alternate post titles: beat.w.down - body.rock.politic. - fone.bank.phr3ak
AKA me being unusually earnest
After a totally underwhelming day at the dumbo arts fest (review post later I suppose, though it was really tedious to attend and thus I can't imagine that the drive to write about it will be high, i/o/w don't hold your breath) I read the really scary Times magazine article on GWB and really began to piss my pants about the possibility of GWB 'winning' again and all that would entail. Instead of just getting drunk, which is often what I do at the precipice of such scary future propositions I decided to get all "action oriented".
Here are some things I have done to elect john kerry (or beat W, if you prefer). They are easy, sort of fun, and will keep you from feeling like shit on Nov. 3rd if you did not do them and W wins. The 'action items' are listed from least time needed (like 5 min) to the most (a whole day).
1. vote swap - 5-10 min
If you live in a non-swing state (like, I dunno... New York or Cali) sign up to 'trade' votes with a Nader voter in a swing state at Vote Pair. Vote pair is a an extension of a program run in the 2000 elections to pair progressive voters who like what ralph nader stands for (green, third parties, etc) but hate having George W. win. Of course it did not work very well last time but still. You sign on, say where you live, who you are planning on voting for but who you would be willing to trade a vote to. The system then sends you the email of someone to exchange votes with and the two of you work it out amongst yourself. It is basically a peer-to-peer trust based system. It is not foolproof, but it is worth a shot.
2. Phone Bank From Home for KE_04 - an hour
You can sign up as an at-home phone banker for the kerry edwards campaign here. I just got done doing it and it was, well kind of cool. It entails logging into the KE system where-in they give you the names of supporters in swing states. You then call to remind them to vote, but most importantly to ask if they would be willing to do some door-to-door GOTV (get-out-the-vote) activities for the campaign in their area. Everyone I called was receptive and in the 30 calls I made in less than an hour I got about 6 people to sign up to go out next weekend in west palm beach. The devious part of me is wondering if the BC04 folks have a similar system. If so it would be fun to subvert it. just checked, looks like they don't. still the bush website could be down for some interesting textual analysis if I had the stomach for it.
3. Meat-space phone bank - 3 hours
If you are in NYC you can sign up through the 'kerry village' people to do some old school phone banking. It is on monday and wednesday eve's from 6-9. The info is here. I have not done this yet, but it is a good way to go make some calls on someone else’s dime.
4. Travel to a swing state - a day
A few weeks ago I went down to harrisburg pennsylvania to register voters and push them to vote for John Kerry. It was really early, I was really cold, it cost $25 and it was 100% worth it. It was even, dare I say it, a blast. That same Kerry Village organization is running them and all the info is right here. It is a commitment but it is also a pretty low-cost way to get out and make yourself feel worthwhile.
Okay- that was all very earnest. I promise not to let it happen again.