Hotdogs for Obama! This Saturday at Noon!!
Posted on May 22nd, 2008 by DrOrpheus
So today has flown by, trying to put together the last issues w/ Kalamazoo for Obama’s voter registration drive. Basically we’re offering (enticing) people to stop by with free hotdogs (maybe veggie dogs for our vegetarian friends?) to get them to register for the generals in November.
Here’s a link to map where this is taking place (Saturday, May 24 @ noon).
A few issues have come up:
1) Michigan’s ill-conceived choice to require voters to present a picture ID before being allowed to submit ballots. This of course makes it difficult for those who don’t have such IDs to vote (and, in my opinion, becomes a Constitutional rights issue). The ideas was, of course, sold to the public as a fairly xenophobic issue: that Michigan has some illegal aliens, and they’ll be (unlikely) be trying to vote in the generals. Of course, most illegals tend to try to fly under the radar as much as possible, and tend not to vote en masse. The problem with the decision was, as previously stated, that your legitimate Americans are going to find their right to vote infringed when they go to the ballot boxes.
Interestingly, those most affected tend to be the elderly and the poor - just those people who our state’s Republican state Congress wants to keep from voting in November. Ahh… the American political system…
2) Funding. It’s always an issue, and right now we’re in need of it for the purchase of… get this… clipboards, and pens. We have some volunteers going door to door to do some leafletting/campaigning/registration, and we haven’t enough school supplies :p
3) The silliest issue I could imagine, but so typical of grassroots political organizations - fracturing and fragmentation. Right now there’s an ongoing bit of bickering regarding whether someone should be allowed to create a “Kalamazoo County for Obama” group, in addition to the already well-developed Kalamazoo for Obama group. Childish, right? Well, it seems that one particular person who shall remain nameless has been making a stink because he wanted to make the K-zoo County group, which got shut down.
Part of Grass Roots organization is to keep groups “organized”, which means reducing faction and fracture as much as possible (which tend to happen *a lot* in grassroots movements, thereby heading nowhere, fast). Organization means that people can act decisively and cohesively together along a set path. Obviously if there are significant differences between groups, oftentimes those issues are what *make* them a group to begin with. To me, whether you happen to live in Kalamazoo County or Kalamazoo city-proper, isn’t really one of those times. Just because I live in Mattawan does that mean I should only join and identify myself with Mattawan for Obama (which I think exists, and has all of 5 people who are very inactive)? No, I’d rather join the larger, more active, more organized group that is Kalamazoo for Obama.
Granted, it’s ironic that *anyone* has say over a name or a group affiliation in a totally grassroots system, but there is practical reasoning regarding *why* fracturing a group could be bad, and I suppose those who run the groups aspect of the website recognize that. The fact is that the “grassroots” portion does not trump the “organization” portion of grassroots orgs.
…
On the bright side, one of my favorite bars, Bilbos just got wi-fi. This could be a good thing or a bad thing, but for now I’m seeing it as a totally awesome thing. Here’s to hopes that I don’t start drunkenly posting at 6pm!!
Here’s a link to map where this is taking place (Saturday, May 24 @ noon).
A few issues have come up:
1) Michigan’s ill-conceived choice to require voters to present a picture ID before being allowed to submit ballots. This of course makes it difficult for those who don’t have such IDs to vote (and, in my opinion, becomes a Constitutional rights issue). The ideas was, of course, sold to the public as a fairly xenophobic issue: that Michigan has some illegal aliens, and they’ll be (unlikely) be trying to vote in the generals. Of course, most illegals tend to try to fly under the radar as much as possible, and tend not to vote en masse. The problem with the decision was, as previously stated, that your legitimate Americans are going to find their right to vote infringed when they go to the ballot boxes.
Interestingly, those most affected tend to be the elderly and the poor - just those people who our state’s Republican state Congress wants to keep from voting in November. Ahh… the American political system…
2) Funding. It’s always an issue, and right now we’re in need of it for the purchase of… get this… clipboards, and pens. We have some volunteers going door to door to do some leafletting/campaigning/registration, and we haven’t enough school supplies :p
3) The silliest issue I could imagine, but so typical of grassroots political organizations - fracturing and fragmentation. Right now there’s an ongoing bit of bickering regarding whether someone should be allowed to create a “Kalamazoo County for Obama” group, in addition to the already well-developed Kalamazoo for Obama group. Childish, right? Well, it seems that one particular person who shall remain nameless has been making a stink because he wanted to make the K-zoo County group, which got shut down.
Part of Grass Roots organization is to keep groups “organized”, which means reducing faction and fracture as much as possible (which tend to happen *a lot* in grassroots movements, thereby heading nowhere, fast). Organization means that people can act decisively and cohesively together along a set path. Obviously if there are significant differences between groups, oftentimes those issues are what *make* them a group to begin with. To me, whether you happen to live in Kalamazoo County or Kalamazoo city-proper, isn’t really one of those times. Just because I live in Mattawan does that mean I should only join and identify myself with Mattawan for Obama (which I think exists, and has all of 5 people who are very inactive)? No, I’d rather join the larger, more active, more organized group that is Kalamazoo for Obama.
Granted, it’s ironic that *anyone* has say over a name or a group affiliation in a totally grassroots system, but there is practical reasoning regarding *why* fracturing a group could be bad, and I suppose those who run the groups aspect of the website recognize that. The fact is that the “grassroots” portion does not trump the “organization” portion of grassroots orgs.
…
On the bright side, one of my favorite bars, Bilbos just got wi-fi. This could be a good thing or a bad thing, but for now I’m seeing it as a totally awesome thing. Here’s to hopes that I don’t start drunkenly posting at 6pm!!
you did it! nice and wide =)
Yeah. I rule.