but discounted it, since I teach on Thursday evenings, when most meetings happen.  I said this to the man who was talking to me and he said a lot of meetings are on Saturdays. 

So, I am still considering it.  A lot depends on the outcome of the November elections.  If Romney wins, will I continue to beat my head against the wall?  If Obama wins, but doesn’t get a House and Senate majority , will I still work for the Democrats?  If McKenna gets the governorship, how will that affect what I do at a local level?

Not sure.  Still teetering on the ledge.  But the view is interesting.

Why We Need to Re-elect Barack Obama

Why We Need to Re-elect Barack Obama

…and give him a majority House and 61 Senators.

http://www.thenation.com/article/170345/re-elect-president#

Excerpt:

“Progressive opinions on Barack Obama’s first term are as conflicted as his record. These differences are a sign of a diverse and spirited left, and we welcome continued debate in our pages about the president’s record and policies. But that discussion should not obscure what is at stake in this election. A victory for Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan in November would validate the reactionary extremists who have captured the Republican Party. It would represent the triumph of social Darwinism, the religious right, corporate power and the big money donors who thrive in a new Gilded Age of inequality. It would strike a devastating blow to progressive values and movements, locking us in rear-guard actions on a range of issues—from the rights of women, minorities, immigrants and LGBT people to the preservation of social insurance programs and a progressive tax structure. Inside the Democratic Party, Obama’s defeat would embolden the Blue Dogs and New Dems, who have greased the party’s slide to the right.

Whatever disappointments we have with Obama’s first term—and there are many—progressives have a profound interest in the popular rejection of the Romney/Ryan ticket.”

This editorial outlines the disappointments of the Obama Administration, but reiterates the real need to push back against the continued push to privatize our commons. 

In Washington State, we might have the luxury of some people not voting or voting third party.  Personally, I am not going to take that chance.  My hope is that we can get a Democratically controlled Congress.  And I mean a truly Democratically controlled Congress. That means a majority in the House and at least 61 Senators, who will listen to us.  Then, the real work begins.  Then we need to band together and push for real reforms.  My concern is that progressives have rarely banded together.  The metaphor of herding cats is a good one.  Although, from personal experience, I know that it can be done.

The recent Occupy movement has had some success and I hope it/we will continue to be on the forefront of this struggle.  But I have to admit, if the R-R duo takes the White House or Congress remains as obstructive as it is, my hopes are dimmed and I edge closer to the ledge.

To Vote or Not to Vote…

As I mentioned before in an earlier post, the question on my trip shifted from “Who will you vote for?” to “Do you vote?”  I have tried to ask this after explaining some of the other answers I got, just so people don’t feel like I am putting them on the spot or trying to change their minds.  I am just curious.

Each person is different, of course, but of those who answered ‘no’, here are some of the answers I have received.

“No, I don’t have the time”

“No, I don’t know enough”

“No, I don’t want to encourage a corrupt system”

“No, I am an anarchist”

“No, my vote doesn’t count”

“Only in local elections”

“Yes, but for a third party”

On election day, 2004, I was in Cincinnati working as a poll monitor for Election Protection.  I knew Ohio would be critical and wanted to do my bit to help people vote.  At one point, I took a break and walked around the schoolyard, where the polling place was.  As I came back, I was stopped by a police car. The officer asked me who we were and what we were doing. I explained that we were non-partisan volunteers handing out information on voting rights. Apparently, someone had called the police complain. I let the officer know that he could get more information from our legal representative, and pointed to the lawyer in our group. The officer seemed satisfied and drove away without further ado.

After that, we discovered three police cars parked around the corner in the driveway entrance to the polling place. Being a predominately black precinct, we were worried that it would be intimidating to some voters. Our legal member went to talk to them and by the time I got my camera, they were gone.

Another thing I saw was a black man, coming out of a house and shouting to someone in a nearby car.  He was yelling, “I’m voting for Bush!  I’m voting for Bush!”

The person in the car said something I couldn’t hear, but the other man shouted, “I’m not voting.  My vote doesn’t count.”

I couldn’t resist.  I went up to the chain link fence that surrounded the school and shook it for attention.  I shouted back, “Don’t you realize that voting is your right?  Remember, there are many who died for your right to vote.”  I could see the passenger of the car. He looked at me and rolled his eyes as if to say, I’m not with this nutjob.  The nutjob started in again. “My vote doesn’t count. Not in this electoral thing! Maybe for a mayor or something, but not here. My vote doesn’t count!”  He went on and on for about 5 minutes.

I couldn’t stand it. As he stopped for breath, I stepped closer to the fence and addressed him. “You know, Ohio is a critical state. Your vote does count. And remember, people died so you can vote and so I can vote.”
This made him stop.  In a quieter voice, he said, “Well, yeah”, then walked away.

None of us involved in that little exchange had the right to vote when this country was founded.  Voting qualifications were left up to the individual states.  Voting was mostly reserved for white men with property, and it wasn’t until 1913 that anyone could vote for a Senator.  Since the states called the shots on who could vote, it took Constitutional amendments for non-landed males, blacks, Native Americans, 18 year olds and women to be able to vote.   Even now, you cannot vote in some states if you are a convicted felon or homeless.  You cannot vote in federal elections if you live in Washington DC.

And now, states are trying to go back to disenfranchising some people by enacting Voter ID laws.  People who don’t drive, students who have temporary residency, or anyone who cannot access their birth certificate may not be able to vote.  So, the young, the old and the inner city residents are all targets.

So, not enough time or knowledge to vote?  Excuses.  Don’t like the system?  Vote to change it.  Think your vote doesn’t count?  Some elections are won by a dozen votes.

Not voting or even voting third party is giving up.  It is giving up on ever changing the system that we have.