By Andrew Eddins
Freelance Contributor,
Freedom to Marry
October 15, 2009
My last blog post told of preparing to drive to Maine to volunteer with the No on 1/Protect Maine Equality campaign, and how rewarding it felt to be taking action rather than sitting on the sidelines. As with many much-anticipated adventures, most of what I had expected was wrong - but in a good way.
My volunteer experience began with a 9am staff meeting at which everyone introduced themselves and the day's schedule and tasks were divvied up. My first surprise was at how many local Mainers were on staff. I had somehow imagined that out-of-staters like myself (have I lived in New York City too long?) were going to be everywhere, but very capable Mainers were definitely running the show.
I was assigned "confirm calls" to start with, which meant I would be calling people who had volunteered to help with tasks like data entry, canvassing, or phone calls to make sure that they were coming in. I expected to find many drop-outs, but the bulk of the volunteers were enthusiastic to fulfill their commitments - some even offering to work additional shifts.
With the confirm calls finished, I moved on to data entry and then some good old-fashioned envelope stuffing. I happen to be one of those odd people who enjoy repetitive tasks, but I expected to hear lots of grumbling from my co-workers. Wrong again! There were lively, good-natured conversations going on all afternoon as we made our way through the mountains of mail to go out. I learned a lot about Maine's moose population - including that the plural of moose...is moose! (I was thinking mooses? miise? moozes?)
Evening rolled around, and with it came the Early Voter Phone Bank. This would involve calling registered Maine voters to: 1) make sure supporters knew a "No" on Question 1 meant a vote FOR marriage equality, and 2) ask supporters to vote early under Maine's early voting procedures to doubly help the marriage equality cause by sparing resources for undecided voters. Having telemarketed briefly in my first days in New York City, I was loaded for well...Moose! I figured I might be facing some hostile, angry voters. As it turned out, the only anger I faced was from supporters over the contorted wording of Question 1. I happily explained that a No vote actually was a vote in favor of marriage equality. I found supporters very willing to vote early, and some even asked me about volunteering before I could ask them!
We finished a little after 9pm, and I drove to my niece's house a few towns away, where I was staying. I briefly recounted my day to her and her husband, and then collapsed into bed exhausted.
The next day was the same routine, with some new volunteers appearing during the day and a different group for the phone bank in the evening. When I returned to my niece's house that night, she told me that she had voted early that day and she was glad we had reviewed the "No on 1" rule. She had started reading Question 1 on the ballot and felt herself sinking into rhetorical quick sand until she remembered to just vote No!
Driving back to New York after my days of service, I couldn't help thinking of the people I knew were still working in the office that day: the married mother of three from Yarmouth who volunteered after seeing one of the opposition's more outrageous TV ads, and the grandfather who had accompanied his grandson and discovered he was a natural phone banker. I was proud of the contribution I had made, but I also knew marriage equality in Maine was in the very sure hands of Mainer staff and volunteers - and this time I knew I was right!
As I post this there are just 19 days left until Question 1 is decided in Maine. There are still many ways Mainers and even out-of-staters can get involved. Visit the No on 1/Protect Maine Equality website today to see what you can do, and if you know anyone in Maine - call them to make sure they understand a No vote on Question 1 is a vote For marriage equality!
My volunteer experience began with a 9am staff meeting at which everyone introduced themselves and the day's schedule and tasks were divvied up. My first surprise was at how many local Mainers were on staff. I had somehow imagined that out-of-staters like myself (have I lived in New York City too long?) were going to be everywhere, but very capable Mainers were definitely running the show.
I was assigned "confirm calls" to start with, which meant I would be calling people who had volunteered to help with tasks like data entry, canvassing, or phone calls to make sure that they were coming in. I expected to find many drop-outs, but the bulk of the volunteers were enthusiastic to fulfill their commitments - some even offering to work additional shifts.
With the confirm calls finished, I moved on to data entry and then some good old-fashioned envelope stuffing. I happen to be one of those odd people who enjoy repetitive tasks, but I expected to hear lots of grumbling from my co-workers. Wrong again! There were lively, good-natured conversations going on all afternoon as we made our way through the mountains of mail to go out. I learned a lot about Maine's moose population - including that the plural of moose...is moose! (I was thinking mooses? miise? moozes?)
Evening rolled around, and with it came the Early Voter Phone Bank. This would involve calling registered Maine voters to: 1) make sure supporters knew a "No" on Question 1 meant a vote FOR marriage equality, and 2) ask supporters to vote early under Maine's early voting procedures to doubly help the marriage equality cause by sparing resources for undecided voters. Having telemarketed briefly in my first days in New York City, I was loaded for well...Moose! I figured I might be facing some hostile, angry voters. As it turned out, the only anger I faced was from supporters over the contorted wording of Question 1. I happily explained that a No vote actually was a vote in favor of marriage equality. I found supporters very willing to vote early, and some even asked me about volunteering before I could ask them!
We finished a little after 9pm, and I drove to my niece's house a few towns away, where I was staying. I briefly recounted my day to her and her husband, and then collapsed into bed exhausted.
The next day was the same routine, with some new volunteers appearing during the day and a different group for the phone bank in the evening. When I returned to my niece's house that night, she told me that she had voted early that day and she was glad we had reviewed the "No on 1" rule. She had started reading Question 1 on the ballot and felt herself sinking into rhetorical quick sand until she remembered to just vote No!
Driving back to New York after my days of service, I couldn't help thinking of the people I knew were still working in the office that day: the married mother of three from Yarmouth who volunteered after seeing one of the opposition's more outrageous TV ads, and the grandfather who had accompanied his grandson and discovered he was a natural phone banker. I was proud of the contribution I had made, but I also knew marriage equality in Maine was in the very sure hands of Mainer staff and volunteers - and this time I knew I was right!
As I post this there are just 19 days left until Question 1 is decided in Maine. There are still many ways Mainers and even out-of-staters can get involved. Visit the No on 1/Protect Maine Equality website today to see what you can do, and if you know anyone in Maine - call them to make sure they understand a No vote on Question 1 is a vote For marriage equality!
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