Political Action

I told them that we had only moved there the year before, so, especially with the lockdown, there were a lot of people I hadn’t met.  “But,” I said, “I know that six houses at this end of our long block are sympathetic to Democrats.”

Before I knew it, I was recruited to “work” the neighborhood.  They were right in sensing that I like to talk to people and that I am not intimidated about approaching people I don’t know.

What we have in our suburb in this couple likely isn’t present in many places.  The couple, let’s call them A and M, have chosen, in retirement, to serve the furtherance of democracy and to work within the Democratic party to do so.  Many weeks, they do it more than full-time.  They have organized the precincts into neighborhoods, most covered by a dedicated volunteer.  A and M also register voters, hold fundraisers, and encourage volunteers.

Before each election, I get a list of Democratic and No Party registered voters.  I visit all those houses, less for primaries and special elections and usually, at least three times for general elections.   I hang bags of basic voter information and candidate brochures on door knobs and I talk to residents who answer their doors.  I know less about the data collection end of things.  Tech and I are not getting along lately.  But I ask my questions, turn in my handwritten notes, and let A do his thing.

In addition, I walk a lot in the neighborhood and chat with anyone wanting to slow down and chat on the sidewalk.  This is mostly a warm weather activity.  Right now, more people are coming out of the cold weather hibernation.

At a decent stride, it takes me ten minutes to walk around my block, but when others are out, it can take thirty to sixty minutes.  How is Bobby, our oldest resident at 87, doing after his last surgery?  He’s graduated from walker to cane.  What is that wonderful smell coming from Hariz’s backyard?  A lamb on the spit, roasting, celebrating the end of Ramadan.  One of the three Andrew’s at my end of the block has finally gotten work after being laid off over a year ago.  Saed is back from taking his father from the West Bank to Jordan for healthcare, escorting him through many Israeli checkpoints.  There are eighteen boys rapidly growing up on this street.  Even they will sometimes chat a bit with me.

By now, people come to me with voting questions.  A son moved to Minnesota and is it too late for him to register up there or should he come back to Iowa to vote?  Can a snowbird get an absentee ballot from Iowa while in Arizona for winter months?  One woman quietly asked me if I could keep dropping the information at her house, even though her adult daughter, the only registered Democrat in the household, had moved out.  “I’m learning a lot,” she said later, as she stepped out onto the porch and pulled the door shut.  Did she not want her Republican husband to hear?  (That is one of my happy stories – she and her husband are no longer registered Republicans.)

I influence people on a very small scale.  I also need community and I don’t generally have time to be shy about building it around me; we’ve lived in seven states and two countries in the 46 years that we’ve been married.  I learned early enough to jump in and befriend people. Here in Iowa, I started a women’s coffee group, gathered from Democratic meetings, that meets often.

We bought a house with a big front porch and porch wine just sort of evolved.  Like-minded neighbors began coming over in warm weather when I text “Porch Wine at 5:00.”  Some actually drink wine, some water.  Plates of appetizers are brought and passed around.  Conversation can be light or it can turn serious, as in a discussion of who has what skills and assets to share if things get rough in terms of civil unrest.  We take cookies to each other and to Bobby, who loves them homemade.  I know what kind of beer two neighbors like as I take them gifts when they help us deal with snow clearing (my 82 year old husband insists on shoveling it, with my help).  The younger men on the street often come over and help us finish what we’ve started.

Tomorrow, the coffee group will gather at A and M’s house to put together bags of information for the primary in June.  I’ll start hanging them on doors shortly.  I’m not sure how long I can keep climbing up and down the porch steps, but I’m good for this year.  And I’m casting my eye about for who can take over when the time comes.

So, yes, I’m volunteering to help.  But, as with so many volunteer actions, I receive as well as give.  There’s commiseration these days, of course, There s also laughter and generosity.  A neighbor brings a bouquet of flowers from her garden.  Another has tried a new dessert recipe and want to know if I like it.  As Minneapolis has shown us, we save democracy neighborhood by neighborhood.  Neighbor by neighbor.  Vote by vote.