Tarzana is a community in the southwestern San Fernando Valley (part of the city of L.A.) There aren't really jungles, but maybe a few overgrown house lots. It was named after author Edgar Rice Burroughs, creator of Tarzan, who settled in the area. It is an area that is important for GOTV because it sits in contested Congressional and State Senate districts. Also it is necessary to get a high turnout in the SFV not so much for Obama and for Senator Feinstein, who are sure to win in CA, but for all the ballot measures. This is California; it's always about the Propositions.
I am a volunteer with DP/SFV (Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley) which is an umbrella organization for about two dozen grassroots Democratic clubs in and around the SFV. We do a lot of campaigning; now it is time to get out the vote. One of the things we do is distribute door hangers. Follow me past the orange squiggle out to our precinct...
I like door hangers; they are a simple and elegant idea. I first became a door hanger guy in Santa Cruz CA where they have long been part of the political campaign culture. A door hanger is a rectangular piece of paper with a hole near the top that goes around the doorknob. The voter will see it because they have to use their door. We are using the CA DEM door hanger with pictures of Barack and DiFi on top and then a space for a sticker with the local district races and the address and phone number for the campaign office. Below are the statewide measure endorsements and near the bottom is maybe the most important part which is where you put the sticker with the address of their polling place. The door hanger reminds people to vote and makes it easier for them to do so. We put them on specific doors, those of identified supporters (previously called or walked) and especially "occasional voters" who don't vote every time.
Putting out the door hangers is a lot of work. You have to have the right stickers for each precinct and keep the precincts in order. Last week was the part where we prepared and sorted the hangers. This weekend we put most of them out; later this afternoon I will do a few leftovers. Your basic door hangering crew is a driver and two walkers. Most of the walkers are high school student volunteers; the drivers are more geezerly like me. I had the kids in the back seat while I used the front passenger seat as a desk. I would go from the pages of street addresses and names and look for the right doors. I stop in front of the doors and the walkers head to the doors with two hangers, the CDP one on top and a Brad Sherman one underneath. (DP/SFV endorsed Sherman while the CDP went neutral in the Congressman, Schmongressman race). In each precinct we hit around 100 or so doors. Let me just say how great the kids were. Yeah, they are partially doing it for community service credit for school, but most of them were way into doing the work. It was a great opportunity to work with the new generation, who reflect the diversity of 21st Century L.A. I had one team that was two girls named Marina who were friends, but one of them was a Latina and the other was from Armenia. Yesterday afternoon I had Linda and Jocelyn, who had great energy and even ran to some of the doors (I was dragging ass at that point, so they helped energize me.) The only walker who was close to my age was my new friend Claire, who I met at the DP/SFV HQ while putting stickers on hangers. The kids are alright!
So why am I doing this? I really want to re-elect Fran Pavley for State Senate to Sacramento, even though I am not in her new district which is a tossup race. She is a great leader on envoronmental issues and education (she taught middle school for many years). For DKE trivia buffs: Fran is a great-granddaughter of William Jennings Bryan. Fran told me that the banks don't like her either, which is true. She is a champion for the people of CA on many issues.
Also the props: I have YES on 30, 34, 36, 37, 39 and 40 and J. NO on 31, 32, 33, 38, A and B. I don't have time to go into all those right now, but there are other sources for that here.
We can use your help: The DP/SFV Headquarters is at 14545 Victory Blvd, just west of Van Nuys Blvd in the middle of Van Nuys. Phone is 818-995-DEMS, but you can just come on down to do phoning until 8PM today and phoning, poll watching and so forth tomorrow from 8AM to the close of polls at 8PM. Then we will celebrate victory on Victory! Wherever you are, GOTV!