Enthusiasm; Intense or eager interest. This definition sums up what this years mid-term elections are being framed around. Will we the grassroots rise to the occasion and push the Dems over the finish line or will we succumb to the media's crowned preordained victor "The Republican Party"?
Today I read a blog entry at Organizing For America that was about some Community Organizers in PA that got their creative juices flowing and decided to take the message directly to our young people. Not the conventional ways of phonebanking or knocking on doors but by engaging people where they are.
This group of CO's went to a PA Movie Theatre for the premier of the third installment of the Twilight Movie Saga "Eclipse". They worked that movie line engaging the youth for 7 hours and at the end of the evening more than 300 young people signed pledge cards to vote and volunteer in the mid-term elections this Fall. 300 young people in 7 hours tells me that with just a little bit of engagement on our part that people can be persuaded to doing their part to keep our majority in Congress this year.
"If you build it they will come". That is how we win this fall. Without President Obama on the top of the ticket and with us already in power (regardless of what you think of the performance of Congress these last two years) it is hard to have enthusiasm about an off year election. Therefore, we will have to build that excitement. Fresh ideas such as this taking place all over the country every week is what will be needed to re-engage people to the point where they will want to do their part.
If you care about whether or not the Dems maintain their majority and I know that some of you have decided that it's not worth your energy or that you will just vote and nothing more but for those of you who don't feel that way you will have to ask yourself how do I build enthusiasm in my little corner of the world? The first step is that you have to start moving in that direction. So many of you in 2008 stepped out of your comfort zone and did things for the Obama Campaign that you had never done before. If you give one-third of that effort in 2010 We Win!
This Saturday OFA will be doing Voter Registration drives all over the country. They need people to host July 17th Voter Registration Events. Details are here. If you cannot host then maybe you can attend and give some of those Communtiy Organizers a hand with pledge cards.
Build the enthusiasm in your community by becoming active and finding creative ways to engaged the public for this falls elections.
*I do not work for OFA. I am just a volunteer who is sharing ways to do everything possible to make sure the Repubs do not re-take the House and or the Senate in this years mid-term elections.