Every good journey holds many unexpected turns, and the journey of Driving Votes is more than good. Seven months ago, I would have laughed out loud if you had told me that I would be spending all of my free time discussing politics, meeting strangers in distant states and encouraging them to embrace their rights, roadtripping in an RV as my summer vacation, dreaming about votes, nightmaring about not enough votes, and spending my dating life with the frazzled director of our non-profit. But here I sit, about to head down to Oregon to register voters and spend a bit of time camping with friends and refusing to talk about Driving Votes—just how I will do both of those at once is a bit perplexing! I am a billboard of grassroots, my friends joke about it when I enter the room. All of my colleagues ask for updates every day—I tell them to get on the mailing list damnit!
I just spent a good chunk of time today attempting to obtain Loaner RVs for our trip—it has been far more difficult than I ever imagined it would be to get sponsors. So much love for this project, such an outpouring of emotion and support, but so little funding to make it possible. I have been sitting watching all of my friends work their tails off for months for FREE and adding incredible stress to their lives and relationships because of it. I am shocked that groups are sitting on millions of dollars raised in the name of democracy and regime change, sporting fancy offices and travel budgets unable to decide what to spend their money on, while members of our group use our own personal cash to finance our gas, t-shirts, flyers, energy, and time and SLAM democratic voters down in PILES at the voter registration office! It just boggles me. So many projects with Big Business systems stating that they hate that very dimension of the current administration. I must admit it is disheartening to talk with folks who state they are paying top dollar for people to register voters and flyer neighborhoods and mail out newsletters, but we have an army of concerned citizens willing to do all of that for FREE but we can’t even get our gas paid for. . .
I’ve spent my life being told I am a “Pollyanna” always unrealistically optimistic—it has gotten me a tremendous way in life thus far, and I don’t plan to shift my framework any time soon, but I sure am getting tired of telling all of my DV clan that someone is going to step in and help us make this happen any day now. . . I can’t wait until someone makes a believer out of them.
But on a lighter note, as is my general tendency, the lack of financing for the beautiful structure that is Driving Votes that enables all the collaboration of ambitious democratic energies across the country is actually a marvelous challenge. I am astounded at the level of passion and commitment that my fellow members have for this project and the people involved in it. Every minute of every day there is some amazing friend of mine, or a friend of theirs, on their computer responding to an email from someone 2,000 miles away asking how to make a change. And we answer. It might take a while for us to wade through them all and find time after our other jobs and family lives, but we will get to them. Then “them” will get to all of those aimless folks out there waiting to be registered, waiting for someone to remind them of their rights, their duty, their need to vote. And then I feel all positive again. I love this country.
// posted by nicki at
06:03 PM
