The obvious is that we need to get progressives in office to make Obama more effective. We obviously need to stifle the reactionary Tea Party. These are simply no brainers. We also need to "energize the base" and "drum up support" for our candidates. This is also obvious. And while these are extremely important there is one more task. Well at least one more, and it's on par in importance as all of these others. We need to register voters!
We have a problem in this country, that problem is that we (the people) are not heard. There are several reasons for this. Some of these reasons include: not enough voter turn out, not enough participation post election, the press not covering actual acts of civil protest, and voter suppression. In order to get the people heard and solve these problems, we must first give the people their voice boxes. To enable the people to speak politically we must register them to vote. This does not ensure they will speak what we want, or if they will speak at all, but it does make them able to speak. The logical first step to getting the people heard is giving them the tools.
There are many people across this country who are eligible to vote (citizens over the age of 18), but continue to be unregistered. There are many reasons for this including: not knowing they can vote, being politically apathetic, being willfully disenfranchised, not understanding politics so staying away, too concerned with basic needs to vote, not understanding the impacts of policy on everyday life etc. These people who are not registered to vote have no voice. They must be registered, and we must take part in registering them.
Many of these voiceless individuals are poor and undereducated. This does not mean they are unintelligent. We all should take the time to speak to these people in ways they can understand. Much of political jargon is intentionally inaccessible to the average person. It is our job as educated people to simplify the language without over simplifying the facts. This will allow these people to make informed decisions. This will allow these people to have a voice.
It is unfortunate but most voter registration drives that I have seen fall short of the goal of educating while registering. They simply tell people who they should vote for, and a little blurb about why. This is not education, and this does not lead to a lasting voter. This in many ways is destructive, as it can leave people feeling manipulated. I sincerely hope that we can step beyond such drives and offer our time to further our democracy.
I also believe it to be important to register voters in areas close to where you live. This allows for building relationships, community, and accountability. If you register a person you can see often, you can talk to often, it becomes possible to build a relationship and a sustained voter. I have started to do this in my community. There are people who I talk to about each and ever election in order to be sure that they continue to vote. However, most of the people I speak to as of now are college students, and I must break myself of simply educating the educated. I have begun speaking to a some of my neighbors though, and it is quite rewarding. They learn complex ideas much faster than one would expect, even though they do not know the big words.
That said, if this is going to be an interpersonal campaign to give the American people their voice back. We need a lot of people and fast.
Thank you all for sharing with me.
