Now the day we've all been waiting for, dreading & hoping, is almost upon us --- ELECTION DAY
I wish I had some weird font to make those words all zigzaggy and scary.
This is the time the rubber hits the road.
PEOPLE WILL BE PHONE-BANKING.
PEOPLE WILL BE DISTRIBUTING LITERATURE.
PEOPLE WILL BE CANVASSING VOTERS.
PEOPLE WILL BE RALLYING IN PARKS.
PEOPLE WILL BE STANDING ON CORNERS, WAVING SIGNS AT PASSING CARS.
(AT LEAST IN SAN FRANCISCO, PEOPLE WILL BE DOING ALL THOSE THINGS.)
PLEASE JOIN THEM! PICK A CANDIDATE OR AN ISSUE THAT YOU REALLY CARE ABOUT, AND GET OUT THERE AND DO SOMETHING! UNFORTUNATELY... VOTING IS NOT ENOUGH! (and if you live in Maine but care fiercely about the Texas governor's race, you can make phone calls! See resources below.)
Maybe you loathe some candidate or can't stand some Proposition on the ballot... THEN GET OUT THERE AND WORK TO DEFEAT THAT PERSON OR ISSUE!
Democracy is not just about making good things happen. It's also, and sometimes mainly, about preventing bad things from happening.
Yesterday, I was talking to my friend in Oregon, and she was bemoaning the state of the world, and the election for Governor in particular. And I was bemoaning the state of the world. And we were bemoaning and bemoaning. And we were making each other feel worse and worse and worse.
But, by golly, she's got to do some work to elect the governor she wants for her state!
And I decided I've got to work to re-elect Supervisor Gordon Mar! He's not my supervisor, but he's a very good man. And he's had the integrity to speak against the recalls we've had -- even though the recalls were popular in his (conservative for SF) district. And now he's suffering, facing a strong challenge from a conservative with zero experience in anything but supporting recalls.
So this is the campaign that I'm going to put my heart and time into.
Now I love canvassing -- the laborious work of schlepping door to door, ringing doorbells and actually talking to registered voters. There's nothing like discussing the election with whoever answers the door or giving an undecided voter some information they didn't have. For me, it's kind of a spiritual communion with democracy.
And if it turns out that Gordon Mar wins a hard-fought election... I feel partially responsible for the victory!
And if it turns out Gordon Mar loses, after I feel terrible... I feel good that at least I tried to make a difference.
Because, you see: ACTIVISM IS THE ANTIDOTE TO POLITICAL DESPAIR!
And DON'T WAIT until you feel MOTIVATED to do something because: MOTIVATION FOLLOWS ACTION!
That's right. Those two sentences above in red are psychological truths. The first truth I discovered myself. The second truth has actually been established by psychologists.
LINKS TO DO SOMETHING FOR SF AND EVERYWHERE ELSE
FOR EVERYWHERE: CLICK HERE to go to SWIING LEFT's website. You just put in your Zip Code and they show you many progressive election activities near you
CLICK HERE for the MOBILIZE website. Again, many links for local campaigns and also local events in support of events throughout the country. For example you can phone bank in Oakland for the governor's race in Texas.
FOR SAN FRANCISCO: CLICK HERE to the Harvey Milk Democratic Club's volunteer site. You can fill out a form to volunteer for a whole slate of progressive campaigns. You can also get to Gordon Mar's volunteer sign-up site from here.
CLICK HERE to join the League of Pissed-Off Voters in their support for the progressive slate.
For Gordon Mar, just show up at his campaign HQ: 1516 Noriega, phone: 415 236-0393.
LINKS TO VOTER GUIDES FOR SF
CLICK HERE to see "The League of Pissed-Off Voters" voter guide.
CLICK HERE to see the Harvey Milk Club voter guide.
Dear Bloggelinis: There is still time to make a difference! Do not lose heart. Although it's very easy to do, losing heart is not very sensible. Terry
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