Hey Snarklings! It's been awhile. Did you know there's an election coming up? You may have seen a commercial or two. Maybe a debate, I don't know. Perhaps you've received a postcard or a letter in the mail or maybe even a text (or 18). If so, it's very possible that I'm the one who sent you that piece of mail or that text.
We've all seen the political propaganda that comes in your mailbox every stinking day. He said/she said. I won't raise your taxes. My opponent voted against that. It's overwhelming and annoying. I know. I get a shit ton of it every day.
So what's up with that picture of pens, letters and postcards up there? Let me tell you a little story.
Once upon a time there was an absolutely amazing Supreme Court Justice named Ruth Bader Ginsburg. After living a very long and celebrated life, inspiring literally millions of young women to aspire to greatness, she passed away. Within hours, the Republicans were already talking about filling her Supreme Court vacancy. I felt absolutely sickened. That night, the night she died, I cried like a baby. I felt defeated. Helpless.
The next day I woke up feeling angry and needing to take action. I reached out to some friends, did some Googling, looked on Facebook and found Postcards To Voters, Vote Forward, Capital Region Stands Up and ThruText. I ordered 100 postcards, applied to send letters to voters and started text-banking. Little by little I started coming out of the sadness and felt like I was actually doing something worthwhile and helpful.
I know that donating to political campaigns is absolutely necessary but I've got 2 kids in college, 3 car payments and an obscene monthly car insurance bill, so just writing one check and moving on really didn't feel like it would help me with my helplessness.
However, the feeling I had after handwriting 100 postcards (for candidates in Kentucky, Ohio and South Carolina), 60 letters to voters in Florida and Georgia and close to 3000 texts to Pennsylvania voters made me feel like I was truly making a difference. Texting didn't cost me anything other than time. The postcards were about $35, no charge other than paper and envelopes for the letters and about $68 in postage and I reached 3160 people. I feel like reaching out to that many people may have made more of a difference than sending a $100 donation to one political candidate.
The usual political propaganda we get in the mail is all preprinted from campaigns, but these postcards and letters were all handwritten by thousands of volunteers. And even if someone looks at it and just tosses it in the trash, at least there is some thought behind it and not a political machine pumping them out.
What are you doing to get through this election season? (I've been drinking)
Have you made a plan for voting yet?