Day 3 is over and it's a good thing, actually.
Does the phrase "total chaos" mean anything to you? Maybe not total chaos, but man, I don't know if it's the full moon, the day after Saturday night, Halloween, or the heat, but people were freakin' today. Too impatient, short tempered, not getting along. Doesn't work for me.
Still, we got out tons of people, putting door hangers on doors that tell them where to vote. One guy came from his mailbox and it was stuffed with a dozen flyers, stickers, reminders, and postcards about voting. ACT is definitely not alone.
For all the volunteers, we still seem hugely short staffed. The job of reaching 110,000 households is unbelievable. It is about 10 times harder than it seems. When people don't work together, the disorder spreads. There is like a group mentality that can be infectious.
One tip for volunteers in a GOTV in the future: bring some food and remember to eat it. I keep forgetting this, resulting in a crash and burn thing.
We are all so involved in this we really have no idea what is going on in the world. Nothing bad, I hope.
We are flooding neighborhoods with canvassers and literature. What they say is that repeated contact increases turnout. Assuming that the American Taliban will actually let people's voices be heard, we will win. All I can say is, I hope the Democrats are not playing nice in the swing states. The Republicans have declared war on democracy and we should give it back as much as they do. I hope the Dems have picked up the gauntlet and do the same thing to them they are trying to do to us. You want a war? Then bring in on, God damn it.
Don't quit, it ain't over till it's over.
At least it's Halloween in Miami and the drag queens are FAAABULOOS! A good break from the grind of GOTV.
Go Us!
PS pray for john kerry too.
Sunday, October 31, 2004
Saturday, October 30, 2004
4-3 days to go
Day 4 is over, so it's 3 days to go, actually.
We hear stories about Republicans trying to suppress the black vote in Miami. One of our volunteers taking a family to the polls saw the pubs challenging people in line. Some of them apparently are telling people they can vote on the internet, which of course is a lie. Their goal is to gum up the works and make the lines move so slowly that people will give up. In my book, they are criminals and liars.
These people are American Taliban. They do not believe in democracy, they want to supress popular voting, and they want to establish a theocracy where only they rule. The Republican Party has become like the Communist Party - with a sham of democracy hiding behind a veneer of choice, with intimidation, staged rallies with bused in supporters demonstrating in favor of fearless leader, no accountability. The party of Lincoln has become the party of George Wallace. Their time is over.
People will not be discouraged. People are waiting in line for hours because they are mad. There are Kerry signs everywhere. They are on lawns, in stores, in people's car windows, telephone poles. We went to a barbecue place today that had a Kerry sign on the outdoor counter. Yesterday the little Haitian restaurant had warning signs about people's votes being stolen. Tonight, we drove through a street demonstration with Salsa music and people dancing in the street with Kerry signs. Election protection is about to descend en masse in Miami.
Today the vans increase, the people increase, the enthusiasm increases. People who came for a buck return for the cause. People who didn't care come back so enthusiastic. One canvasser told me that people have been reminded to vote so many times they are thinking of hiding out!
Good.
This time we will not be denied. We are gonna win.
We hear stories about Republicans trying to suppress the black vote in Miami. One of our volunteers taking a family to the polls saw the pubs challenging people in line. Some of them apparently are telling people they can vote on the internet, which of course is a lie. Their goal is to gum up the works and make the lines move so slowly that people will give up. In my book, they are criminals and liars.
These people are American Taliban. They do not believe in democracy, they want to supress popular voting, and they want to establish a theocracy where only they rule. The Republican Party has become like the Communist Party - with a sham of democracy hiding behind a veneer of choice, with intimidation, staged rallies with bused in supporters demonstrating in favor of fearless leader, no accountability. The party of Lincoln has become the party of George Wallace. Their time is over.
People will not be discouraged. People are waiting in line for hours because they are mad. There are Kerry signs everywhere. They are on lawns, in stores, in people's car windows, telephone poles. We went to a barbecue place today that had a Kerry sign on the outdoor counter. Yesterday the little Haitian restaurant had warning signs about people's votes being stolen. Tonight, we drove through a street demonstration with Salsa music and people dancing in the street with Kerry signs. Election protection is about to descend en masse in Miami.
Today the vans increase, the people increase, the enthusiasm increases. People who came for a buck return for the cause. People who didn't care come back so enthusiastic. One canvasser told me that people have been reminded to vote so many times they are thinking of hiding out!
Good.
This time we will not be denied. We are gonna win.
Friday, October 29, 2004
5 days to go
4 days actually, now.
There are remarkable things happening. Every days, heroes and heroines from the community emerge. Leadership emerges, in big and small ways. People find they have a knack for this, for becoming a leader, inspiring people. Every day, we ask team leaders to recommend others in their group who would make good leaders. Every day, people surprise themselves. They start out nervous, shy, think they will hate canvassing. They find out that they are great at it. They inspire themselves. They take the literature home and pass it out in their neighborhoods. They get their neighbors involved.
One of the van drivers said he had never voted before, but he was inspired by all the people who have come from all over the country to do this. He is becoming a leader in his community. This is part of the legacy of ACT.
The plan is to do the impossible. Double the leaders and train them, have them empower their teams to get out the vote, knock on doors, give out literature, walk, knock, talk.
Behind this massive effort which doubles every day is an equally massive effort for deploying vans, preparing literature, training people, etc. etc. It is amazing to see people mesh into teams and help each other get this done as if they had been working on this for years. When people of good will and common purpose come together, anything can be accomplished.
The canvassers report massive numbers of people have already voted, energy is building, excitement is building, people will come out and vote in massive numbers.
We are going to win!
There are remarkable things happening. Every days, heroes and heroines from the community emerge. Leadership emerges, in big and small ways. People find they have a knack for this, for becoming a leader, inspiring people. Every day, we ask team leaders to recommend others in their group who would make good leaders. Every day, people surprise themselves. They start out nervous, shy, think they will hate canvassing. They find out that they are great at it. They inspire themselves. They take the literature home and pass it out in their neighborhoods. They get their neighbors involved.
One of the van drivers said he had never voted before, but he was inspired by all the people who have come from all over the country to do this. He is becoming a leader in his community. This is part of the legacy of ACT.
The plan is to do the impossible. Double the leaders and train them, have them empower their teams to get out the vote, knock on doors, give out literature, walk, knock, talk.
Behind this massive effort which doubles every day is an equally massive effort for deploying vans, preparing literature, training people, etc. etc. It is amazing to see people mesh into teams and help each other get this done as if they had been working on this for years. When people of good will and common purpose come together, anything can be accomplished.
The canvassers report massive numbers of people have already voted, energy is building, excitement is building, people will come out and vote in massive numbers.
We are going to win!
Thursday, October 28, 2004
6 days to go
I heard about a group called "American Graffiti" that wants to project images of John Kerry on public buildings in Miami. I tried to hook them up with some "swing the state" folks from LA who knew people in Miami .....
Every day is a mob scene that is so huge you don't think it can possibly get any bigger, but new people keep coming from all over. More from California, more from New York, more from everywhere. Union people, community people, some can hit the ground running and some just are very quick studies. Everyone is flowing into their roles, understanding they have to teach the new people, even if they are new themselves. There is a common purpose. It is amazing what common focus and goals can do.
We split into satellite offices tomorrow. North, where I am, has the hugest area - 47000 households to be visited three times in the next six days. There will be hundreds of volunteers, hundreds of people, cars, food, water, literature, on the job training, etc. etc. all to be organized on the fly.
I don't have time to listen to news, but spirits here are strong, there is wonderful camaraderie and the focus is clear. A good sense of humor is also essential.
Didn't canvas today, did precinct walk lists and other essential but grind-out stuff. To see this come together is pretty amazing. Word from the field is very good, lots of positive responses. WHen you canvas, you try to find more leaders in your canvas group. They get trained on the job and then they do the same thing. We have to go from 10 to 100 leaders in 3 days. We will do it, somehow.
One of the Haitians told me that the new moon was a time for making your prayers and meditating, and that this was the most powerful time. Since there was a partial lunar eclipse tonight, I asked if the same principal worked for eclipses. He said he didn't know, but I decided this was true and meditated about the country electing John Kerry. The red sox won, so obviously it has already started to work. All the people from SF who were in the car getting pizza got out to admire the eclipse. I thought we should chant or something but nobdy but me was in favor of that. WHat would we chant? "Go Kerry, Go Kerry"? Very dull.
I got put in charge of vans. Now that is a guy job. Oh well.
Lunar eclipse, Boston swept the series. THese are good signs.
More tomorrow.
Every day is a mob scene that is so huge you don't think it can possibly get any bigger, but new people keep coming from all over. More from California, more from New York, more from everywhere. Union people, community people, some can hit the ground running and some just are very quick studies. Everyone is flowing into their roles, understanding they have to teach the new people, even if they are new themselves. There is a common purpose. It is amazing what common focus and goals can do.
We split into satellite offices tomorrow. North, where I am, has the hugest area - 47000 households to be visited three times in the next six days. There will be hundreds of volunteers, hundreds of people, cars, food, water, literature, on the job training, etc. etc. all to be organized on the fly.
I don't have time to listen to news, but spirits here are strong, there is wonderful camaraderie and the focus is clear. A good sense of humor is also essential.
Didn't canvas today, did precinct walk lists and other essential but grind-out stuff. To see this come together is pretty amazing. Word from the field is very good, lots of positive responses. WHen you canvas, you try to find more leaders in your canvas group. They get trained on the job and then they do the same thing. We have to go from 10 to 100 leaders in 3 days. We will do it, somehow.
One of the Haitians told me that the new moon was a time for making your prayers and meditating, and that this was the most powerful time. Since there was a partial lunar eclipse tonight, I asked if the same principal worked for eclipses. He said he didn't know, but I decided this was true and meditated about the country electing John Kerry. The red sox won, so obviously it has already started to work. All the people from SF who were in the car getting pizza got out to admire the eclipse. I thought we should chant or something but nobdy but me was in favor of that. WHat would we chant? "Go Kerry, Go Kerry"? Very dull.
I got put in charge of vans. Now that is a guy job. Oh well.
Lunar eclipse, Boston swept the series. THese are good signs.
More tomorrow.
Monday, October 25, 2004
Yowza! Times have changed
In the two weeks since I have been here, ACT Miami has transformed itself into a huge GOTV machine. Before we were going in 2s and 3s to canvass neigborhoods and now - hundreds of people every day. Holy Mackeral.
We are trying to get people to vote early. Our group knocked on 600 doors today - not enough. We got to do better. I am pretty strict as a group leader, but people seem to respond to it. Everybody worked hard except for the group that went the wrong way and didn't seem to care.
GOTV is just grind out the numbers stuff. IF enthusiasm counted, we would win. But it's just grind, grind, grind.
The office is splitting into 4 on Wed or Thursday to cover the entire county. It's all about getting out the vote in Fla. I refuse to listen to the news or read the paper. I just have control of my little piece of turf, and that's what I want to concentrate on. That way, I feel like I did everything I could. I hope it's true.
I still feel like it will break our way. I do know the redsox won the second game. Anne Hackett, are you listening?
We are trying to get people to vote early. Our group knocked on 600 doors today - not enough. We got to do better. I am pretty strict as a group leader, but people seem to respond to it. Everybody worked hard except for the group that went the wrong way and didn't seem to care.
GOTV is just grind out the numbers stuff. IF enthusiasm counted, we would win. But it's just grind, grind, grind.
The office is splitting into 4 on Wed or Thursday to cover the entire county. It's all about getting out the vote in Fla. I refuse to listen to the news or read the paper. I just have control of my little piece of turf, and that's what I want to concentrate on. That way, I feel like I did everything I could. I hope it's true.
I still feel like it will break our way. I do know the redsox won the second game. Anne Hackett, are you listening?
Thursday, October 21, 2004
Why Florida's Going Blue
When I was here two weeks ago knocking on doors and registering voters, people were still furious about what happened two years ago and were not playing around this time. They wouldn't just say they were registered, they would swear and cuss about having their votes stolen and how it wasn't going to happen again. One guy started pounding on our table and went into a full rant about W. My take: Florida's going blue. Again. Jeb's not going to be able to steal enough votes to change it either.
I met people from California, New York, California, Massachusettes, California, New Jersey, and, California who gave up a few days or a week of their lives or just took off from their jobs for two months to be part of this incredible effort. The work is hard and stressful and the air is absolutely electric. Like we're creating something much bigger than any of us or all of us. Like, an underdog team that does the impossible because they just believe that they can do it. And we believe. We believe we can make a difference. We believe we will make a difference.
Am taking 10 days off from work, flying in Saturday to Miami to do whatever is needed to save the planet. Can hardly wait!
I met people from California, New York, California, Massachusettes, California, New Jersey, and, California who gave up a few days or a week of their lives or just took off from their jobs for two months to be part of this incredible effort. The work is hard and stressful and the air is absolutely electric. Like we're creating something much bigger than any of us or all of us. Like, an underdog team that does the impossible because they just believe that they can do it. And we believe. We believe we can make a difference. We believe we will make a difference.
Am taking 10 days off from work, flying in Saturday to Miami to do whatever is needed to save the planet. Can hardly wait!
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