[October 29, 2004 evote.com] 

With just a few days until the election, it seems voters of every political stripe want to get into the act. And the more folks get out the vote, the more likely it is we’ll enjoy an exciting election. In the spirit of participation, here’s EVOTE.COM’s handy guide to last minute volunteering!

Liberal Opportunities Abound
Voters in “blue states” like California, New York, Massachusetts, and Washington D.C. are scrambling to get out of town. Though many liberal get out the vote folks have threatened to move to Canada or New Zealand if George Bush is reelected, such activists rarely put their money where their mouth is. Chances are most will settle for closer jaunts, to Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Florida, and Ohio in particular.

While metropolitan meccas of liberalism may boast miles of sympathizers in anti-Bush paraphernalia, numerous bars hosting election night parties, and fundraisers galore, the final hours of the campaign will be decided in swing states, and that is where savvy liberals are headed.

Since early July, and through the last weekend in October, the hot spots for politically motivated New Yorkers have been the very towns they wouldn’t be caught dead in the rest of the year.

This is why busloads leave Downtown Manhattan every weekend for such unlikely destinations as Allentown, Pennsylvania, and Cleveland, Ohio. Many volunteers are organized through reproductive rights or environmental groups, while others hear about volunteer opportunities through their community church or synagogue. These organizations will pay to charter buses to nearby swing states for single-day jaunts.

Before signing up, volunteers are invited to share their t-shirt size and dietary restrictions, in keeping with a large crowd of vegetarians and vegans hipsters, all of whom appreciate the stylish t-shirts, designed by their consortium of artists, worn while canvassing and at after-hours Get-Out-The-Vote parties. Ample supplies of free six-packs donated by Brooklyn Brewery are also a perk.

Massholes: Canvassing the Unruly, Unfriendly New Hampshire Voter
For Boston residents, New Hampshire is the closest swing state, and canvassing there is definitely a family affair. Jaqueline Haas is the Kerry District Coordinator for the Massachusetts Middlesex area, organizing volunteers from Concord, Bedford, Sudbury, Waltham, and Weston. She has been supervising trips to New Hampshire for over a year for John Kerry, an acquaintance of hers for several years. These trips consist of carpools, buses of college students, union workers, and teachers, and some families. Some people even bring their dogs. Haas describes the whole thing as “a very normal encounter. People are out doing their gardening. I have never seen such a surge if volunteers from all walks of life.”

Although – and perhaps because -- New Hampshire voters are used to speaking to canvassers due to their location on the primary timetable, New Hampshire voters are notorious for playing tricks on pollsters and canvassers alike. Despite this, Haas has found New Hampshire voters to be candid and open, and adds, “I found many who admitted that they had never voted for a Democrat who find that they were looking at it more closely, some had loyalty to Bush, but many had swung to Kerry. We’ll see on election day.”

Driving Volunteerism: Get a Ride
The Driving Votes website asks visitors to “drop everything and take a road trip to a swing state to get out the vote now.” With its 37 chapters, Driving Votes organizes trips from Baltimore, Maryland to Youngstown, West Virginia; from Los Angelos to Las Vegas; Chicago to Madison, Wisconsin; and Lawrence, Kansas to Kansas City, Missouri, among other trips. Founded in Seattle, Driving Votes creates a central resource on the web to organize carpools to register and energize voters for the election. Driving Votes links up with organizations like ACT and ACORN. A recent trip to Chester, Pennsylvania, a working class minority community in suburban Delaware County, found a church swelled with volunteers far exceeding the organizers' expectations. For volunteers, bringing their own cars allows the added freedom to leave early and to escape for lunch opportunities beyond the complementary bagel and donuts that are ever present at these events.

Flying to Help the Grandmas
For those trips that are just too far to drive, there are volunteers willing to shell out the cost of a flight to Florida, the scene of the last round of the 2000 Presidential contest. Operation Bubbe offers free housing in hotels to volunteers primarily from Boston, California, New York, and Washington D.C. who want to work with elderly Floridian Jews on voter education and mobilization.

The money for the housing was raised through donations and the sale of kitschy t-shirts, hats, and buttons that say “Jew vote?” and “Get Bubbe’s Back.” After arriving in Fort Lauderdale, volunteers will participate in activities to educate elderly voters about electronic voting machines and coordinate rides to the election booths. Mik Moore, a founder of the organization, mentioned that they had surpassed their goals for volunteer recruitment. He adds that many of his volunteers will give five days, or 3,500 hours collectively, canvassing 50,000 homes and doing volunteer recruitment.

Though he admits that his canvassers are mostly Jews, some are “just folks who just thought it sounded like a fun project.” One such volunteer was Kyrra Rankine, a Mormon living in Harlem. Ms. Rankine had long been looking to volunteer for a progressive group and thought the organization’s name, which includes the Yiddish word for grandmother, was actually pronounced “Bubba” in honor of Bill Clinton.

In the GOP Tradition, Volunteers Get Paid
Not wanting to be outdone by the left, The Republican National Committee has put together The 72 Hour Task Force, organizing right-leaning volunteers for last minute trips to swing states. Task force “Marshals” and volunteers are invited to join from one to four days of canvassing, phone banking, and literature drops. Airline, hotel, and rental car reservations are made for you, and a “deployment packet pickup date” is set.

The Task Force actually pays its volunteers on a daily per diem of 25$/15$ for travel days, along with reimbursing them for gas and mileage on the car. A dress code of business casual is required, contrasting the jeans and sneakers uniforms common to Democratic efforts. Large-scale events may involve a visit from Reggie The Rally Rig, a red white and blue 18-wheeler with the words “Racing to Victory” on it. Reggie is fully equipped with an Xbox and soundstage and is driven by a married couple from Nebraska, Deke and Christine Henderson.

Phoning the Vote
Finally, for those who can’t seem to get out of the house, there are still ways to motivate out of state voters from the comfort of home. Organizations like Moveon.org and Votercall.org allow volunteers to access voter lists of undecided or underserved communities to make motivational phone calls from home. While the Moveon is already well known because of their controversial ad campaigns, support of movie stars, and movie makers like Michael Moore, Votercall is growing quickly in popularity.

Their website features Michael Stipe in a t-shirt emblazoned with the words, “November 2nd.” The group is nonpartisan, as many of the organizations are, but their progressive goals are betrayed by their focus in contacting minorities, women, and working class populations the same way that Bible belt preachers are nonpartisan when they offer their pulpits to the Republicans.

In contrast, this group is supported by liberal religious organizations, like Res Publica, and National Council of Churches, along with The November 2nd Campaign, with supporters like ACORN and the NAACP Voter Fund. This group provides volunteers with a simple script to remind potential voters of the importance of voting. After the overwhelming rise in organizations created to organize, mobilize, and politicize, this is bound to be an Election Day like no other.

Last Minute Volunteer Opportunities

	72Hour.com	VoterCall.org	Driving Votes.org	JohnKerry.com	Operation Bubbe.com	Downtownfor Democracy.org	EmilysList.org
Who Are They?	Run by the RNC, this last minute effort organizes travelers to swing states	Liberal non-partisans mobilizing young, low income and minority voters	A grassroots way to carpool across state lines	Well, duh, they are the Kerry campaign!	A coalition to get out the elderly Jewish vote	Coalition of creative New Yorkers getting out the young vote	Organization for pro-choice women candidates
Leaving from	Red and blue states	At home	Many states	Many states	Assorted states	New York	Washington DC
Going to	Swing States	At home	9 different swing states	Several swing states	Fort Lauderdale, Florida	Ohio	Florida
Cost	OMG! They pay you!	Free!	Donations for t-shirt and gas	Free!	Airfare to Florida	$25 donation	Free! (There is a waiting list!)
Bonus	While not quite minimum wage, walk away with a fatter wallet.	Canvass swing voters from your armchair!	Relive your best road trip memory	Free Kerry Pins and Placards (i.e. whatever didn't sell well in the online store.)	Oy, Get tan helping Granny vote.	Bus ride movies, like“The War Room”	Great way to meet chicks! (Please, it's a joke, st0p teh h4t3.)

[Rachel Breitman is an English teacher, voting rights advocate, and political journalist.]