How to Save Democracy This Week
Week of 3/21/2022
It took me three tries to volunteer for the Max Rose** for Congress campaign in 2018. The first time I got off the bus, walked by and saw there was no one in there except for the organizing director, and promptly got right back on the bus. The second time I got so far as an assigned turf packet for canvassing before I turned around and left. It wasn’t until the third time when I finally got a friend to go with me that I actually made it through a whole shift.
To be quite honest, it was terrifying. I’m sorry, you want me to knock on strangers’ doors? To talk about politics? To get yelled at by Trump supporters? To foist my presence on unsuspecting Bay Ridge residents? Absolutely terrifying.
Only, as it turns out, it wasn’t terrifying at all. As it turns out, most people are kind. Most people want the world to be better than it is. Most people, at the bare minimum, have trouble yelling at strangers who are standing on their doorstep. We are hardwired for hospitality.
But here’s the thing: I’m not telling you all this story because of it’s obvious narrative structure, in which the main character (me) overcomes an obstacle (social anxiety and general terror) and rides off into the sunset (a lifetime of easy canvassing and phone banking). I’m telling you this story because in 2020, even though I could do it from the comfort of my bed, it still took me several tries to actually make it to a phone banking shift for Elizabeth Warren in the presidential primary. And I’ve canceled on the poor Carolina Federation twice now this spring even though I spent hours on the phone for their candidates less than 18 months ago.
The actual moral of this story is that it’s hard for me every single time. It takes me a while to get going every election cycle, because talking to strangers is hard, and talking to strangers about politics, especially in this fraught climate, is even harder. And talking to strangers about politics in a fraught political climate when democracy and the very planet are on the line is hardest of all.
So, yes, one moral of this story is that you can do hard things. It always takes me a few tries to get started in an election season, and thus far this one is no exception. But I always get there in the end. I talk to strangers, I register new voters, I help people find their polling place and I recruit volunteers, and maybe one of my calls or my knock on the door is the thing that gets someone to the polls when they weren’t going to go before.
But I guess the other moral of the story is that it is hard. And so it’s good to get started early - whether that’s getting your three skips out of the way now, like I’m doing, or by doing the research now to figure out how else you can help. Here’s some ways you can get started now:
Swing Left: Find Your Nearest Swing District - This is actually how I started volunteering for the Max Rose campaign in 2018. Swing Left helps you find your nearest competitive swing district in their target states, and then connects you with opportunities to make a difference in that race. Whether that’s donating, writing letters, or connecting you with a group that’s working on that race, there’s something for everyone.
Changing the Conversation - sign up for a training with Changing the Conversation. This is a canvassing method that involves sharing stories and active listening to engage voters in a real, two way conversation about issues that are important to them. Even if you’re not ready to go canvassing just yet, or you’re not planning on signing up for the races CTC is working on, this can help get you ready to have conversations about politics during future canvasses or phone banks, or even just with your family and friends.
Relational Organizing - and speaking of family and friends, this can actually be one of the most useful ways you can make a difference in any election. Relational organizing is just a fancy way of describing the conversations you have with friends and family that convince them to vote. Your friends and family are in fact more likely to listen to you than the stranger that calls them (even when that stranger is me) and you can help them make their voices heard and even perhaps turn them into organizers themselves.
Send a note to your friends and family with this link and ask them to check their voter registration and upcoming election dates and deadlines.
Pick an election that’s important to you and share updates from the campaign on your social media
Okay, okay go on and forward this email and tell them to subscribe to my newsletter, if you insist!
**I got involved in the Max Rose campaign in 2018 after he had already won the primary, because flipping that district was an important part of flipping the House of Representatives in 2018, but I wasn’t entirely thrilled with his performance in the House during his term. He is running again this year in a competitive Democratic primary and if you’re in New York I urge you to take a look at Brittany Ramos DeBarros who is also running in that race.