Democratic National Convention

The interesting thing about the Democratic National Convention, the “other DNC”, is that everyone assumes that if you work for the DNC (C is for committee here) then you went to Boston for a week.

The truth of the matter is that both parties conventions are not much of conventions after all. Instead they are really just big 'ole parties. They’re bar mitzvahs for the candidates, as they are thrust into the position of being a mature candidate.

Meanwhile, those of us who have chosen to take it to the streets were hard at work. In fact the ironic thing is that we normally don’t finish work until 10:30 pm, and by that time, the featured speaker for an evening was finishing up, and the party was moving to a hundred Boston pubs and hotel rooms.

So, I do not have a really thoughtful exploration of this year’s convention or it’s happenings, but I do have some experiences and reactions from our office as we perused the Internet for video feeds and full text versions of the speeches.

First of all, women love two Democrats: John Edwards and Barack Obama. I have never met someone swoon over a political before, but let me tell you… there were some hormonal urges whenever someone was able to download a hint of Obama or Edwards.

One woman, April, had a particular fascination with words and was frequently excited when the text of the speech would print out of our temperamental Dell fax/copier/scanner/printer-combo-from-hell.

(On a side note, this machine has broken down in my week of time in the office, and since has been replaced with a refurbished version of the old, by Dell support. I found it surprising that my fellow staff members were impressed that the replacement had come so quickly – overnight. And while that is a fast turn around, everyone seemed to be ignoring the fact that this replacement was a bandaged version of the old problem. What ever happened to designing a product that wouldn’t have recurring problems, or to replacing something with a better version of the old one? Thank God for Apple.)

Anyway, back to April, whose Chesire cat-like smile would often appear when perusing the words of Bill Clinton or John Kerry. She has been here the longest, when her apartment served as the office and when the staff’s rolls included she, herself, and her. So, for her the convention was the Democrats opportunity to vindicate her efforts through speeches that fortified the positions for which she was fighting.

She would gleefully announce the speeches successes during our typical group pow-wow before departing to canvass. She would reread them with vigor and the enthusiasm of a candidate herself. So, I have grown to appreciate the text of these speeches in a new way.

Here is the text of John Kerry's speech.

Here are a few highlights that rang true for me:

"That flag doesn't belong to any president. It doesn't belong to any ideology and it doesn't belong to any political party. It belongs to all the American people."

"We value an America that controls its own destiny because it's finally and forever independent of Mideast oil.  What does it mean for our economy and our national security when we only have three percent of the world's oil reserves, yet we rely on foreign countries for fifty-three percent of what we consume?"

"I want an America that relies on its own ingenuity and innovation – not the Saudi royal family."

"And our energy plan for a stronger America will invest in new technologies and alternative fuels and the cars of the future -- so that no young American in uniform will ever be held hostage to our dependence on oil from the Middle East."

"I don't want to claim that God is on our side. As Abraham Lincoln told us, I want to pray humbly that we are on God's side. And whatever our faith, one belief should bind us all: The measure of our character is our willingness to give of ourselves for others and for our country."

"Now I know there are those who criticize me for seeing complexities – and I do – because some issues just aren't all that simple.  Saying there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq doesn't make it so.  Saying we can fight a war on the cheap doesn’t make it so. And proclaiming mission accomplished certainly doesn't make it so."

"I will cut middle class taxes.  I will reduce the tax burden on small business. And I will roll back the tax cuts for the wealthiest individuals who make over $200,000 a year, so we can invest in job creation, health care and education."

The First Week

I am starting this blog a week into my experience. On Monday, July 26, 2004 I entered the New Haven office of Grassroots Campaigns, unaware of how impactful my experience would be.

All I knew is that I was going to be training in how to be a Canvassing Director in the next weeks, living at home in Trumbull and commuting to New Haven.

Right away I knew I was in a friendly place. The office was decorated with John Kerry paraphernalia and various quotes from George W. The whole operation reminded me of my Appalachia Service Project (ASP) offices, where newsprint was used for office postings, markers were the pen of choice, and furniture was whatever you could find at that moment. It was obvious that money wasn't going into the budget for office supplies.

I was welcomed by friendly faces - April, Shaun, Athas, Anne, and Dave - each a director themselves. They were enthusiastic to see me, even though they hadn't really received word that I was to be arriving. But in this type of job, there are countless surprises, and my presence was a more pleasant one as surprises go.

I started off like everyone does - learning how to canvass. Canvassing is how we fundraise and it consists of going door-to-door, armed with clipboards and water bottles. We don't go to just democrats homes, we go to every home. I learned how to approach people and how to start conversations about our campaign to get the word out on George Bush's record. I learned how to ask for money, which was new for me.

I thought this would be the most difficult part of the job - asking for money, but it turns out to be one of the easiest. On the surface that can seem sketchy, but there is more to it than just asking someone to fork over some loot. We want to identify supporters - people who feel as strongly as we do, that there needs to be a change in our executive branch. So, when we do ask for money, it is from people who feel the same way we do, who care about the future of our country's government. It is really exciting to meet people who are not only wiling to verbalize their feelings about the politics of today, but back it up with contributions.

It is a lot easier to ask people for money when you are passionate about your cause. It is completely unlike telemarketing or door-to-door magazine drives, I know that people's contributions are going to causes in which they and I believe.

So, I will knock on anywhere between 40 and 100 doors in an evening. The responses are wide-ranging and really very interesting. They are perhaps the best part of the job, as I am really getting a sense of what people in Connecticut and this country feel about the state of politics today.

There are Republicans who scowl and shut the door. There are independents who aren't sure what they are going to do yet. There are folks who insist on not voting. There are Democrats who invite you inside for cookies and a bathroom break. There are Democrats who don't want to give money because they cannot afford it.

All in all, I'd say regardless of how people feel, I have been overwhelmed by people's general well-wishing. Almost regardless of party affiliation, people always wish me the best. It's a bit odd when Republicans do, because in doing so they don't realize that they are encouraging their own opponent, but I think it says something more important as us in society. It doesn't matter what you believe in, but if you are willing to sacrifice and work hard at a cause in which you believe, people tend to respect that.

The other set of people that I get to engage with on a daily basis are the canvassers. These are folks who are there to canvass and raise money as a job. They get paid a very small base salary, and tend to be around the college age. (Note: our paychecks come from Grassroots Campaigns and not from our contributions. All of the contributions are sent directly to the DNC the next day, and none of it is ever seen by the folks working the office.)

These folks, these canvassers are awesome - in the true sense of the word. The inspire awe in me. They are committed, passionate people. They tend to be well versed in the politics of today. There are always discussions surrounding this election and general political theories and ideas. They are willing to listen, as well as state their own opinion. But they are young. Some aren't even citizens yet, but they care about the issues. As April, our lead director, would say, "We're a scrappy bunch!"

And we are... it's a great way of describing this bunch of people. They are a small group of committed individuals, who in all respects should not be able to make a difference in the grand scheme of things. No one is really very wealthy and most are downright poor. We have varied levels of education, experiences and cultural backgrounds. There is nothing that says this should succeed. But together we are organized and focused, trained and professional.

We have met our nation-wide goals already and we continue to break into new ground. The goal is to identify 10,000 new contributers to the DNC each month and to raise $1 million dollars for the DNC's voter mobilization efforts. We identified 30,000 contributers last month and I think, to date we have raised over $10 million.

So, there are good things happening here, and around the country at our 50+ offices.

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.