GOTV

Go. Vote. Seriously.

I have been spending evenings and weekends canvassing for the Obama campaign. If you think things are bad for you, you should come spend some time in the barrio in Socorro. I have had some of the most amazing conversations with people. I talked for nearly half an hour with a guy who doesn't vote anymore, because the political system has failed him. What would get him to vote? New boots. He had boots straight out of the Great Depression---holes, cardboard, staples, yup. He worked as a laborer his whole life. Then he retired, mostly broken, at 65. SS no longer makes ends meet, Medicare doesn't cover his bills, and he's back to work. At 80 years old. With boots that have holes in them. Can't we do better than this for our elderly?

Or how about the veteran. I knocked on his door. Well, sort of a door. Just because you can see through the gaps around the frame doesn't mean it's not a door, right? He comes to the door in his wheelchair to answer it. I tell him I'm with the Obama campaign, and I'm working to get out the vote. As a veteran, he feels he needs to vote for McCain. I tell him I understand that, but would like to let him know about early voting anyway, and inquire if he needs a ride to the polls. Turns out he does. Can't we do better than this for our veterans?

So then I'm on the phones. Five elderly or disabled people took me up on our offer for a ride to the polls. They had no other way to get there. Several people needed help with their absentee ballots (Fill in the ovals all the way. Sign the outside. Put three stamps on.) Can't we do better than this for our citizens?

On Saturday, we are having a matanza on the plaza, to help get out the early voters. Free food always draws 'em in. For many of the people I talked to in the barrio, this will be the only time their children's bellies are full all week. Can't we do better than this for the poor?

And what about the woman I talked to on the phone who just lost her entire retirement savings in the stock market? Or the woman in the barrio who's holding down three jobs, and trying to get her kids to school? Or the man I talked to on the phone who has lost hope that America will ever live up to its ideals?

Even when I lived in Camden, NJ; even when I was teaching convicts in the penitentiary to read; even when I was planting community gardens in the poorest, most-crime-ridden neighborhood in one of the most violent cities in America; even when I was visiting some of the most inner-city of all inner-city grade schools in the country; even here, in the mostly Spanish-speaking barrios in Socorro; I have never, not even one time, met someone who fit the description 'undeserving poor'. It's a myth. A legend. A construct to make unfairness and unkindness seem acceptable. An invention that makes people feel better as they drive by the homeless guy, eyes averted. He's undeserving. I am not responsible. He's lazy. There is nothing I can do. He doesn't want to work. It's not my responsibility. He wants to be homeless. It's not my responsibility, it's not my responsibility, it's not my responsibility.

Go. Vote.

And then. (Yes, there's more.) Get involved. How many groups in your neighborhood could use your help---not your money, but your help? The library, the public schools, the food bank, the homeless shelter, the animal shelter, your local museums... all of these institutions are struggling, just as you are. Even if you've got no money to give, you can still do something to help out at the library, at the food bank. Pick one insitution. Pick one cause. Pick one person. Do something. Anything. I promise, it will make you feel big and strong and powerful. And it will fill you with hope. Isn't that better than television?

All these people the politicians are talking about---the hardworking rich, the undeserving poor, the noble poor, or the profligate rich---all these people are just people. They are your friends and your neighbors and the kids down the street. Just people. Just like you. Just trying to get by, any way they can. And some of 'em could have their lives turned around by getting a ride when they need it. Or a new pair of boots.

Go. Volunteer. Be part of your world. Have the courage to say 'Yes', 'I believe', and 'I will' (to paraphrase Taylor Mali). Have the courage to do something truly scary, and open yourself up to other people. I'll see you out there.