Conversations on the road campaigning 2024

How are some of us dealing with our disappointment, our worries for ourselves and the world, our coming to terms with the rough road ahead and the fact that so many seem to want this particular road? Even until the last minute, even if the options were not ideal (Don’t get me started on Gaza), there was a sense of possibility in the air for many, once Biden had stepped down. Including myself, and many of the folks that I met out campaigning in a couple of long weekends prior to the election in Nevada and Arizona. Revisiting those encounters and that experience has actually been one way to both honor the conversations that I had, and appreciate the moments of stepping out of my wonderful bubble and making (some) sense of this bizarre election.

We can look back now and account for many reasons why this went the way it did. When some of my friends in Spain asked prior to November, with complete incomprehension, if T could possibly win again, my reply was usually “Well yes, if voters don’t come out, and it will then be won on lies” And this is in part what happened. I have to acknowledge, particularly in my first foray into 2024 campaigning in Nevada, the fear, anger and lies that one met indicated a pervasive hostility - anything that smacked of the status quo needed to be overturned. As a child of the 60s and 70s, it felt pretty strange to be seen as part of the “status quo”!!

The group that I was with, Common Power, is inspired by the legendary voters rights work of John Lewis. This legislator, an icon of freedom, worked tirelessly against the status quo towards equality for all. Many of the folks who came as part of this group were from different backgrounds and ages and clearly were motivated by much more than keeping things hunky dory for corporations and the elite. Some had given up months of their lives to move between swing states to campaign in out of the way places ignored by current economic trends and politicians. One person we met was a lawyer from New York, who had spent the past month in Nevada daily working to unravel the extraordinary tales he heard at the doorstep very skillfully - he clearly was concerned by what he met and our conversations with him, gave me queezy early warning signs of what was looming. Even though the dem ground work was shown data-wise to have made a difference, it wasn’t enough in the face of some of the ferocity and feeling (and lies!) on the other side.

Occasionally we met folks paid by Elon Musk to campaign but it was very rare and there was little material evident on the doorstep. What we found, exploited all the usual targets but without evidence and were littered with either gross exaggerations or just lies. In one relatively affluent area of Phoenix, we were almost run over by a large truck driven by a Maga individual who was the organizer for the Musk peons in that area. A big burly guy, he rolled down his passenger window and asked us somewhat aggressively where we were from. California, we confessed! and then began a conversation with my fellow campaigner and as it turns out well resourced being, Rebecca. He told us that he had just been in Huntingdon Beach where people were explaining to him how you could vote twice. Rebecca was non-plussed and immediately responded: “And you fell for that? You were trolled….” He eventually, somewhat humbled by this response, wheeled himself off to his nearby home that was so covered with signs you could barely see the house.

There wasn’t a great deal of signage in most of the areas, although the majority was T oriented. It seemed as if folks were fearful of announcing who they were supporting. As we moved from house to house on our lists, especially in the more affluent areas where the houses and garages were huge, streets almost silent, except for very noisy dogs, we did find a few democrats, most of whom were unwilling to say which way they voted, especially not on the doorstep. This wasn’t the case in less affluent areas and there was a stark difference in attitudes between the wealthy and the not so. One of our team encountered a family that were totally delighted to have voted for Kamala and the child in the family wanted to sing a little song to the campaigner to show how they could spell the “next president’s” name. The parent hushed the child in fear that a neighbor might hear.

In one of these strange upper market housing estates, where most of the door bells had cameras and frequent “No Soliciting” signs, Bernie and I met an elderly lady sweeping leaves who wasn’t part of our list of democrats and independents. Clearly then a republican. Surprisingly she wanted to chat and we had quite a long conversation which indicated although her intuition said T was someone not to trust, her church and the television was telling her that K is going to let all the illegal prisoners have trans gender operations. This particular right wing campaign was very effective in places like NV, and clearly wasn’t countered successfully at all, as it came up again and again in fearful tones. However we questionned the evidence of some of her comments, the same mantras came back that clearly had come from the TV and the pulpit.

Most people did not answer their doors, having probably had more than enough of campaigners. Some answered quickly and politely, clearly not interested in our material; however, they would often almost whisper a warning as we left “Be careful out there…” acknowledging the tension in the air even though we never felt physically threatened by anybody. Verbal aggression yes, but nothing fortunately for us that was worse. In a previous campaign weekend, 2 people had been attacked by dogs, and there was one person who made a big show of tearing up our material and slamming into the garbage… but external rage was relatively rare; it was more seeping underneath amid fear of neighbor and futures. However it wasn’t just fear or caginess that we met, we also encountered frustration at the process. A woman in her 40s who lived in a household of young folk, was willing to talk a little but repeated a phrase that she voted the “least of 2 evils” which was a tough one to keep hearing again and again…. Yes imperfections abound, lost opportunities, grievous responses to world crises/genocide, climate silence….however no light between the 2 candidates or agendas??? Really? Interestingly, when asked what was the main part of her frustration, it became clear that she was a dem and that she was furious that there had been no choice in the primary, basically there was no primary. It was humbling to be reminded of my own frustration at this situation as we left the doorway, hoping she would vote but knowing that might just have tipped the balance.

In an area where the main population was Mexican - American, we felt much more relaxed. Less whispers of “Watch Out!” even though there was a wide variety of opinions in this area. Families were outdoors, kids playing in the street, meals being created over picnic tables, cars being fixed…. Moving between these more middle and lower class areas versus the rich ones was one of the most telling examples of how affluence destroys community, wealth looked like it was destroying happiness potential in day to day living. Here was a community, with individual and cultural expression in their houses and gardens; it was not a poor community but it wasn’t in one of the fancy more sterile areas. No video cameras and camera door bells here. Many folks only spoke Spanish and we had a few interesting conversations with families who had no patience for T and could not understand why some people would vote to remove their neighbors.
Miguel, a gentleman who had just had a hip operation, shuffled out his doorway on his crutch and appeared deeply sad. He found it extraordinarily confusing that people would vote for someone who is going to make their lives worse economically. “It’s a crisis of education” and when we asked if he needed help to get to the polling station, he said proudly he had it all planned out and would be there with his family on the day.

A further example of this kind of pride in civic duty came from an unlikely neighborhood in Phoenix. In a trailer park where most of the people who we met were either transient, not the people on the voting info, or in several cases, felons unable to vote, we met a frail gentleman in his late 80s who was watching us going door to door. He was scowling as he sat on the doorway of his dingy small trailer home. It was with some trepidation that I walked towards him and asked him how his day was going. He made a “hmmpf”-like expression but it turned out he was very against T, “He’s a LIAR!” and yet he did not know where he was supposed to vote. Once again we asked if he needed some kind of assistance to get to the polls, and he looked at us with disgust, “I can get there myself!” When we looked a little doubtful and totally happy to arrange a car to get him there, he pointed proudly to a rusty old bike in the corner of the lot. “I go everywhere myself” A lesson for me in assumptions and one of the moments that I treasure from my very limited time on the campaign trail. How easy it was no matter how often we were advised to not assume but to mainly just listen, that one found oneself doing just that, making up stories that actually weren’t true at all!

Another instance of assumption battering occurred in a very large apartment complex, where along with 4 others, we canvassed on our own to cover as much ground as possible. As we entered the complex, a cleaner approached us and asked what we were doing and was clearly not too happy with our presence, made it clear she was T supporter and then told us soliciting was illegal. We politely conveyed that we were not selling anything, and therefore legal but it left an odd taste. About half way through my assignments, I met a lady struggling with a walker and had a very sweet chat about walkers etc; it turned out she wasn’t registered to vote but then to my surprise she started a rant about women politicians, “Women can’t be trusted - they are too up and down!” At that point a maintenance worker in a golf cart came over looking agitated and asked me what I was up to. Another large being who looked decidedly maga. I explained that we were here to make sure everyone had what they needed to vote, and to leave material. He asked “For what side?” OK this looked like we were being rounded up….but no, when I told him we were here for down ballot dems and K, he said “Good, otherwise I would have thrown you out! Can’t stand the man- he’s a felon“ He immediately got into an argument - reasonably civil - with the lady who was leaning on her walker and complaining about dems. It was only when I said that this particular person can’t vote as it’s too late to register, that he backed down a little and wandered off, sounding disgruntled by a woman who wouldn’t vote for a woman.

Every day we were grouped with different people and this was one of the great delights of this volunteer work, and a tremendous support when some of the doors were a tad negative. On one of my last days, I was with a group, who were friends from SF, and who decided that their lunch needed to be major BBQ. This photo above is us about to enter “Hek Yeah BBQ” where the massive plates of meat made me reel! but the conversation was lively and caring. As many of my fellows there shared, we wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else on these last days before such a critical election, no matter what the outcome was going to be.

Common Power reminded us again and again that this is not about one election. I keep this mantra in my head on days when the news reaches excruciatingly painful extremes of the “what is to come” And also what is already here in terms of families worried about their futures or their relatives futures, death threats to individuals and organizations, those facing major economic disruptions and those in war zones seeing the rhetoric heating up without solutions. I think about this when friends tell me they are looking at options abroad, definitely an option I ponder too!, as many vow off any kind of political media for both a necessary recharge but often a wish to disappear completely… It’s a painful time. We need to mourn, to rest, we need to learn, reach across the divide, but we also need to respond at some point with gusto and integrity and in community, like my dear friend Rebecca did. We can and will stand up to the crap that is here and about to descend. And as much as it challenged me, made me incredibly uncomfortable at times, wondering about the value of it almost every minute!, I will be back talking/listening to people, meeting my assumptions and theirs with as much insight and compassion as I can muster, and working in community for whatever comes next.

John Lewis “Freedom is not a state….it is an act”