TRUTH OR TRAP?

YES, I can be flip, sarcastic and glib.  And all of us in the campaign have been warned about the possibility that our conversations can and may be recorded by opposition plants.   This had happened to me decades ago in the corporate world, when my strong remarks on the phone to a caller asking about the competition ended up being played a week later to the FCC.

So you’ll forgive me for being cautious when I received a call from a Phoenix resident stuck on the East Coast who wanted to vote here at home.  She had gone there to say goodbye to her daughter in the service who is being deployed overseas, and was staying with her family.

She said that she had thought of changing her registration to her hometown, but acted a day too late.  Wasn’t there something that I could do to enable her to vote and thus support her daughter’s role in defending the country?

Frankly, there was not a single legitimate thing that I could think of.

Yes, there were a couple of illegitimate things that later came to my mind.  But I couldn’t have someone go, as her, to an early-voting office and cast her vote. Nor I could I have someone get a vote-by-mail ballot and send it to her.

Not only couldn’t I do these things, I could just see the headlines if I even mentioned them as not being possible.  Think of what some fancy editing could do.  Does the name Andrew Breitbart ring a bell?

So to this legitimate mother of a military daughter: I appreciate her service.  I appreciate your sacrifice.  But I cannot be responsible for your not voting.  And if you, dear caller, were trying to trap me, shame on you.  This isn’t my first rodeo!

NEW CITIZEN / NEW VOTER

This really made my day --and the day had just begun.  In walked a man wanting to confirm that he is a registered voter.  He's a Russian from Uzbekistan --even knows my barber, Ilya, who also is.  As with others, he'd been given a runaround on the phone trying to find out his status.He and I were both thrilled when I found him in the computer.  He dashed off to vote early, but as he did I got a commitment from him to help us with Get Out The Vote.  "I shall," he said, "just like I did for Obama 4 years ago even though I wasn't a citizen."

Whew!  Does it get any better?!





A FACE MADE FOR RADIO: I'm no Charles Osgood, but "look for me on the radio," as my long-time favorite on CBS says every Sunday morning, is now my phrase as well.
It seems that the AZ Democratic Party got a request from the local NPR station that's doing a story on senior citizens and the election.
#3 Son, Mark, who's doing research here, put my name in the hat, and after clearance from the Party's Communications Director and a couple of phone calls, in walks Nick Blumberg of KJZZ with microphone in hand, wanting to get "the senior-citizen perspective" on the election.
It sure was strange --being on this side of the mike-- as I cut my eye-teeth on radio news, what seems like 100 years ago.  Actually, it was only half that.
And a thrill it was.  Check it out at http://kjzz.org and http://fronterasdesk.org.

NEWS FLASH FROM ELECTION CENTRAL:  Susan tracked down yet another letter-writer to our friendly, neighborhood newspaper.  He appeared, from the tone of the letter, to be a good Democrat.  And he is.  He lives in a gated community in Central Phoenix, with 103 voters, and he has 3 yard signs for our candidates at his door.  But he figured that he and his wife are the only Dems in the complex.

Of course I had that same conversation last month with 2 of his neighbors who I had dinner with.

A quick check of the county's voter rolls showed that not only where they both wrong, but that of the 103 voters, 55 are Dems or Independents.

Now both couples have been enlisted to call on their neighbors in order to help turn AZ BLUE.

And a new Obama yard sign has been planted.

Ya THINK?!?!

No.  That's not a sketch of me.  It's Lawrence Downes, an Editorial Page blogger at my former employer.  He's got a great piece called "Adios, Arpaio," in Monday's Times.  Check it out: http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/

A problem solved was still a problem.  

I was contacted by a Gilbert couple who are on the Permanent Early Voter List but hadn’t yet received their ballots in the mail.  They had called the county elections office several times and gotten what they perceived as a runaround.  They were even told “we have alot of information on you,” but not what that “information” is.

Once I sent them a list of the 11 early-voting places in the county, they went to the one near their home.

“We had no trouble at all in voting once we knew where to go,” they reported back to me.

Son of a contact from last week.

A man called in with a unique situation, and the solution was the same as his parents’: Vote early.

He works for FEMA and is waiting to catch a flight to the East Coast in response to Hurricane Sandy.  Although he wasn’t on the Permanent Early Voter List, he wanted the same list that  his parents told them that I had sent to them.

PARENTAL UPDATE: "Yes, my son did get a call from FEMA to report to Dover, DE asap. He finally got a flight out on Wednesday morning. From Delaware he was sent to Yardley, PA, and Friday morning he  was sent to Hoboken, NJ, which received quite a bit of devastation. God knows how long he will be deployed this time.  I might see him next spring." 

COMBATING VOTER SUPPRESSION

Signs of a unified, happy marriage in the Glenn Precinct, Phoenix, AZ

Without going into the details about “why,” there are 2, nearly-identical voter registration forms in use.  One, preferred by the state government, requires a photo ID. The other, preferred by the Federal Government, does not.

Recently we held a voter-registration drive at ASU, using the Federal form.  And late Friday we learned that many of those who registered were rejected by the County Elections Office. So a bunch of us started calling those new registrants to see if they have received their Voter ID cards.   And now we’ve been joined in that effort by  AZAdvocacy.  

For details go here: 
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2012/10/26/20121026county-letter-serve-voter-id.html?nclick_check=1
 

FYI, AZADVOCACY.org is a 501(c)(4) with a sister 501(c)(3) organization. Arizona Advocacy Network Foundation Mission: It secures electoral justice, political rights and full civic participation, especially for underrepresented and marginalized constituencies, to achieve government for the People, not corporations.

A (MOSTLY) GREAT DAY

Signs of a mixed marriage in the Glenn Precinct in North Central Phoenix

Things started out rough: a troublesome overnight email exchange with a lady in LD 24 who is on the Permanent Early Voter List.  Her ballot came in the mail; she filled in the blanks, signed and dated it on the outside of the envelope,  and then mailed it.

The trouble is, a day later it was back in her mailbox, having been returned to her by USPS instead of being sent to the County Elections Office.  When she went to the Post Office to inquire as to why, there was no explanation other than to say that it had happened to quite a few others, that hers would be included with them and delivery would be attempted again.  Is she alone in thinking that this is some sort of voter suppression?  That’s 1 vote for our side.

On a brighter note, a gym buddy who had planted an Obama/Biden yard sign at his home in North Phoenix said that because of me he has volunteered to be a poll-watcher on E-Day.  That’s 2 votes –his and his wife’s—for our side.

Florida's gain is Arizona's loss.  I spoke to a young woman in Tempe who said that yes, she's happy to help Get Out The Vote.  So happy, as a matter of fact, that's she's going to Orlando to do it.  I couldn't compete with her sister, who's a Regional Field Director for Organize For America, the nation-wide Obama campaign.

The final highlight of the day involved a grandmother in Mesa who wanted to make sure that her grandson who is a student at NAU received his early mail-in ballot.  I checked and found him on the Permanent Early Voter List, which re-assured her somewhat, but then I called the student’s mom, asked her to have him check his PO Box at school.  As a backup, I sent her the list of places in our county where he can come to vote early during the pre-election week if he cannot find his mail-in ballot.  Whew!  That’s 3 votes for our side.

MID-WEEK UPDATE

Team Awesome, other neighborhood volunteers and organizers at 2914 N. Central Avenue, Phoenix, MCDP HQ.

My activities are so rewarding --but not unique.  All of us, those shown above and the hundreds of others in the campaign, can report experiences similar to these.

EXAMPLE: In my report on Monday I mentioned a couple from Pennsylvania who had letters indicating "active" and "valid" but no Voter ID cards.  (I didn't mention that they are octogenarians.)
Thanks to the valiant efforts of our database manager, Sam, the county's list of registered voters was loaded into ours, and, voila: They're on it now.  I called them before they had a chance to go to the Gilbert Town Clerk's office and left a message with the good news.  Here's his email comment:
"Hi John, just got in the door ,got your message. You sounded so excited and happy I thought you were going to tell me that you won the lottery. Well, happy to hear that you checked us out and all looks good for NO BULL ON VOTING DAY."

EXAMPLE: This email from a caller who's obviously a UofA fan: "Yes John, you have been very helpful. I have mailed 4 straight Democratic vote ballots for my wife, daughter, mother and me. I also made 100 copies of the early voting time/day list you sent and gave them to 10 Hispanic friends who in turn made copies and distributed through their social relations and family. I have no idea how many are out there now but I suspect it is in the hundreds or more. All were surprised to learn the facts re: early voting. Soon I will be driving people to the polling places and standing in line for those who have trouble doing so.
"And you motivated me to motivate others and to contribute more $$$ to several more Senate and House candidates, and ... to Barack Obama. Also additional $$$ to the DCCC and DSCC. I cannot wait to tell my friends in Seattle that we are now politically blue here in AZ and that the GOP (grumpy, offensive, pathetic) are emotionally blue.

"When this is over, we should get together to swap stories.

"Bear down my friend, the finish line is nearing."

I ask you: Does it get any better than that?!

MY EARLY BALLOT --FINALLY

YES, it seems like a case of "the shoemaker's children going barefoot," but after a year of urging others to vote as soon as they received their Early Ballots in the mail,  I finally completed mine.  It was the best 6 minutes of my life.

It's too late for this election, but let me hear from you if you still haven't signed the card to be on the Permanent Early Voter List.

JUST ANOTHER DAY ON THE FRONT LINES

Phonebanking at the MCDP HQ.

About half my day is making calls to convert voters into volunteers.  The other half is getting calls.  Sometimes they're from people who see our office number, 602.298.0503, on their Caller ID for a call they missed.  Then there are the calls for help.

For example, a lady voter called in needing help getting to the polls on Election Day --2 weeks off.  She's taking medication that advises "do not drive or operate machinery," and she wants desperately to vote from President Obama again.  Oh.  Did I mention that she lives on the outer fringes of Maricopa County, in Tonapah,  some 57 miles from Beautiful Downtown Phoenix.

We'll get her a ride.

Then there was the couple who moved back to Tempe after a 2-year stint in California, and didn't know if the are still registered.

"Do you have to register for each election?" he wanted to know, as he didn't have his Voter ID card.  But I found him on our voter list, and advised him to go to the nearest Early Voting Location to confirm that they are indeed registered --still-- and get an Voter ID card.

But still no volunteers.

Ah.  A call came in from a couple in Flagstaff, 140 miles north of here.  A young couple had moved to Arizona a few months ago and wanted to know if they could still register to vote.  They were crushed when I told them that registration ended Oct. 9, but thrilled when I told them they could still help us get others out to vote.

Their positive --eager-- response made my day.

FROM QUESTIONER TO VOLUNTEER

Today's activities on the phone were highlighted by 3 callers, all of whom became volunteers.

The simplest was the construction worker from Las Vegas whose short-term job here has become long-term, so he needed help obtaining an absentee ballot from Henderson County, NV.  He loves Obama, particularly because his policies and the stimulus package are what's keeping him on the job.  Even though he's working 10-hour days he says that he'll find time to phone-bank at our SE Valley office.

The most complex was a call from a husband & wife who've returned to the Valley from SE Pennsylvania.  He's just sure that the rough time that he had re-registering here was because they marked D on the registration forms.  And they still hasn't received the official cards or the Early Ballots.  The letter from the Elections Office indicated "Active" and "Valid," but had no voter ID number.  They're off to their Town Clerk's office shortly, and, of course will help us Get Out The Vote.  Stay tuned on this one.

The frustrating-est conversation was with a lady who couldn't understand how or why Sheldon Adelson of Las Vegas would pump $34.2-Million into the Romney campaign --after bank-rolling the defunct Gengrich effort with $24-Million.

Neither of us could relate to giving away $58.2-Million.  So she's gonna join us on the phones to be sure that the owner of four Sands casinos doesn't buy the 2012 presidency.  (Yes.  Four: Las Vegas, Bethlehem, PA; Macau, and Singapore.)

As to the why, it has alot to do with the Democratic position that U.S. businesses ought to pay U.S. taxes on money that they earn overseas.

WEEKEND UPDATE -Gym Buddies

In order to recruit more volunteers in non-conventional means I’ve been wearing political T-shirts on my regular morning visits to the gym.  It’s either a white Penzone one for The New Sheriff, or a purple one that says “Next Stop BLUE. “

Last week I approached two long-time regulars.  The first one I had never had any exchange with over the years.  Nothing but an occasional nod.  But he almost always wears an Army T-shirt, so I used this as an opener.  We talked about various candidates, about his recent retirement from the Reserves.  I thanked him for his service, but it turned out that he was more concerned about voter fraud, and said that the voter rolls needed to be purged. 

“That’s what those of us in the Tea Party feel is the greatest threat to our democracy.”

When pressed for real cases of voter fraud he pointed out that his parents, who have been dead for five years, are still listed on the voter rolls.

“Has anyone used their names to vote,” I asked.  And he said that no one had.

“So what’s the fraud?” I asked.  “It sounds like perhaps poor management at the local elections office, if they’ve been notified.”  And at that we parted ways.

More distressing was a chat with a gym buddy with whom I always have friendly discussions.  He knows that I’m an organizer for the Democratic Party.  Although he says that he’s an Independent, he has always expressed friendly interest. 

This time he wanted to tell me that he had voted early, which is a good thing, but not  to re-elect The President.  He insisted on telling me why:  He promised that he would do something about illegal immigration and he hasn’t.

The revealing part was his further explanation –even though I didn’t ask. 

He said that he still lives in the same house in midtown Phoenix for 60+ years.  And “everyone in the neighborhood is an illegal immigrant.”   There’s no way to convince him that just because people speak Spanish, and have dark skin, that they are undocumented.  With that level of profiling so evident, I decided to drop the conversation.  

THURSDAY UPDATE: 2 Great Exchanges, 1 Downer

Dr. Eric Meyer, candidate re-election to the AZ House of Representatives.

First the bad news.  A lady called in to update our conversation from yesterday.  She had inadvertently checked the "non-citizen" box on a summons for jury duty, so the county had sent her a letter canceling her voter registration.  She went in today to try to vote early, and nearly failed.  She did put in a provisional ballot, but doubts that it'll count.  Moral of the story: Voting and jury service are both rights and obligations of living in our democracy.

Now the good news.  I spoke to a lady who lives in the outer region of the county, nowhere near any of our six branch offices.  She had called in because she's heard of polls showing that the President has dropped alot. She definitely doesn't want him to be a one-termer, but both she and her husband have mobility problems.  So I set them up on virtual phone-banking --a win-win-win situation.

The other good news is that I heard from friends who live in Northern California and have voted early. They're going to be in Phoenix Nov. 5, 6 and 7, and asked if they could help us Get Out The Vote.  Who am I to deny them their pleasure?!

ALL POLITICS IS LOCAL...

Or so they say.  Here's a photo of a neighborhood meeting on a recent Sunday to express opinions and concerns to Dr. Eric Meyer, running for re-election to the AZ House of Representatives, as Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton listens attentively.
Organize this.  A lady in Sun Lakes complained to me this summer that she's the only Democrat in her entire subdivision.  She felt that there was no hope in getting any of our Democratic candidates elected.

"Not true," I said.  Then I told her that I had just pulled up a list of 833 Democrats in the subdivision --some 25 percent.  I could almost hear the phone hitting the ground as it fell from her grasp!  Next I asked her this: "If I can get you that list, and a Neighborhood Team Leader to train you, will you be willing to knock on the doors or make phone calls to friendly party faithful in your neighborhood?

That conversation, or something similar, is how I spend my days.  I greet people who come in to register to vote.  I call people who have written letters to the editor.  I answer questions from people who call the office.

And once the questions are answered, it's some variation of "and now what are you going to do to help us turn Arizona BLUE?"