The day before Halloween began with a trip to the Colorado AFL-CIO headquarters, where we began assembling packets for the Get Out The Vote campaign. There was a large group present to finish the work as fast as possible (so we could have Friday off in preparation for Saturday's push), but things didn't start as quickly as hoped.
I don't know if you've ever tried to get a whole bunch of people from different unions to work on something together, but it takes a great deal of coordination. This coordination wasn't exactly in play this morning. Of course, we knew the best, quickest and most effective way to get things done, but it took a while to make it happen. Think about trying to get a group of your most motivated headstrong friends who are used to calling the shots, and asking them to organize themselves to accomplish a simple task, let's say like painting a house. Some would want to draw a diagram and make a gameplan, others would want to just start painting, some others would devise a work-sharing strategy, and others would lament the fact that nobody wanted to listen to them. That sure would be difficult!
Well, fortunately, it didn't take too long for us to hit our stride. Before long, we were a well-oiled machine running an assembly line of proper packet-producing productivity! I decided to work on the precinct maps, counting the number of total and union households in a particular precinct map. It was busy work, but I was good at it, and before long, we had finished a load of packets for the weekend ahead.
Paul and I were then dispatched to a library where early voting was being conducted. It was nothing like the day before. The parking lot was huge! And the people came from all directions, some wanting to check out books and others to vote. We took to approaching everybody, along with the help of two more of our union brothers. Most people were receptive, but more were hostile than yesterday. I was able to convince many people to vote against 47, 49 and 54 just by asking them "Won't you vote to help firefighters and nurses?" Think about it, who doesn't like firefighters and nurses? I mean cops ... well, they aren't always the most popular people. But I've never heard someone make a song called "F--- the Nurses." So why not tie the argument to popular life-savers like firefighters and nurses?
I met a man who helped to organize the first union at one of Adolph Coors' beer factories, and I met a woman who didn't know she could vote early and allowed me to tell her all about the negative qualities of the intiatives. I also met an elderly woman who said "Sarah Palin is evil. I despise her."
I also met people who asked me if I was allowed to campaign in a public place. Well, it's a public place you idiot! But really, I explained that as long as I were more than 100 feet from the door, I could electioneer (great word) all I wanted.
That is, until just after 4 p.m. when we were about to leave. The voting line was at about 45 minutes and the people arriving were getting grouchier and more combative. When we were just abou to finish, a small woman walked up to us. She was a librarian. She said we couldn't electioneer in the parking lot. I told her we were more than 100 feet from the door, and she said she wasn't sure (we were though). She asked us to stop. We said we had every right to be there, which she disputed and offered to call someone (the police) to find out. Instead of starting a fight with the librarian, we said we were about to leave anyway. We restated that we knew we had every right to assemble in a public place, but we were going to leave. She thanked us and we left.
I'm glad we didn't start a fight with the librarian. I'm not sure what we would have accomplished. If the police came, they would have supported us (we are supporting their cause of course), but what we have actually accomplished?
But, I know for sure, that librarians don't think I'm dope. They just think I'm annoying their patrons. But I know for sure that I'm doing everything that I can to ensure we live in a world where people still have the freedom to check out and read any book they want (stop your censorship Mrs. Palin!). How about that Mrs. Librarian Woman?
Tomorrow's a day off. I'm going to the art museum and Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Happy Halloween everybody!
jay
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