Thanks!

Thank you to everyone who voted for me for the Most Valuable Organizer Award! And sorry for spamming your facebook walls. Voting is now closed. I doubt I'll win but, and I mean this in all sincerity, knowing 130 people took the time to vote for me (and that people actually read my blog) feels like a prize unto itself!

If you are going to Rootscamp this weekend and want to blog about it here, please let me know.

Have fun!

Besos,
Nancy

Mark Dayton, Uffda!

In case you haven't heard, Mark Dayton has officially won the Minnesota Governor's race.

Congratulations to Gov-elect Dayton and to the wonderful activists who made it happen!

No matter how many recounts they go through, DFLers will always have a special place in my heart!

RIP Elizabeth Edwards

It's official. Check out this Salon.com article which says what I meant to say yesterday only more eloquently.

Rest In Peace, EE.

It's about damn time.

New Yorkers lobby for early voting, same day registration, etc.

Because we are 47th in voter turnout. Ya think?

Organizer Store- Holiday Edition

Is there a special organizer in your life? A boss who has been an inspiration to you in the past year? An ill advised campaign relationship that you have decided to extend into the holidays?

What to get for the Organizer who has everything?

Sure, you could go the traditional stocking stuffer route, but why not get her something that shows that you really get her?

Behold, the organizer's wish list...



1) A T-shirt Quilt. Between my sorority days and the various campaigns I've worked on, I can barely see my floor for the t-shirts strewn all over it. Memories too precious to throw away and too ratty to wear as anything other than pajamas, what more practical way to preserve and display them than a cuddly blanket? Campusquilts is the company I found through Google, but I am sure there are many companies that do this. Simply select a background color and send them your t-shirts and they take care of the rest! If your time vs. money equation works out so that you want to attempt your own and you have the artistic talent, there are instructions to make a T-shirt quilt here.


2) Campaign Barbie! Okay, technically, Barbie for President. They come out with one every year of a Presidential election. This is a link to buy it on amazon.com, but a friend got me mine at a thrift store. If your organizing friend is a lady who can get rough and tumble with the boys but still likes to slip on a dress every once in a while, this is a gift that she can kept on her desk year round to remind her that you appreciate her for the special blend that she is.




3) Speaking of special blends, Starbucks Via. I'm a big fan of creature comforts and of Starbucks coffee. The great thing about these instant coffee packets is that you can keep them in your glove compartment, in true organizer fashion, and have access to good coffee anywhere. If your friend doesn't already have one, you can pair this gift with a Starbucks Gold Card loaded with an amount of your choosing. With discounts on refills and syrup plus a free drink every 15 purchases, it's the gift that keeps on giving! (Both available at Starbucks.com)




4) For the truly decadent operative, why not a Swavorski Crystal Clipboard? This company makes them for race cars, but there's no reason you can't get one made for campaign purposes. Because it's totally impractical and will wind up breaking you say? Okay, but is jewelry really any better? Just think of all the opportunities she will have to show off this gift to her coworkers. This is personalized bling that she will get use out of and won't give her the momentary heart attack that she's being proposed to.

I realize these gifts lean lady-centric, so feel free to send suggestions for gender neutral gifts.

Until then, happy holidays!

Love,
Nancy

Ivory Coast Update

NYT Article Here.

Two parallel governments in a steel cage death match. Who will prevail? Stay Tuned...

'Tis the season for street canvassers

How do you deal with street canvassers?

You know, the people who stand on the sidewalk and ask you for money for Greenpeace, Planned Parenthood and the like.

Whenever I am walking with a friend and we're approached by a person holding a clipboard, I can almost hear my companion's inner monologue, "Please don't stop Nancy, don't do this...ugh here she goes."

As someone who has had to approach people on the street on a professional basis, I can't bring myself to bristle by. Comedy promoters maybe, but political fundraisers never. At the same time I am not willing to give them money. For one, if I have time to be walking leisurely down the street, I am likely unemployed at the moment. Second, call me paranoid, but I am not giving my credit card number to a stranger in a red vest. And, third, on advice of my favorite financial expert, Suze Orman (a big contributor to progressive candidates) , I plan my giving carefully, and according to this article, only 8% of money raised through Grassroots Campaigns goes back to the client organizations.

So, what to do? I stop and smile and firmly state that I will not give them money. Usually it sounds something like this "Hi, Cameron, nice to meet you. I am happy to sign a petition if you have one, but I am unemployed and I won't be able to give you money." If they push, I state again "I hear you, but there is no way I am able to give you money today."

It may sound harsh, but my rationale is that by being firm, yet polite, I am acknowledging that they are a person with a legitimate request and am not wasting their time. It's the most I could hope for in a similar position.

Do you guys feel guilt and camaraderie in this situation? I would love to get feedback from someone who has actually done this job. Am I right, or am I being the worst cross between a field organizer and a New Yorker?

What do you think?

Nancy

WHAT?!?!?!

According to this article, 17% of votes cast in New York City in the midterms were not counted.

Not that I should be surprised. Check out this post from the primary to read my feelings on the subject.

When, when, when are we going to figure this out?

And you thought we were a mess...

Elections were held in the Ivory Coast last week after being delayed for FIVE YEARS.

"The winner should already be known. But on Tuesday night, with reporters looking on and television cameras rolling, an electoral commission member with ties to President Laurent Gbagbo grabbed sheets of voting results as they were about to be announced. He crumpled them, then angrily tore them up...Troops have been summoned to this commercial capital. A 7 p.m. curfew, strictly enforced, has been proclaimed. Normally teeming streets were deserted on Wednesday, except for armed soldiers and United Nations forces."

This article is really interesting as is this more recent one in which the election council declares current President Gbagbo the winner in a decision rejected by the UN.

I'm going to spare you my trite commentary on the peaceful transfer of power, (I get chocked up when I imagine the exchange between George Washington and John Adams) and just leave you with the suggestion that this story is one worth following.

Mad Hater

The President of the Tea Party thinks only the landed gentry should vote.

"The Founding Fathers originally said, they put certain restrictions on who gets the right to vote. It wasn't you were just a citizen and you got to vote. Some of the restrictions, you know, you obviously would not think about today. But one of those was you had to be a property owner. And that makes a lot of sense, because if you're a property owner you actually have a vested stake in the community. If you're not a property owner, you know, I'm sorry but property owners have a little bit more of a vested interest in the community than non-property owners."- Judson Phillips

I think my favorite part of this quote is the nonchalance with which he addresses the voting rights of say...African Americans and Women, like "some we wouldn't think of today, but really whatever."

Interpreting The Constitution this way is the same as interpreting The Bible to justify homophobia. As long as we're taking the cafeteria approach, it seems obvious to me that we should lean toward the spirit of a document (compassion, equality, etc) and not the antiquated bigotries of a particular time. But hey, that's me. What do I know? I'm a woman.

Besides Women and African Americans some other groups that would not be able to vote under this "strict interpretation"...college students, anyone who rents their apartment, many people in the armed forces, people who live in a home owned by their spouse, senior citizens in nursing homes...

Granted, this plan would out work well for Judson Phillips and his cohorts. So I propose this: we put his plan to a vote, but first my plan to require an intelligence test before registering. Obviously, this is not something which I would actually advocate, but neither would Mr. Phillips, for very different reasons.