What am I doing and why?

I started my work with Grassroots Campaigns about a week ago, and it occurred to me that I enjoyed sharing my experiences with others. So, in order to reach a larger audience and to allow me to journal my experiences, I decided to create this blog.

The greater question, of course, is what is Grassroots Campaigns and why am I involved with it?

Grassroots Campaigns is an independent organization, formed in November of 2003, by a group of activists who were interested in pooling their resources and experiences. They created Grassroots Campaigns as a way to invlove energetic and interested people in political and social activism. Their first project was and now is, to coordinate the grassroots efforts for the Democratic National Committee, better known as the Democratic Party.

The partnership was set up with two goals: 1) to identify Democratic supporters for this year's presidential race and 2) to raise funds for a voter mobilization effort and congressional races.

On a very simple level, our goal is to defeat George Bush and send him back to Crawford, Texas.

With that said, let me make a strong statement: I support these efforts, and so do many other Americans. I understand that there are a number, a large number of Bush supporters out there. My intentions with this particular blog is to journal my experience with Grassroots Campaigns. My hope is that the journal can serve as an informative way for folks to follow my experience and to witness one person's journey, regardless of political affiliation. So, I will be speaking out against Bush and his administration, and if you don't like that, I hope that you can see this blog for what it is - a personal journal. But I really don't care if you support Bush, because I don't, and YOU ARE NOT GOING TO CHANGE MY MIND.

Note also that I am not hoping necessarily to change anyone else's mind either. People have opinions and viewpoints that differ on all types of scales. That is a wonderful and necessary thing. So, let's keep the conversation civil and mature.

Now, why am I involved in a political campaign? Why now?

I was drawn to Grassroots Campaigns, appropriately, when I heard about it in a discussion with a friend of my girlfriend. She was talking about applying for a job where she would lead a group of fundraisers for the Democratic Party. I had been unmotivated in my own job search and the job she was describing sounded very interesting to me, because I had wonderful experiences working with non-profit groups like the Appalachia Service Project and working with teams in my positions in college.

This election has me really charged up as well. Being a Visual Communication student at the University of Delaware, it was difficult for me to find other students who were very interested or motivated around thew world of politics. Most of my class was worried about the world of design, fashion, film, material culture, and art. And it was rightfully so.

So, it was difficult to really engage in serious political conversation or get what I most desired - conversation where I was on the receiving end of a lot of political viewpoints. Therefore, I wanted the opportunity to be in a place where I knew that the people I would be working with could feed my need for a political information, foresight, and debate.

I also wanted the chance to work with a group of motivated people. I liked the idea of directing groups, of organizing teams, and doing so within a challenging work environment.

Finally, I felt like I needed to do something more than just vote this year. There is too much on the line in this election. The near future holds a great deal of decisions for the United States - from our place in the world community to the appointment of our own Supreme Court justices. On top of that, I just cannot stand the Bush administration's policies. Instead of sitting on my butt complaining, I needed to convert my frustration to an active role in his contender's camp. I needed to be able to look back come from November 2nd, and be able to say that I had more of a role in this election than just a vote. I am young and available and able. There is no better time than now.

So, here I am... Assistant Canvassing Director (in training)... ready to work my heart out for the democratic party this year, and put John Kerry into the White House.