What's really left to be said and done?

So, I feel like I owe something to this journal. It has been a while since I have updated it, and there has been a lot going on in the world of politics.

Realistically, however, there doesn't feel like there is all that much difference on the ground. Just a whole bunch of anticipation.

It feels like the people who are going to vote are ready to do so, and there isn't anyone (well a couple of folks) who would say they aren't going to vote.

At this point, it feels like traditional forms of Get Out the Vote efforts seem like they will be relatively fruitless. People are really determined to vote, on both sides. People are going to vote, not because they necessarily know why, but because everyone agrees that this is the most important election ever.

So, at this point, it's a matter of waiting to see if people really do show up like they say they will.

My own personal worry, and whatever I haven't figured out how to address yet, is what to do with people who decide not to vote because the lines are too long. If anyone has ideas out there, I'm willing to entertain.

Back to Volunteer

Yesterday, I left my position with MoveOn PAC and Grassroots Campaigns.

One of the reasons I have had little or nothing to post to this journal in the past 2 weeks, is because I have been extremely limited in the amount of meaningful contact that I had with people outside the office. Plus I was spending 14 hours a day at work.

I came into the position of field organizer to encourage and empower people to be politically involved, to give them the tools of action, to teach, and to learn. It has come to the point where I am no longer able to do any of that. I would spend six hours a day on the phone, trying to recruit people to help in the campaign, when I was not able to help the people I had already recruited. Why was I recruiting more people, with time I could be giving to the 150+ people I had a hand in recruiting already?

In addition, I was being micromanaged daily, my complaints would fall on deaf ears, and the overall emotional toll of the job's constraints was leading me to be depressed.

So, to console my heart and mind I am now a volunteer again. The beautiful thing about volunteering is that I am in control of my schedule again. And I can do the things that I think will be able to help people mobilize this election season. Plus, I can write, catch this amazing Yankees/Red Sox series, and begin to think about my own future after this election again.

Some of the people I met in the office were and continue to be amazing, motivated people. They too struggle with the constraints of the MoveOn/Grassroots Campaigns model, and I wish them the best as they fight to achieve their goals.

So, form here on out, I'm a volunteer all the way. I haven't given up on anything I believe in, John Kerry or the people of this country... I'm just moving on.

A moment of Zen

"I like to think about life as one continuous cocktail party."
- Liz Sammons, Field Organizer

Some Nothing Happened

After quickly scanning the news headlines, online after the VP debae, this is what I read:

"Cheney, Edwards Go Toe to Toe in Debate" - ABC News
"Differences Dominate VP Debate" - CNN
"Vice Presidential Debate Spans Wide Array of Issues" - NPR

These are the type of titles that I would give to a boring 5th grade history essay. I'd use the same tome when I wanted to make them sound important, even though I knew the main idea was broad and uninteresting. They essentially say that the big news is that there is no news, that there is nothing specifically interesting that happened, and really we are right where we were before.

The generalities in these headlines mean success for both parties, as both come out without any damage to repair.

Ultimately nothing was said that we haven't heard five minutes ago from these two politicians. But, hey, they sure did look like they meant the nothing of which they were speaking...

28 Days Later.

I wonder what I will see on the other side of these next 28 days.

If you've seen the film by the name "28 Days Later" you can think of the zombies and understand how my body and mind feel.

This campaign is relentless and draining. It has absolutely tested my will and my sanity.

It's nice to thin that there is a home stretch, but when every day feels like a week, that's a pretty darn long home stretch.

Thinking about the things in the world I have missed it is pretty weird. You don't really notice things like the World Series or birthdays or your own sleep. They all seem like they are foreign. Like cricket. You know it seems interesting, and you should probably take a moment to see what it's about so you can take interest, but then it loses it's flare when you get started.

These campaigns are just too long. Who is running our country right now? I mean really?

Think about how long they've been at this. Bush has spent 1 full day in the White House in the past 3 months or something. Kerry hasn't shown up for a Senate vote in forever. Is it all really necessary?

What do we know about these guys more now than we did 4 weeks ago?

And we should wait for lazy people to make up their minds, when they say they won't decide until they get in the polling booth anyway? Well, let's throw them in their now, they'll make their decision and we'll be on with it.

The thing is that campaigns aren't even that fun. You say the same thing day in and day out. Your live varies a quarter of an inch with each temperamental Gallup poll, which is changes drastically because three people think they heard Kerry's wife say "shove it."

The only good part of it is when people get involved who wouldn't ordinarily care. I have met some really wonderful, passionate people, who are devoting a lot of time thinking, talking, and working on the campaign... but they could be doing the same thing with work on MediCare and the environment and social justice... things that make an actual marked difference on people's every day lives.

Now, don't get me wrong. Yes this election is way important. Yes, this election is about those things, too. but, honestly, until someone does something about it, it's just a bunch of rhetoric no matter who says it.

So, let's get down to it. Let's move the election up. Let's make it tomorrow. Let's make it Friday. That'd be good. People always leave early on Fridays anyway, and then after they vote they can get a drink and feel good about their participation in democracy. Let's save a couple thousand people some sleepless nights and headaches. Let's return some moms and dads to their families and children. Let's put some politicians back on the hill and in the White House, so the can DO something.