Driving Votes: Ralph's Blog

Deny him his legacy

I was at Happy Hour on Friday with some friends after work. We were unwinding from a stressful week. We were trying to keep the conversation light and cheery when someone brought up George W. We all moaned and asked him not to ruin the weekend's beautiful beginning with that subject.
"If he wins in November, the next four years will be twice as bad as the last four," he said. This didn't catch anyone by surprise - I think many of us believe bad situations usually just get worse. My friend continued: "He can't run again. He'll have nothing holding him back. He wants to solidify his legacy."
That stopped all nearby chit chat. Everyone grew quiet and we all looked around the patio at each other. All of us gay men in our late 20's to early 40's. Most of us in committed relationships. Some of us struggling with the end of unemployment benefits. Others worried about pending layoffs (while the employers report increased profits).
What would George W.'s legacy look like? If he didn't care about the election in 2008, didn't care which constituencies he alienated, what would he do? The thought makes me bow my head and stare at my feet. Kinda the way I do at a wake when I'm contemplating what we've lost along with the soul of the departed.
What will losing in November cost us?

Politician job-security

When I started this effort I expected to run into racist and classist regulations surrounding voter registration. I was aware of the history of local election laws making it difficult for certain groups to fully participate in this democracy.
As we worked on the first few state packets I was happy to find that, though unorganized and often unhelpful, the local election authorities and regulations weren't blatantly prejudiced against a particular group.
Until today. Today I find out from one of our volunteers that in New Hampshire you must register in person at the local clerks office during normal business hours. The clerk offices aren't open on weekends (except for a single Saturday 10 days before the election). There are a few exceptions ('disability, religious beliefs, military service, or because of temporary absence').
I don't know about you but I usually find it hard to make time to accomplish important errands like picking up a prescription or seeing the doctor. And I have a white-collar, flexible-hours type job. What about the thousands of New Hampshire residents that work 8am to 5pm Monday through Friday? When are they supposed to register?
Given all the attention in 2000 on the election and voter registration process I'm surprised the leaders of New Hampshire haven't corrected this. Do they not think its important or are they worried that if normal working folk can register and vote they may be out of a job?

I love Shirley

I went to a friend's birthday party today. He lives in Wallingford in a beautiful house he shares with a very special woman named Shirley. She stepped into her yard today from some errand and found the party had begun. There were almost 20 people in her yard.

We exchanged hellos and then, over seared ahi tuna with wasabi dip, she told me what she had done today. She's a busy, charming lady. One of the items in her list caught my attention but I didn't want to interupt her. When she finished reciting her accomplishments she leaned in close to me and said "I love MoveOn."

I knew immediately I was talking to my kind of woman. We chatted about Bush - his good side (motivates our fellow thinkers) and his bad side (his entire administration and way of doing business). We reminisced about the Supreme Court and the importance of the next election on our legal rights for the next 50 years.

The item in Shirley's list that caught my attention? She woke up early this morning to bake 5 dozen rolls and 2 cakes for a MoveOn bake sale. My fellow DVers went riding around the city last weekend spreading the word about DV and offering support to the bake sales. This weekend they are in Portland testing our state packet. (I'll skip the PR message that talks about how much work we are putting into making it easy for anyone to register voters in a swing
state.) I'm working on putting 4 more packets together over the weekend.

"What are you doing?"

Thanks Shirley.

All Eggs in One Basket

I was reading the front page of the paper today waiting for lunch when I read a teaser "Kerry's Purple Heart Questioned, See 6a". My stomach dropped. It would not help our efforts to get rid of Bush for some bad dirt to be found in Kerry's past.
And that's my dilemna. I want Bush out of the White House. I don't feel safe with him at the controls. But our only chance of accomplishing that is getting Kerry elected. By gosh I'm going to do everything I can to make it happen. But when it comes down to it, so much of getting Kerry elected is out of my hands. What if he forgot to pay his taxes for his live-in house keeper? What if he slept around while in Vietnam and had a baby out of wed-lock? What if there's a till-now-unknown picture of him embracing some wacko from the sixties?
Then I guess I need to convince as many people as I can that a president guiltly of any of those things still has to be better than a president whose lies mean the death of thousands of innocent Iraqis and hundreds of US soldiers, whose manipulation of the system makes his friends and family richer while everyone making under $200k get screwed.
"Not all dirty bastards are the same."

Voter Registration?

Why do I have to register to vote? I already have a driver's license and I file my taxes every year. I also had to register with the military when I turned 18. The government has all the information it needs to verify that I'm a qualified voter.
So why the extra step? I understand the explanation is probably historical. Voting has, in the history of this country, always been something that was limited to a subset of the population. The subset used to be very, very small. As the requirements changed the mindset remained one of "start with a small group and add only those we have to add" instead of one of "include everyone then we can filter out only those that we deem aren't eligible". Its the difference between an inclusive approach and an exclusive approach.
Imagine a day when every citizen receives a letter 6 months before their 18th birthday informing them about their responsibility to vote and where they should go on the next election day. No extra step to register. You just are ready to vote as soon as you turn 18.
"You just are, Blanche"

Dentist gets into the fray

I was in my dentist's office yesterday. She has a big stack of voter registration forms by the door. Next to the stack is a little note saying the office would put the form in the mail for you (and pay the postage).
I asked her about this while I was in the chair. She said she's had no takers yet. She started ranting about Bush and I was amazed. My dentist is a middle-age mother with her own established practice. She explained that the reality is the world is full of liars and crooks and most politicians fit into one or both of those groups. But Bush Jr. rubs her the wrong way. He's a crook and a liar but he's also condescending in a way that makes her passionate about getting rid of him.
I say "You go woman!"