As of about 3:06pm this afternoon, I am officially done registering voters. FOREVER. I must confess that the job was incredibly gratifying and not nearly so bad as one would expect, and yet I'm basically thrilled to never do it again.
*
After some elementary math, I think I - me, personally - registered close to 500 voters in the Fort Collins area in just under 4 weeks, and maybe 80% of those individuals are Obama fans. I'm pumped. That's a big number.
*
I got the job with Grassroots Campaigns, Inc. sometime shortly after Labor Day weekend, and when I interviewed with SH & AG I was under the impression that most of my job would be office work AND that I was working for the Obama campaign. That couldn't have been further from the truth on both counts. I spent about 5 hours a day 5-6 days a week somewhere on campus or a street corner in the Fort, harassing passers-by to register to vote through MoveOn.org. I like to think that I was not as obnoxious as most voter reg people, namely because I dressed up for work (it couldn't hurt, right?), smiled REALLY enthusiastically, joked around with people as they passed and appeared to enjoy what I was doing. In other words, I actually tried pretty hard to not be hated.
*
I had a few 'favorite' moments canvassing. There was one time in Old Town when a group of preteens with skinny jeans and bad curtains-of-sorrow walked past. Here was our conversation . . .
Kelsey: "Are you...old enough to vote?"
Emo #1, 2, 3 & 4: "No - but we're old enough to party!!"
I always ALWAYS enjoyed registering brand-new 18-year-olds, and it thrilled me to hear people say "OF COURSE I'm registered!" because I knew those folks were really going to vote. And this will surprise no one, but I most loved working on campus because I always saw friends (and made a number of new ones). Perhaps the only reason I'll miss canvassing is because with its departure goes my regular interaction with EG, SC, ZH, ZW, NL and even BS.
*
Canvassing matters. Our office registered 5700 voters in Fort Collins alone. Five thousand seven hundred people! No one can ever say that our work was futile. I am so grateful to be part of important work.
After some elementary math, I think I - me, personally - registered close to 500 voters in the Fort Collins area in just under 4 weeks, and maybe 80% of those individuals are Obama fans. I'm pumped. That's a big number.
*
I got the job with Grassroots Campaigns, Inc. sometime shortly after Labor Day weekend, and when I interviewed with SH & AG I was under the impression that most of my job would be office work AND that I was working for the Obama campaign. That couldn't have been further from the truth on both counts. I spent about 5 hours a day 5-6 days a week somewhere on campus or a street corner in the Fort, harassing passers-by to register to vote through MoveOn.org. I like to think that I was not as obnoxious as most voter reg people, namely because I dressed up for work (it couldn't hurt, right?), smiled REALLY enthusiastically, joked around with people as they passed and appeared to enjoy what I was doing. In other words, I actually tried pretty hard to not be hated.
*
I was still ignored regularly.
*I had a few 'favorite' moments canvassing. There was one time in Old Town when a group of preteens with skinny jeans and bad curtains-of-sorrow walked past. Here was our conversation . . .
Kelsey: "Are you...old enough to vote?"
Emo #1, 2, 3 & 4: "No - but we're old enough to party!!"
I always ALWAYS enjoyed registering brand-new 18-year-olds, and it thrilled me to hear people say "OF COURSE I'm registered!" because I knew those folks were really going to vote. And this will surprise no one, but I most loved working on campus because I always saw friends (and made a number of new ones). Perhaps the only reason I'll miss canvassing is because with its departure goes my regular interaction with EG, SC, ZH, ZW, NL and even BS.
*
Canvassing matters. Our office registered 5700 voters in Fort Collins alone. Five thousand seven hundred people! No one can ever say that our work was futile. I am so grateful to be part of important work.
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