advice for my speech this evening?

[cos]

My friend Jesse Gordon is running for Cambridge City Council. His announcement party is this evening and I'm one of the speakers - I have five minutes, right after Jesse. I'm going to talk about how campaigns work, and how volunteering fits in. My theory is that a lot of people who support candidates would volunteer more, if they understood what a campaign does and how what they do fits in. I think a lot of people who do volunteer for a campaign and spend a day or two canvassing, come away feeling like they haven't done a lot of good, and are less motivated to return.

So, help me out. I basically know how campaigns work. I volunteered a bunch of times for campaigns before I understood, so I remember some of the things I didn't know. And I've talked to people about it. But I'm sure there are things I'm missing.

What do you find mysterious about campaigns, particularly smaller ones for local/state office?

Have you ever volunteered for a campaign, even for one day? What value did you think you were giving? What did you know about, and what did you wonder about, how your work fit in?

(Oh, hey, if you know anyone who lives around here, send them the link, and if you're here, come!)

Comments

[daltong.livejournal.com]

This probably isn't appropriate for a 5-minute speech, but:

How can a disabled person help out in a campaign office? Of course, all disabilities are different. Mine involve not being able to sit in a straight-backed chair and having trouble using regular computer workstations or raising my arms to do things on a table (like stuff envelopes). Is it possible to help out from a home computer?

More generally:
I follow politics and the news, but I feel like I can't make a difference, especially since my party seems too fractured to challenge the dominant party. What can one ordinary person do to contribute?

[mattblum.livejournal.com]

Would you be able to call registered voters on Election Day to remind them to go vote?

[cos]

The party issues aren't so relevant here - Cambridge is a heavily Democratic city and City Council elections are nonpartisan anyway. And Jesse is exactly the sort of candidate who has a realistic chance of winning, but is not assured of it.

However, the point you make about disability is a great one. When working with campaigns to get more volunteers for them, I always ask for as many ways as they can think of for people to help, because some people won't make phone calls, others won't (or can't) go door to door, and so on - but we can always find something for each person to do, that is helpful.

And yet, I didn't think of addressing that in this speech. I'll put in something brief about it. Thanks!