Obama Rae Jepsen

Okay this is so dumb, but I can't stop laughing. Last one, I promise.

Nancy's Ultimate GOTV Playlist

You've been asking for it and here it is! A really good GOTV song has two things 1) It's upbeat or fast paced and can be played loudly in an office or a car. 2)It has some relevant line that can serve as motivation for the weary listener. I've broken up the list into personal favorites, twitter suggestions and honorable mentions. I'm about date myself as to when I was in the field and also reveal my proclivity for loud, mainstream rap music. Enjoy!



Stronger- Kanye West
Not only was this song wildly popular during my formative organizing years, it has just the right beat and tempo to cut and print lists to at 1am.

Standout lines: "That that that that don't kill me can only make me stronger. I need you to hurry up now, cause I can't wait much longer" AND "There's a thousand yous, there's only one of me" "You know how long I've been on ya...don't act like I never told ya" All make me think of late in the game persuadables.




Lose Yourself- Eminem
The slow intensity of the song is perfect to listen to right before for example...walking into the caucus you've been preparing for for 11 months? Psyching your organizers up before the last persuasion canvass of the season?

Standout lines: "You only get one shot do not miss your chance to blow. This opportunity comes once in a lifetime" AND "Success if my only motherfuckin' option, failure's not"



4 Minutes- Madonna featuring Justin Timberlake
I love this song before a late in the season canvass or call time. Perfecting for instilling a sense of urgency.

Standout line: "We only got 4 minutes to save the world."



Vote Baby Vote- Deee-lite
Unlike the others, this song was definitely made for a GOTV'ing purpose. I am still trying to figure out how to make this my ringtone.

Standout line: "Vote, baby vote. Are you registered, baby?"



In The Ayer- Flo Rida
I love that feeling when your GOTV operation is in full swing and it's so well planned that things are running like clockwork. This can't always be the case, but when it is, it's a thing of beauty. Whether you're training people or driving between staging locations, there's nothing like seeing your months of hardworking come to fruition. All you have to do is sit back on auto-pilot and enjoy.

Standout lines: "Oh hot damn, this is my jam!"



Your English Is Good- Tokyo Police Club
I have to admit, I heard this song for the first time this summer and all I could think was "Where have you been all my life?" The vibe is one of both intensity and abandon and the standout lines speak for themselves.

Standout line: "Oh give us your vote, give us your vote, if you know what's good for you!"


Remember The Name- Fort Minor
Not gonna lie, this was a tumblr submission but it was so perfect I moved it up here.

Stand Out Line: "This is ten percent luck, twenty percent skill, Fifteen percent concentrated power of will, Five percent pleasure, fifty percent pain
And a hundred percent reason to remember the name!"



Yes We Can, Can- Pointer Sisters
How every Obama organizer in 2008 wasn't blasting this 24/7 is beyond me. The whole thing is basically a 6 minute long campaign rally as far as I'm concerned. As a bonus, I first discovered this song through listening to a charity set that my advice-giving guru, Dan Savage, DJ'd.

Standout lines: "Now's the time for all good men to get together with one another." AND "I know we can make it. I know that we can. I know darn well we can work it out. Oh yes we can. Oh yes we can. I know can can."



All I Do is Win-DJ Khaled
Also a new edition and favorite amongst my Twitter followers. The name basically says it all.

Standout line: "All I do is win."
My Favorite Follower Suggestions:
When I put the call out, these were some new additions I got from my followers.

Young Leaders of Tomorrow by Duwende
Sing by My Chemical Romance
Down The Road by C2C
Who Needs Sleep by Barenaked Ladies


Honorable Mentions:
Many of my twitter and tumblr followers suggested "I won't back down" preferably Johnny Cash version. I veto'd this off my list because 1)As evidenced by the number of suggestions it received, I believe it to be overplayed and 2) It's too low key, it sounds to me like we've already lost and somewhat related 3) It is inextricably linked in my memory to the Edwards campaign.
Gone'Till November is a campaign staple and certainly in my most frequently played list for obvious reasons. I left it off this one because by the end of GOTV it IS November and this is really a campaign-long anthem.
I Turn My Camera On by Spoon. This didn't make the cut because I couldn't find a standout line to fit rule number 2, but it's a hellava jam. It is on my personal GOTV list.

At a follower's suggestion, I also made a Campaignsick GOTV Playlist on Spotify which you can search for and I believe edit...but feel free to correct me on that one.

Happy GOTV'ing!
Nancy

Alice Paul Meets Lady Gaga

From one of my twitter follower's walls. So brilliant and well executed! I can't believe someone has more time on their hands and inclination to do this kind of stuff than me!

YOU. THIS. NOW.

Meet Richie.

There are a lot of things I really love about Blogspot (chiefly connecting with all you fine people) but my inability to upload files to share with you is not one of them. Tumblr to the rescue!

Please do yourself a favor and listen to this audio file.

For those of you who have never worked or volunteered on a campaign, the things he's saying are a pretty standard volunteer script. The rest is...not.

Enjoy!!!

Also I couldn't find a picture of what I assume Richie looks like, so instead you got this adorable lady.

I Don't Want to be President

When people find out I work on campaigns, they often ask me if I've ever thought about running for office. I always answer with a resounding "HELLLLL NO." I'm much more of a wham, bam thank-you-electorate-I'm-going-on-vacation-for-three-months kinda gal.

For those who feel like I do on this subject, I came across this awesome song on my iTunes. Enjoy!

Advocate from Where You Stand: Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

To wit. Can you believe this just came up when I google imaged Urban Outfitters?

Recently one of my soon to be classmates posted a "helpful" article about places to buy inexpensive, student friendly furniture in New York City. First on the list? Urban Outfitters. Ignoring for the moment that Urban Outfitters is not what I would describe as inexpensive, my brain exploded a little bit. I want to be clear that I don't blame my future friend for posting this article. Urban Outfitters was only one of many stores mentioned therein and many of the students entering school with me are international. There is no reason for them to know about the hypocritical political leanings of American companies. To be fair, I don't know for certain that they would object even if they did. I would LOVE if some of my future classmates were conservative, it would take some of the pressure off me not being a hippie, but I suspect that's largely not the case. I began composing a diatribe explaining why SIPA students should think twice before shopping at Urban Outfitters...and then immediately deleted it because I don't want to be that girl. Besides, I have a blog for that.

Far be it for me to tell you not to shop in chain stores based on political contributions. In the last 48 hours I have been to Target, Sears and Radio Shack. For the sake of convenience or staying within a budget, it's almost unavoidable. Furthermore, I don't blame CEOs for donating to Republican candidates. How often have we derisively accused Republicans of being pro-big business? As long as we're agreeing that money is free speech, it would be almost irresponsible of CEOs (regardless of their personal political leanings) not to try to secure the election of candidates whose policies would be favorable to business interests.

However, if there are two groups of people without whom my life would be markedly better it's hipsters and Republicans, and so of all corporations Urban Outfitters in particular incurs my wrath. There is something almost Dr.Claw malevolent about a company that sells t-shirts saying "I survived The Bush Administration" and "Obama for Yo Mama" and markets itself to a young, often gay, even more often liberal demographic, while its President donates thousands of dollars to right wing candidates. I am by no means a conspiracy theorist, but I can just imagine Urban Outfitters founder and president, Richard Hayne, watching droves of institution hating 22-30 year olds lining up to shop at his overpriced thrift stores. "Haha," he cackles "they're playing right into my evil plan!"

An excellent 2003 article from the Philadelphia Weekly sums it up nicely. "Despite its slacker aura and carefully calibrated antiestablishmentarian cachet, Urban Outfitters Inc. is in fact a very Establishment, hypercapitalist multinational retail concern...But the difference between stage-crafted storefront image and corporate reality doesn't end there. While the typical Urban Outfitters shopper is likely to be liberal-minded...Hayne himself is an ardent Republican. He is a financial supporter of arch conservative Sen. Rick Santorum, whose recent comments about homosexuals equated gay sex with incest and bestiality." The article also depicts Hayne's journey from genuinely liberal beginnings to seemingly conflicted Republican.

Liberal t-shirts and conservative donations not withstanding, Hayne claims that Urban Outfitters, which by the way also owns Anthropologie, is apolitical. "As a company, we don’t contribute to any cause except non-controversial things like a breast cancer walk. I don’t know anyone who is for breast cancer...our job as a business is not to promote a political agenda. That's not what we do. There are all kinds of political views held by my employees. Some would be horrified to learn that we contributed to Santorum's campaign, and others would be fine with it. We openly discuss and joke about our political differences." To me this is almost worse. He's not making political donations because it's in the interest of his stock holders, he just really wanted to see Rick Santorum's homophobic face in office. Though the distinction is certainly worth making, at the end of the day, money you spend at UO is eventually making its way to Republican coffers.

Still Hayne is not totally at fault for the success of his hypocrisy. Democratic and Republican alike, people will do what they can get away with. I blame the hipsters and liberals who still shop at Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie. As I said before, I do knowingly shop at stores owned and operated by high rolling Republicans, but I make a conscious decision when I do so. If you're going to damn the man, you should at least know when you're giving him money. I don't think its too much to ask that people who actively purchase politically themed tshirts be as informed as Miley Cyrus.

It's about damn time

That somebody made a music video to the FreeConferenceCall hold music.

*thanks to former intern to the stars and campaign professional in his own right, Richard Becker.

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do...

Press Play.

This won't work now the way it once did, cause I want to decide between survival and bliss.Now I know who I'm not,I don't I still don't know who I am, but I know I won't keep on playing the victim.These precious illusions in my head did not let me down when I was defenseless and parting with them is like parting with invisible best friends.

Not counting the Edwards campaign, I've had my heart broken three times and been broken up with twice. The first time, I decided to join the CIA. I fell in love with campaigning during my security clearance and never looked back. The second time, I went on another campaign. The third time, I decided it was time to apply to grad school and a year and a half later, here I am.

Within two weeks, I will sign a lease in New York City. In a month, I will have started school. I will cook for myself. I will sleep regular hours. When I do date it will be with more intention than I have been lately. I feel like I'm signing a contract to become an adult.

I feel like I'm breaking up with campaigns. Intellectually I've known it was over for months. That's why I started this blog. In practice I haven't worked on a race since November and that was only for a few weeks. But the option was still there. I could have picked up and driven to Wisconsin on a moment's notice. And now, not.

More than anyone I've ever dated, campaigns have been the love of my life. They were there for me when boys weren't. They were there for me when I was sick. They challenged me, they helped me find a sense of purpose. They have become a huge part of how I define myself. They've been my crutch and my security blanket. As Alanis would say, parting with them is like parting with invisible best friends.

Still, for all the things I'm losing, I might as well resign myself to try and make a change. What alcohol is to Homer Simpson, campaigns have been to Nancy Leeds: the cause and the solution of all life's problems. I've met the plurality of people I've dated while working on campaigns. Campaigns have given me solace after a break up, but they've also made it impossible for me to have a viable long-term relationship. They've been both a way to take my mind off sickness and the source of my least healthy habits. They've provided an endless source of excitement and a gaping lack of stability.

I once heard a This American Life in which Starlee Kine asks her ex-boyfriend why she's always the one being broken up with and he replies "because you never leave first." This isn't the first unhealthy relationship I've been in, but since campaigns can't leave me, it's the first one in which I've had to do the breaking. When you're really in love, I think it's a bigger burden to be the breaker than the breakee. You'll never quite know what could have been and if you wind up regretting it you only have yourself to blame. In a way it's almost brave. You're giving up something you know can be good for the promise of something better.

I looked around, thought about what I want in my life and realized that,for me, the campaign lifestyle wasn't sustainable. I'm proud that I had the courage and the wisdom to make that decision but that doesn't mean there's nothing to mourn.

I could say maybe in a couple years, who knows what will happen, but I don't want to lead myself on. In three years we both will have changed so much we'll barely recognize each other. When I do become involved again, it will be in a totally different capacity. I'm hoping we'll still be friends, but that's gonna be hard without falling back in. Maybe I'll find somewhere to volunteer once I've licked my wounds a little.

So yeah, I'm listening to wistful music. I'm trying out a new look (contacts). I'm surrounding myself with friends during the transition. You know, keeping busy. I may even go down to DC and recruit some of my former bro-workers to wax nostalgic with me before the big move. Typical break up stuff.

Field Organizing has been my constant companion since I graduated college. I'm sad and slightly afraid of losing my defense mechanism. I'm going to miss campaigns tremendously. I'm excited to start the next chapter in my life, but I'm going to feel this one for a long time. It's become a part of me and that's okay. That's good. That's how you know it was worth it.

Better to have loved and lost,
Nancy

Pro-Tip: End Your Emails With Rap Lyrics

Alright guys, you are really getting the gems of my professional wisdom now. Back in the day, I used to motivate myself/my organizers by including rap lyrics in the signature of my regional emails. It's not exactly the invention of google docs, but it did help get me through the day and inject some fun into my copious communications. Here are some of my favorites:

Ice Ice Baby, Vanilla Ice: "Anything less than the best is a felony."

4 Minutes, Madonna ft Justin Timberlake: "We've only got 4 minutes to save the world."

Stronger, Kanye West: "That,that,that,that don't kill me can only make me stronger."

Lose Yourself, Eminem: "You've only got one shot do not miss your chance"

In the Ayer, Florida: "Oh hot damn, this is my jam."

Can't Touch This, MC Hammer: "Either work hard or you might as well quit."

Gettin' Jiggy With It, Will Smith: "Saw Ali told him I'm the greatest."

Enjoy annoying your staff with my corniness!

Love,
Nancy

Vote for Mr. Rhythm

Sing it, Ella!

Month Out Madness!!!

One Month Until Election Day!

Vote, Baby, Vote!

Happy Primary Day! Please enjoy my favorite election day song! Does anyone know how I can make this my ring tone?