¡El Sabado Gigante!
My husband and I spent a big, hot chunk of today out canvassing door to door, getting voters to apply to vote early by mail. It was so cool.
The whole going-door-to-door thing--not to mention the fact that we got assigned to a gigantic trailer park--was sort of a flashback fest, but once I got over my jittery old self, it was really fun.
The best parts were when I got to talk to really elderly voters. They were like, "Yes, this is great! It's hard for me to get out." In November, the weather in Nebraska can be daunting. It was good to imagine them warm and comfortable at their kitchen tables, filling in their ballots.
Nebraska is one of the few states (two, I think?) that don't go all red or all blue in the presidential race, so individual voters have a little bit more of an impact. We have three congressional districts. Ours here in Lincoln (and stretching north and south) is the first, Omaha's region is the second, and western Nebraska is the third.
Right now, folks are guessing that the second CD (Omaha) will line up for Obama in November, and the third CD (west) will go for McCain. But the first CD (ours) is anyone's guess. It's kind of up for grabs and could go either way--or that's what some say, at least--and it was cool to be out there helping people make their voices heard.
In other news, I'm working to get my syllabi ready for the new semester at UNL, which starts on the 25th. I'm excited to be teaching two new courses this fall: Chicana/Chicana Literature (I've only taught big-umbrella Latina/Latino lit courses before), and a graduate course in creative nonfiction. I'm very psyched about both, but the planning is eating me alive!
The whole going-door-to-door thing--not to mention the fact that we got assigned to a gigantic trailer park--was sort of a flashback fest, but once I got over my jittery old self, it was really fun.
The best parts were when I got to talk to really elderly voters. They were like, "Yes, this is great! It's hard for me to get out." In November, the weather in Nebraska can be daunting. It was good to imagine them warm and comfortable at their kitchen tables, filling in their ballots.
Nebraska is one of the few states (two, I think?) that don't go all red or all blue in the presidential race, so individual voters have a little bit more of an impact. We have three congressional districts. Ours here in Lincoln (and stretching north and south) is the first, Omaha's region is the second, and western Nebraska is the third.
Right now, folks are guessing that the second CD (Omaha) will line up for Obama in November, and the third CD (west) will go for McCain. But the first CD (ours) is anyone's guess. It's kind of up for grabs and could go either way--or that's what some say, at least--and it was cool to be out there helping people make their voices heard.
In other news, I'm working to get my syllabi ready for the new semester at UNL, which starts on the 25th. I'm excited to be teaching two new courses this fall: Chicana/Chicana Literature (I've only taught big-umbrella Latina/Latino lit courses before), and a graduate course in creative nonfiction. I'm very psyched about both, but the planning is eating me alive!
fayepoet said:
I was touched by your story of parking your jittery old self and going door to door at the trailor park and encouraging elders to register to vote. And it was especially interesting to learn about how specific clusters of population tend to vote in sync. My experience has been at the opposite end— registering 18 year olds
August 25, 2008 4:47 PMat the high school, where there's usually one or two who like to challenge— "why vote?" With a little discussion,they usually come around...My point is that there's a lot to do to get people engaged regardless of where we live. Thanks for the inspiration. Faye