Just so you know the level of committment this is going to take, let me tell you that I'm not a morning person. I don't like 'getting a jump on the day' nor do I feel the need to see the bright new day dawning.
But, on Nov. 7, 2006, my alarm will be set for 6 a.m. and the coffee will be made at 6:15. By 6:25, I'll be finishing my second cup and hurriedly pouring a third for the road. All this because I need to be at the West Bend campus of the Milwaukee Area Technical College - my local polling place.
I'll have to be there all day and into the night. Polls close at 8 p.m. and I'll be there to help turn out the lights.
This year, I called the clerk's office, got hold of the elections person and volunteered to help at the polls. Low and behold, I'm now an election official.
Wisconsin allows registration at the polls, so there will surely be plenty to do all day. I'm looking forward to learning just what these volunteers I've been seeing for years do. Now I am one of them.
It's all part of a realization that has occurred to me this year. The realization that our system needs to have the input and involvement of the little people - in short, all of us - in order to work right.
This year, I've been trying to help my local candidate for the House of Representatives, Bryan Kennedy (WI-5) defeat James Sensenbrenner. Most of my work has been online or up here in West Bend, Wisconsin.
I haven't been able to do all that I wanted to do, like some of the wonderful, excited, energetic volunteers that have been working every day to help Kennedy's campaign. What I have done is figure out what I'm capable of doing and giving and then done and given it.
In my case, that's meant donating about $100, a piece of gum, and some lint to the Kennedy campaign from my own tight pockets. It didn't seem like much when compared to the big bucks going to some campaigns, so it seemed like a good idea to try and raise a bit of awareness for this worthy - but mostly ignored - candidate. So, I've dropped some lit, placed a couple of signs and wrote some diaries and blogs.
Along the way, a goodly amount of people have listened and some have even contributed to Kennedy's campaign through the ActBlue page I set up. People - strangers from around the country and the state of Wisconsin - have donated $291.55 to Kennedy and another $45.01 to Russ Feingold's Progressive Patriots Fund.
It's truly an amazing thing to see.
Maybe it's not as staggering as some of the donations to the big campaigns, but it's more intense because this money is from regular people - people with regular jobs, tight budgets and real concerns about our country.
As I've written diaries about Kennedy and his campaign, I've also found diaries written by others who taught me about some other worthy candidates who were in need of support too. People with names like Patrick Murphy, Scott Kleeb, Larry Kissell and Jon Tester.
Going through ActBlue, I've been able to give to each of those campaigns too. Not a lot, but something. Five bucks here and $10 there. Hopefully it will help a little.
Some of the money has come from not drinking one beer that I want to drink when I go out and some from not going out at all. I figure that I spend about $5 for a pint of Newcastle, including a tip, so that's $5 I can donate online.
It's worth trying.
You'll be amazed at how much you can save by not doing something or by just cutting back a bit. Instead of downloading an album on iTunes - for example - donate $10 to a small campaign.
A $10 donation might mean one more cable television spot for a candidate in a cheap media market, like Kennedy in Wisconsin, or Scott Kleeb out in Nebraska. Ten people each kicking in $10 would mean that spot runs 10 more times and that more people will see it and hear the message.
And now is a crucial time for a lot of campaigns. They are facing big money buys from the Republican party and need to act now to make sure their message stays heard out there in the sea of big dollar attacks.
Since I've long ago tossed out pride on this, I'm asking anyone who reads this to donate to a small campaign.
Of course, I'm going to encourage you to donate to Kennedy, but there are a lot of candidates that deserve some help. So, just pick one or two and make a donation - right now...not later.
I'll wait for you...
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Doesn't that feel good?
It didn't really hurt at all did it?
Did you also notice something when you made that donation - the sense of playing a part? That's one of the things that's keeping me wanting to donate. Every time I give a few bucks I feel like I'm investing in the future of this country. And I feel like I have a small stake in seeing these candidates win.
You can be sure I'll be watching the poll results coming in from around the country when I get home from working at the polls here.
I'm not only tied to my guy Kennedy, but to all the candidates that I've invested in and pinned my hope for the future on. I'll definitely be cheering for Kleeb, Kissell and Murphy on Nov. 7. And I'll definitely be feeling that I played a part in their campaigns, even if that part is just a tiny one.
And when it's all over, I know that I'll feel like I played a part in the huge process of democracy. Every person that I check off a list, every person that registers, every vote that's cast is a part of that process too. And all of them are important.
So, please, please, please...make a donation, volunteer some time, and do whatever you can to get everyone you know to go out and vote.
Let's all be part of this amazing process.