JIM STORK
I quit my job, packed up my car, and left Los Angeles to travel to Florida to work on the Jim Stork for Congress campaign. A few days into my employment, Jim announced to his staff he may be leaving the campaign due to health concerns. I was concerned for him, and I was bummed about the campaign. I was sure I'd found a place in a campaign I cared about deeply, that could affect the U.S. House and, residually, the presidential race in Florida. Now that he has officially announced his withdraw, (I've been patiently waiting and wondering) I can tell my friends here at Daily Kos. I met CaliChick, by the way, while there. She is a helluva person and we had fun in the little time we had to spend getting to know one another. Meanwhile, I needed a new campaign job and was offered one with Grassroots Campaigns/DNC. I would work for them at first, then be moved over to a GOTV project in a swing state.
HOST WITH THE MOST
My last diary entry was about three weeks ago, looking for some housing assistance in the D.C. area as I started the new campaign job. I'm reporting back that fellow Kossack DCDemocrat came through for all of us by opening up his home to me while I trained in Washington for a position as a field organizer to GOTV in an as-yet-to-be-determined swing state. So, hats off to DCDemocrat, a helluva guy. Not only does he volunteer at the Kerry/Edwards West Virginia office, but he is doing everything within his power to make sure we do not have another 4 years of Bushie McFuckstick, including opening his home to perfect strangers.
PAID BEGGING
I also want to report back on what's been going on on the ground here in the Northern Virginia/Maryland/D.C. area. Part of my "training" before being shipped off to my swing state was to work with Grassroots Campaigns and the Democratic National Committee raising money. One of our fellow Kosmopolitans called it "paid begging", which seems like a perfectly fine way to describe it. But, I knew it would only be for a couple of weeks, and may give me valuable insight into the mind of the DNC and others. Well, as I expected, I hated it. It was just awful. I'm canvassed for votes and support before, but never money. Even this cause, which I feel SO strongly about, I hated asking people to donate. We need money to run political campaigns, I know. I'm just not the person to raise it. Let me organize the field operations or the media or events. Not fundraising. Leave that to somebody that's good at looking at somebody that just wrote a check for $1000 a week ago and asking them to "dig deep" or "give until hurts".
IT'S ABOUT THE PEOPLE
But I've met some wonderful people. There was the Dumolskis in North Potomac, Maryland, who told me, "when you see Kerry, tell him to GET TOUGH!" (This was a very popular sentiment from MANY people I spoke with.) They also gave me a check for $100 for the DNC and a bottle of water so I wouldn't get dehydrated in my walk in the 90-degree heat.
There was Gilda, of Alexandria, VA, whose son was being shipped off to Fullujah, Iraq, the following morning. We talked for quite a while about the war. After I left her house, I needed to go sit on the curb and compose myself for a minute and remind myself that it's for people like her I'm fighting to get Bush out.
There was Annette, of Hyattsville, MD - an older lady of 80 years or more, I would suspect. We sat on her porch as she smoked cigarettes and sipped her Big Gulp and told me her opinions of everything from Chris Matthews (loves him) and Bill O'Reilly (hates him), to medicare, medicaid, education, health care, war, and potholes in the street. We talked for at least 20 minutes. I had many houses to get to in her neighbor hood that day, but I didn't care. She was fun.
There were also some funny moments. My favorites occured at George Washington University as we were recruiting for Grassroots. "Want to work for the DNC to help elect John Kerry??!!" I asked that question at least 500 times that day. Two of my favorite answers: "I already work at the Gap." and "I support the President." Aren't people HYSTERICAL?
WE ARE GOING TO WIN
So, now I'm off to Milwaukee to train for the new MoveOn "Leave No Voter Behind" program. For those of you who don't know, the program is targeting 10,000 precints in many, many swing states, aimed at getting out the vote. The goal is to identify 150 potential new voters in each district. About 500 campaign workers will converge on Milwaukee, Wisconsin, this week to train and prepare to hit the ground running and work 15 hours a day until November 2. I'm excited and proud to be one of those people.
Unlike the disorganization I experienced with the Grassroots Campaigns/DNC office, and the overall uncomfortable-ness with asking for money, I am excited and proud to be a part of this new project and I am looking forward to getting to my region and start talking to voters.