I got to shake hands with Gov. Sebelius today! (Help a canvasser understand non-voters!)

[Withywindle]

She's not as tall as she looks on TV but she's warmier and friendlier and prettier.

It was a nice perk for a frustrating day of canvassing in WI.

I have to face this: I DO NOT know how to talk to apathetic people who've never voted in their lives and don't care. I can argue with Repubs. I can support fellow Dems.

I do not comprehend how someone can get to be 40 years old without ever bothering to vote. I've never missed an election as long as I've been eligible. Even though I knew my first vote (for Dukakis in '88 when I was 19) was going down the shitter, I still would not have felt like a real adult if I hadn't shown up and done it.

WTF is up with non-voters? (and people who are still "undecided" 3 weeks away) I know my social skills are not the best, I'm a bookish nerd! Help me understand!

[alcibiades_mystery]

1. The apathetic may be the most seriously political people there are

Those of us who vote rearrange deck chairs. It's a useful and consequential thing to do. Tuning out utterly is no less political, however. We reject a particular configuration of deck chairs. They reject the whole thing, the whole show.

There's something to it. It's not just a "lack" of politics. It's another kind of order altogether.

[Withywindle]

4. It depends on WHY they reject it.

I encountered a couple of people who said they didn't vote because it was against their religion. They still knew who the candidates were, though, and had opinions about the issues.

It was more that I encountered a number of people who said they knew nothing about either candidate and just kind of shrugged when we said, 'well, what are the issues you care most about?"

I know a number of anarchists who don't vote because they don't want to 'support the system.' I understand their argument and respect it in theory, but the fact is their "protest" is statistically indistinguishable from some of the people I met today, who have children and nice lower-middle-class suburban bungalows and had their TVs blaring, and still had no conception of which party "that black guy" represented, much less the issues. The 'system" only measures two kinds of voices: those who bother to show up and spend 10 minutes expressing their preference, and those who don't.

[alcibiades_mystery]

9. No, it doesn't

Rejection need not be consciously "political." That misses the point utterly. That tries to capture the non-political FOR the big "P" Political. Desertion and indifference are small "p" political, utter abandonment of sham Politics.

It is, in fact, more political when it is simply indifference.

[Withywindle]

10. No it's not.

It's just laziness.

It's identical to the lackadaisical attitude about utility bills that I had in my 20s, that I'd only pay them after the red Disconnection Warning showed up. "Oh, it doesn't matter. I can still take hot showers--(for now, but only now matters)"

Citizenship in a democracy comes with the responsibility of participation. Don't vote - don't bitch.

[ClarkUSA]

2. Be determindedly breezy and cheerful and encourage them to vote NOW

The past is the past -- and you might be opening their eyes to what matters for their future. Don't look back - eyes firmly forward to
a future with President Obama (with backup from VP Biden) at the helm of this country and the Free World (as some say).

[Withywindle]

6. That's what we did.

Handed out the flyers, told them that City Hall was open to receive them 6 days a week between now and November 4. (we did have some shiny brochures about Obama's health care plan, and handed those out freely).

That's the whole thing, it's like "well, do you like where this country is going now?" 'NO, of course not." "Check out Senator Obama's positions on the issues (www.barackobama.com), and if you really have belief in America, the country where John F Kennedy talked about going to the moon in 1962 and 7 years later we did it, then give us a chance."

That being said, I'd trade them all for the one elderly lady who'd had two strokes and was mostly blind and had no phone but was ALL up on politics and sharp as a tack and wanted to vote for Barack SO VERY MUCH, and I was able to write down her name and address and tell the local office DRIVE THIS LADY TO THE POLLS WHENEVER SHE WANTS. I kind of hope WI comes down to ONE vote, and it's hers. :D

[ClarkUSA]

13. Good!

You go get 'em, then! :yourock:

[Motown_Johnny]

3. if they vote for someone, then they lose the "right" to piss and moan about everything all the time

[Withywindle]

7. I think if you don't vote you lose the "right" to piss and moan at all n/t

[napi21]

5. I can't canvass because I have difficulty walking a lot anymore, but

what do you think about the following questions to them?

Are you upset about the rapid rise in prices at the store?

Do you think it's a good idea that companies are encouraged to send American jobs to places like Bangladesh?

Are you happy with current gas prices?

Do you have a 401K? If you do, how's it looking today?

Did the bridge collapse in MO. make you worry about the bridges in your town?

I think the people who can't be bothered to vote are just convinced that no matter who's running the show, it doesn't matter to them personally. We have to convince them that IT CAN!

[Withywindle]

8. These are excellent suggestions, and thank you

I'm going back into the breach next week.

That's exactly it, bring it all home. If you don't want to pay local taxes, then the direct result of that is that local schools and roads aren't as good as they could be, etcetera.

[napi21]

11. That's the point. You have to make it personal. How have the Pugs affected YOU!

Can yu really live with another four years of what YOU'VE seen happen to YOU?

I hate to say it, but most people don't care very much about anyone else. If someone has their ID stolen, they must have been careless. If somebody bough a house they couldn't afford, they should have known better. But when that same person knows they did everything they should have done. They were thrify. They didn't over extend their credit. They work hard and earned everything they have, but THEY'RE still now being penalized, they pay attention! NOW they care!

[Withywindle]

12. The most moving stories I'd heard were from people who had already decided, though.

There was one young Latina who looked around nervously and whispered..."I want to vote for Obama and my boyfriend does too, but he's white and it's hard." I handed out cards with the HQ address (where registrations are open, no questions asked) and nodded and tried to be discreet.

I tried to convince Mr. Redneck Vet that Obama would NOT try to take his guns away, but he pointed at his minister's house across the street and told us some story about people trying to break in, but all I saw was the yard full of pro-life slogans and bloody fetus pictures.

We went up to a house that our survey sheet had listed as belonging to two young men with different surnames but similar age profiles, and the guy at the door greeted us with total fear, although their dogs were friendler.

It's hard. I come from a place that is WAY more red and fundie (SW VA), and yet I know my mom is doing canvasssing work there, and I feel weak, relatively speaking.