14th October 2008
One of our eighty-something ladies comes in this morning, leans on the table confidentially clutching her clipboard, and sighs contentedly. "Yer know, when you're my age, you start reading the o-bitch-you-ary every day to see if yer in it, and today I saw this ole gentleman I didn't know who died of an anuerism. Said he wanted all donations to go to the Obama campaign. Ain't that cute? If I end up there next week I'm gonna do the same."
Perrin wrinkles her nose and looks confused, and Texas Pat, a 30 year-old Vet who resembles Uncle Fester from The Addams Family, scoots up to my desk to ask if he can canvass with me later. He just wants a ride in the Merc, which has been decorated with 'British Americans for Obama' gear and some pimpin' new dents, courtesy of an annoying little Berkely grad who has joined the office.
"So that new Ivy League kid came canvassing with me last night," I tell Pat. "And he opened the door of the car right into a fucking wall. Then he got lost on one block for 45 minutes. And after all that he had the cheek to ask if he could borrow money from me for cigarettes. I'm not digging the Ivy Leaguers."
Pat laughs. "I reckon he has a complex 'cause he's kinda short, and let's face it, he ain't good lookin'. Like John McCain. He gotta short man complex too. Weird though, I mean, Obama's 6' 2" and you never really see him towerin' over McCain on TV."
"I'm worried about Obama. I think he needs more carbs. He's a little skinny."
"Yeah, well. He looks after hisself. Can't believe he's 47, he don't look it. Oh well, you know what they say. Black don't crack."
Texas Pat waddles away to pester someone else, and more of our elderly volunteers enter the office and ply us with cookies and coffee and donuts.
We had Get Out The Vote training at the weekend, and dissension hit the ranks. Rachael wanted to be a Staging Location Director, but had been assigned as a Polling Lead instead. She held a mutinous meeting with me and Nik, the Management Consultant from SF, at Chipotle one lunchtime. We used the lack of proximity to the office as an excuse to down as much beer as possible before. We don't get out much, us volunteers.
"I can't take these people anymore! They're from out of town and they come in like they own the place and I should be in charge on election day, not them. It's my community and they have no personality. Excluding you two."
Rachael pouted and glared at us. I buried my face in my beer and let Nik, Person Manager Extraordinaire, handle her.
"I get you Rachael, I do. When I arrived here from San Francisco I was like 'what the fuck am I doing here?'. I thought I'd be in charge of something as I'm used to heading teams of 20 -50 people, and I'm having to take orders from two twenty-somethings who are trying to do the best job they can, but lack charisma. But you have to realize, as chaotic as this campaign is, it's organized chaos. The mess works brilliantly. And you are an integral part of it, and if you took on a leadership role we'd lose you as one of our best recruiters."
Rachael was eventually placated when we devised some fictional GOTV role for her that hinted at responsibility and leadership, and calm returned to the office.
Our volunteer base is growing every day. More and more people just rock up from blue states, check into a motel and introduce themselves at 9am ready to work 16 hour days. Ten days ago there were six of us working full time in the office (full time means 9am until midnight), plus our hundreds of part-time volunteers. Now there are 12. Like Nick said, it's amazingly, fantastically, bizarrely, magically organized chaos. It works for some odd reason. No one's turned away from volunteering. Even crazy Barbie, the fifty-eight year old who refuses to talk to any women aside from Rachael, and frequently disappears for 45 minutes at a time, only to be found staring fixedly into the sky, or wandering around in circles in the parking lot, is made to feel important, made to feel that she can make a difference. She makes a damn good document shredder at least!
Colorado is one of the three states this year which have, yet again, tabled amendments which could have profound impact on a woman's right to an abortion - http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/13/opinion/13mon1.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin. Amendment 48 was proposed by a pretty terrifying group who go by the misleading title of 'Colorado for Equal Rights' - 'http://www.coloradoforequalrights.com/'.
The proposed amendment, no. 48, states the following:
"Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution defining the term "person" to include any human being from the moment of fertilization as "person" is used in those provisions of the Colorado constitution relating to inalienable rights, equality of justice, and due process of law?"
This, obviously, makes abortion an impossibility in the state of Colorado - it will be redefined as murder. There is no provision in this amendment for rape, incest, ectopic pregnancies, or necessary abortion when pregnancy can pose a threat to the mother's life, and under this law even miscarriage could result in a murder inquiry. Not to mention the many women who have searched deep in their souls and made the horrific decision to have an abortion - in the current economic climate, people can barely support themselves. It's no wonder the abortion rate is rising. One of the jobs I've taken on in the office is to make sure people are aware of the impact of this amendment, so I've been liaising with NARAL - http://www.prochoicecolorado.org/ballotwatch.shtml. So many people don't read the ballot when they vote that there's a possibility, even though 60% of Americans are pro-choice, that this could pass. From the amount of people I've canvassed or spoken to on the phone, predominantly Catholics and Christians, abortion issues are a deciding factor for a small percentage of voters.
Health care is one of the biggest hopes for this election. Americans want free health care, a National Health Service of some description. Rachael and I walked into a store last night and she bumped into a guy she'd gone to elementary school with. They chit-chatted for a few minutes, and Rachael asked him who he was going to vote for.
"Obama all the way dude! I'm in it for the free health care. I got diagnosed with diabetes this month. It's killing me."
He shrugs sadly, a 25 year old kid already broken by medical bills.
"Hey, I work at Dino's. You send the volunteers round Friday, I'll hook you up with some pizzas for the campaign, ok?"
I was in ER abut five weeks back for a vicious staph infection. At the time I didn't have insurance - mainly because I'm really broke and I figured if I got really sick I'd just go home to the UK - after all, I've paid enough national insurance in my life. Of course life doesn't work like that and I ended up in Good Samaritan with a fever of 103 and a huge, revolting abscess on my knee. I spoke to the doctors and told them my predicament, and they agreed to lower the bill for me. It should be 500 bucks, they told me. But I could pay 300.
I was relieved at this and left ER and immediately got some health insurance which has managed to rape my remaining bank account quite considerably. I pay 110 dollars a month with a 500 dollar co-pay, which means even when I pick up prescriptions the amount I save, until I've spent 500 bucks, is minimal. Birth control which costs me 70 bucks a month still costs me 60 - I mean, what's the fucking point of a prescription plan?! I called up Blue Shield and told the bastards I was selling my kidneys so I could afford birth control. They didn't find this amusing and asked if it was a pre-existing condition.
After all these shenannigans, I was unprepared for the $2,235.81 bill which subsequently arrived from the hospital last week - $1500 of this for 'ER general', 50 bucks for a Vicodin, and 500 bucks for a swab and lab analysis! This country Fucks. You. Over. I cannot believe McCain's ridiculous plan to tax health insurance and give that bollox tax credit to people for health insurance. Medicine is not a business, health is not something that can be placed on the free market. It's ridiculous, but you all know this already. So go vote blue!
So GOTV nears.... I've been assigned to be a Poll Lead, which means I have a team of poll watchers under me inside the poll who have to report who has voted back outside to me. I then send this back to my Staging Location Director, who passes it up the line back to Chicago. I'm also responsible for recruiting volunteers to phone and canvass on election day, and making sure that the polls aren't interfered with, they open on time, that no one is turned away and disenfranchised for the wrong reason. We have 20,000 lawyers volunteering in Colorado alone who are on a hotline for election day to ensure that everyone who can vote does so without intimidation at the ballot - a very real possibility considering the Republican's attempts to claim voter fraud because of ACORN's success at registering under-privileged groups. In the Nevada area ACORN have registered over 100,000 new voters this year, and with their alignment with the Democratic party the Republicans are understadably freaking out and bleating voter fraud as their last resort. It doesn't help that some of ACORN's employees were convicted of voter fraud a few years back as the organization introduced a retarded policy of payment per doors knocked and voters registered (read this excellent article for more info - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-atlas/acorn-under-the-microscop_b_112503.html).... but this according to King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg, the misconduct was done "as an easy way to get paid [by ACORN], not as an attempt to influence the outcome of elections." This does little to deter the Republicans though.
Well, life trundles on here. The atmosphere is really positive, although thankfully the new influx of people has eased the burden on the rest of us so we often get six hours sleep a night now, and when the offices close to the public at 9pm we all get to enjoy a sneaky beer, which - c'mon - is important for team building. I love my fellow volunteers, they're awesome people, ot least because they're such a mismatched bunch - two former Republican Vets, a couple of Ivy League kids, a bunch of steely grandmothers, lawyers, financial consultants, college grads, the unemployed and uneducated alongside what is considered America's brightest and best - and everyone's equally as valued to the campaign.
Perrin wrinkles her nose and looks confused, and Texas Pat, a 30 year-old Vet who resembles Uncle Fester from The Addams Family, scoots up to my desk to ask if he can canvass with me later. He just wants a ride in the Merc, which has been decorated with 'British Americans for Obama' gear and some pimpin' new dents, courtesy of an annoying little Berkely grad who has joined the office.
"So that new Ivy League kid came canvassing with me last night," I tell Pat. "And he opened the door of the car right into a fucking wall. Then he got lost on one block for 45 minutes. And after all that he had the cheek to ask if he could borrow money from me for cigarettes. I'm not digging the Ivy Leaguers."
Pat laughs. "I reckon he has a complex 'cause he's kinda short, and let's face it, he ain't good lookin'. Like John McCain. He gotta short man complex too. Weird though, I mean, Obama's 6' 2" and you never really see him towerin' over McCain on TV."
"I'm worried about Obama. I think he needs more carbs. He's a little skinny."
"Yeah, well. He looks after hisself. Can't believe he's 47, he don't look it. Oh well, you know what they say. Black don't crack."
Texas Pat waddles away to pester someone else, and more of our elderly volunteers enter the office and ply us with cookies and coffee and donuts.
We had Get Out The Vote training at the weekend, and dissension hit the ranks. Rachael wanted to be a Staging Location Director, but had been assigned as a Polling Lead instead. She held a mutinous meeting with me and Nik, the Management Consultant from SF, at Chipotle one lunchtime. We used the lack of proximity to the office as an excuse to down as much beer as possible before. We don't get out much, us volunteers.
"I can't take these people anymore! They're from out of town and they come in like they own the place and I should be in charge on election day, not them. It's my community and they have no personality. Excluding you two."
Rachael pouted and glared at us. I buried my face in my beer and let Nik, Person Manager Extraordinaire, handle her.
"I get you Rachael, I do. When I arrived here from San Francisco I was like 'what the fuck am I doing here?'. I thought I'd be in charge of something as I'm used to heading teams of 20 -50 people, and I'm having to take orders from two twenty-somethings who are trying to do the best job they can, but lack charisma. But you have to realize, as chaotic as this campaign is, it's organized chaos. The mess works brilliantly. And you are an integral part of it, and if you took on a leadership role we'd lose you as one of our best recruiters."
Rachael was eventually placated when we devised some fictional GOTV role for her that hinted at responsibility and leadership, and calm returned to the office.
Our volunteer base is growing every day. More and more people just rock up from blue states, check into a motel and introduce themselves at 9am ready to work 16 hour days. Ten days ago there were six of us working full time in the office (full time means 9am until midnight), plus our hundreds of part-time volunteers. Now there are 12. Like Nick said, it's amazingly, fantastically, bizarrely, magically organized chaos. It works for some odd reason. No one's turned away from volunteering. Even crazy Barbie, the fifty-eight year old who refuses to talk to any women aside from Rachael, and frequently disappears for 45 minutes at a time, only to be found staring fixedly into the sky, or wandering around in circles in the parking lot, is made to feel important, made to feel that she can make a difference. She makes a damn good document shredder at least!
Colorado is one of the three states this year which have, yet again, tabled amendments which could have profound impact on a woman's right to an abortion - http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/13/opinion/13mon1.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin. Amendment 48 was proposed by a pretty terrifying group who go by the misleading title of 'Colorado for Equal Rights' - 'http://www.coloradoforequalrights.com/'.
The proposed amendment, no. 48, states the following:
"Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution defining the term "person" to include any human being from the moment of fertilization as "person" is used in those provisions of the Colorado constitution relating to inalienable rights, equality of justice, and due process of law?"
This, obviously, makes abortion an impossibility in the state of Colorado - it will be redefined as murder. There is no provision in this amendment for rape, incest, ectopic pregnancies, or necessary abortion when pregnancy can pose a threat to the mother's life, and under this law even miscarriage could result in a murder inquiry. Not to mention the many women who have searched deep in their souls and made the horrific decision to have an abortion - in the current economic climate, people can barely support themselves. It's no wonder the abortion rate is rising. One of the jobs I've taken on in the office is to make sure people are aware of the impact of this amendment, so I've been liaising with NARAL - http://www.prochoicecolorado.org/ballotwatch.shtml. So many people don't read the ballot when they vote that there's a possibility, even though 60% of Americans are pro-choice, that this could pass. From the amount of people I've canvassed or spoken to on the phone, predominantly Catholics and Christians, abortion issues are a deciding factor for a small percentage of voters.
Health care is one of the biggest hopes for this election. Americans want free health care, a National Health Service of some description. Rachael and I walked into a store last night and she bumped into a guy she'd gone to elementary school with. They chit-chatted for a few minutes, and Rachael asked him who he was going to vote for.
"Obama all the way dude! I'm in it for the free health care. I got diagnosed with diabetes this month. It's killing me."
He shrugs sadly, a 25 year old kid already broken by medical bills.
"Hey, I work at Dino's. You send the volunteers round Friday, I'll hook you up with some pizzas for the campaign, ok?"
I was in ER abut five weeks back for a vicious staph infection. At the time I didn't have insurance - mainly because I'm really broke and I figured if I got really sick I'd just go home to the UK - after all, I've paid enough national insurance in my life. Of course life doesn't work like that and I ended up in Good Samaritan with a fever of 103 and a huge, revolting abscess on my knee. I spoke to the doctors and told them my predicament, and they agreed to lower the bill for me. It should be 500 bucks, they told me. But I could pay 300.
I was relieved at this and left ER and immediately got some health insurance which has managed to rape my remaining bank account quite considerably. I pay 110 dollars a month with a 500 dollar co-pay, which means even when I pick up prescriptions the amount I save, until I've spent 500 bucks, is minimal. Birth control which costs me 70 bucks a month still costs me 60 - I mean, what's the fucking point of a prescription plan?! I called up Blue Shield and told the bastards I was selling my kidneys so I could afford birth control. They didn't find this amusing and asked if it was a pre-existing condition.
After all these shenannigans, I was unprepared for the $2,235.81 bill which subsequently arrived from the hospital last week - $1500 of this for 'ER general', 50 bucks for a Vicodin, and 500 bucks for a swab and lab analysis! This country Fucks. You. Over. I cannot believe McCain's ridiculous plan to tax health insurance and give that bollox tax credit to people for health insurance. Medicine is not a business, health is not something that can be placed on the free market. It's ridiculous, but you all know this already. So go vote blue!
So GOTV nears.... I've been assigned to be a Poll Lead, which means I have a team of poll watchers under me inside the poll who have to report who has voted back outside to me. I then send this back to my Staging Location Director, who passes it up the line back to Chicago. I'm also responsible for recruiting volunteers to phone and canvass on election day, and making sure that the polls aren't interfered with, they open on time, that no one is turned away and disenfranchised for the wrong reason. We have 20,000 lawyers volunteering in Colorado alone who are on a hotline for election day to ensure that everyone who can vote does so without intimidation at the ballot - a very real possibility considering the Republican's attempts to claim voter fraud because of ACORN's success at registering under-privileged groups. In the Nevada area ACORN have registered over 100,000 new voters this year, and with their alignment with the Democratic party the Republicans are understadably freaking out and bleating voter fraud as their last resort. It doesn't help that some of ACORN's employees were convicted of voter fraud a few years back as the organization introduced a retarded policy of payment per doors knocked and voters registered (read this excellent article for more info - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-atlas/acorn-under-the-microscop_b_112503.html).... but this according to King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg, the misconduct was done "as an easy way to get paid [by ACORN], not as an attempt to influence the outcome of elections." This does little to deter the Republicans though.
Well, life trundles on here. The atmosphere is really positive, although thankfully the new influx of people has eased the burden on the rest of us so we often get six hours sleep a night now, and when the offices close to the public at 9pm we all get to enjoy a sneaky beer, which - c'mon - is important for team building. I love my fellow volunteers, they're awesome people, ot least because they're such a mismatched bunch - two former Republican Vets, a couple of Ivy League kids, a bunch of steely grandmothers, lawyers, financial consultants, college grads, the unemployed and uneducated alongside what is considered America's brightest and best - and everyone's equally as valued to the campaign.
MIMI IN NY | 12:26 PM |
