Keeping an open mind

After my first few days working with the Democratic Party, I was given quite a few responsibilities. Some of these responsibilities included attending house district meetings, coordinating events, and meeting individually with precinct committee members and precinct captains. I was assigned to a house district and was in charge of organizing events as well as collaborating with various people in the district. In some of these events, I had the opportunity of canvassing, which is going door to door and speaking to people about the elections. While some of these canvassing events can be quite interesting, some of them can be quite terrifying as well. The interesting part is that I noticed many voters in this district were not properly informed on the issues. Many people hold a firm stance on a certain issue without exploring all the facts of the issue they support and the issue they oppose. I find it difficult to have a complete partisan mentality on numerous issues because most issues are nonlinear. It is important for voters to know exactly what they oppose and to know the pros and cons of what they support. I may not agree with a candidate on an issue but after studying their point of view, I can at least understand why they chose to hold that particular stance. This enables citizens to make more informed decisions when voting and can also decrease many contentious conversations. Now, the more terrifying part of canvassing is speaking to voters who have immensely strong stances on an issue without fully understanding the other side’s point of view on the issue. Many people develop strong negative feelings towards people or candidates with different viewpoints. These people are quick to get angry, yell, or may even refuse to hear anything other than what they already know. As I became better informed on the issues, I realized that there are plausible ideas on both sides and it is not sensible to talk down on others for what they believe. Much of a person’s belief may be heavily contributed from their demographics or from some other serious event in their life. Some of the voters I held conversations with learned that their previous stances on a particular issue did not completely reflect their beliefs. For example, I spoke to a handful of people who chose to dislike and reprehend a candidate for the sole fact that the candidate proposes to raise taxes. Obviously this issue is not so simple because raising taxes almost always sounds bad, but for a person to not know the reasoning behind this proposal could do him or her more harm than good. Especially, if this citizen’s main concern is improving the education system.

First thoughts with the Colorado Democratic Party

My initial thoughts on grassroots campaigning were definitely not what I expected. I soon realized that people are intensely working around the clock for this election on a level that is far beyond the average 8 hour work day. My first day started at 10 a.m. and ended at 10 p.m. It largely consisted of phone calls and preparing for events in which we do various things including voter registration. At first, calling random voters was quite nerve-racking and I found myself mumbling, stuttering, or talking extremely too fast. It did not help that I was given the list of elderly citizens to call and many of them were either hard of hearing or just angry for reasons I will never know. I always had some pretty interesting conversations with some interesting people while working on the phones. Our goal for that day was to gather all sorts of information like voter preference as well as their thoughts on the issues so that we can continue to improve the campaign as we come closer to the elections. It did not take me long to get comfortable speaking with voters because I began to understand that these conversations were not about me but about the issues and opinions of the American people. If I wanted my efforts to hold any weight in these elections, I would have to overcome my nervousness so that I can look back and know that I, indeed, contributed to these historical elections and to resolving the issues that are important to me. I will probably never quite understand why some people complain about their issues and then decide not to vote. If a person wants to make a change they have to put some effort into making that change. These changes may not always be made so just by voting but may require a few hours of volunteering. After working on the campaign, I now know that even a person who may only choose to volunteer for an hour can be extremely beneficial to any campaign. Throughout my time there, I witnessed concerned citizens volunteer daily because of the major issues in our country affecting them everyday. Whether it's healthcare, education costs, or the war, I think everyone has an issue that may directly concern them. When I think of how hard people are constantly working for all of us so that we may be better informed, more involved, and reminded that in a democracy the people have the power to change things, I believe it is a shame that people do not take advantage of their right to vote.
-Derrick A