An open letter
Dear coordinators of the No on 8 campaign,
I'm thrilled about the new direction the campaign is taking. I love seeing signs at street corners, and info tables at farmer's markets, all over my town. I love that you're giving away yard signs to supporters for a suggested donation, and that you've put together informational pamphlets.
But for God's sake, you waited long enough.
I signed up to volunteer two weeks ago, and was told that phone banking, and only phone banking, was the campaign focus. When I said that I couldn't do that, but I'd happily wave a sign on a street corner or staff an info table, my suggestion was met with doubtful silence. We finally settled on having me recruit other people to phone bank - but when I showed up, I was given a script that contained a very "hard sell" approach for volunteer time and monetary donations, and told to stick to it like glue. Every time my recruitment partner heard me deviate from the script, she came over to correct me.
I asked if there was anything I could do in my local area. I was told that I could continue to recruit phone bankers - but only if I had someone else with me, and only if we did three-hour shifts. When I said that I have a kid and it's hard to commit to a three-hour shift, you nodded sympathetically - and offered no alternatives. I asked if there were any other volunteers in my area, and was told you didn't know. I emailed and asked for informational literature, and got no reply.
Even now, when I heard about the new tabling and informational focus of the campaign and called up to see what I could do to help, I got a lecture about staying on message, not talking to the press, and not organizing anything without the knowledge of the campaign. I get that you don't want to have a bunch of people giving different messages, and I respect that. I get that you want us to be safe, and that you ask us to work in pairs and not counter-demonstrate because of things like this, and I respect that. But grass-roots organizing is by its nature personal, and attempting to stuff it back into a box with a script is (I believe) ultimately counterproductive. There was a dude with a baby in a front-pack at the corner-signage gathering last night, waving a "No on 8" sign and cheerfully informing drivers that "everybody matters!" Is that your message? No. But there was a dude with a baby out there on that corner for your cause.
Let me let you in on a secret, No on 8 people. When you're coming from a group that's seen as a threat to families, your best possible bet is to run a flexible, family-friendly campaign. Hard sells, centralized phone banks, and three-hour shifts are effective for personal campaigns or causes that don't have an identity stigma, campaigns that can use college kids and a few dedicated campaigners to do intensive outreach. But that approach effectively shuts out those of us who need to do an hour or so here and there and then run off to cook dinner, pick the kids up from soccer practice, or go to work. When you play identity politics, you have to let the people with the most marketable identity be active and visible however you can. The Yes on 8 people are saying you are ruining the family, so get the families out there to show the voters that they're wrong.
Your campaign needed to show that it had widespread support, through bumper stickers and lawn signs. Every time someone gave money, you needed to ask if they wanted a sign or a bumper sticker. Your campaign needed to show that it is family-friendly, by giving people the opportunity to come out with their families, or to work around their childcare schedules. Your campaign needed to give people information about the issue and the endorsements you have, to clear up the confusion caused by the other side's lies. And I'm thrilled that you're doing that now, don't get me wrong. But I wish you'd done it a month ago.
Then again, if I hadn't been so damn complacent and sure it wouldn't pass, I could have helped out - and worked to change the campaign strategy - months ago. So we're both at fault.
Love and frustration,
Me
I'm thrilled about the new direction the campaign is taking. I love seeing signs at street corners, and info tables at farmer's markets, all over my town. I love that you're giving away yard signs to supporters for a suggested donation, and that you've put together informational pamphlets.
But for God's sake, you waited long enough.
I signed up to volunteer two weeks ago, and was told that phone banking, and only phone banking, was the campaign focus. When I said that I couldn't do that, but I'd happily wave a sign on a street corner or staff an info table, my suggestion was met with doubtful silence. We finally settled on having me recruit other people to phone bank - but when I showed up, I was given a script that contained a very "hard sell" approach for volunteer time and monetary donations, and told to stick to it like glue. Every time my recruitment partner heard me deviate from the script, she came over to correct me.
I asked if there was anything I could do in my local area. I was told that I could continue to recruit phone bankers - but only if I had someone else with me, and only if we did three-hour shifts. When I said that I have a kid and it's hard to commit to a three-hour shift, you nodded sympathetically - and offered no alternatives. I asked if there were any other volunteers in my area, and was told you didn't know. I emailed and asked for informational literature, and got no reply.
Even now, when I heard about the new tabling and informational focus of the campaign and called up to see what I could do to help, I got a lecture about staying on message, not talking to the press, and not organizing anything without the knowledge of the campaign. I get that you don't want to have a bunch of people giving different messages, and I respect that. I get that you want us to be safe, and that you ask us to work in pairs and not counter-demonstrate because of things like this, and I respect that. But grass-roots organizing is by its nature personal, and attempting to stuff it back into a box with a script is (I believe) ultimately counterproductive. There was a dude with a baby in a front-pack at the corner-signage gathering last night, waving a "No on 8" sign and cheerfully informing drivers that "everybody matters!" Is that your message? No. But there was a dude with a baby out there on that corner for your cause.
Let me let you in on a secret, No on 8 people. When you're coming from a group that's seen as a threat to families, your best possible bet is to run a flexible, family-friendly campaign. Hard sells, centralized phone banks, and three-hour shifts are effective for personal campaigns or causes that don't have an identity stigma, campaigns that can use college kids and a few dedicated campaigners to do intensive outreach. But that approach effectively shuts out those of us who need to do an hour or so here and there and then run off to cook dinner, pick the kids up from soccer practice, or go to work. When you play identity politics, you have to let the people with the most marketable identity be active and visible however you can. The Yes on 8 people are saying you are ruining the family, so get the families out there to show the voters that they're wrong.
Your campaign needed to show that it had widespread support, through bumper stickers and lawn signs. Every time someone gave money, you needed to ask if they wanted a sign or a bumper sticker. Your campaign needed to show that it is family-friendly, by giving people the opportunity to come out with their families, or to work around their childcare schedules. Your campaign needed to give people information about the issue and the endorsements you have, to clear up the confusion caused by the other side's lies. And I'm thrilled that you're doing that now, don't get me wrong. But I wish you'd done it a month ago.
Then again, if I hadn't been so damn complacent and sure it wouldn't pass, I could have helped out - and worked to change the campaign strategy - months ago. So we're both at fault.
Love and frustration,
Me
posted by The Stute Fish at 13:18
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