You Decide 2008 (and let me help you decide)

Ahhh, yes, spring is in the air, when flowers begin to open their arms to the warmth of the sun, trees begin to cover themselves with green glories once again, and candidates begin to spend tons of money to paper my doorstep, load my inbox, and fill my voicemail with messages to VOTE VOTE VOTE!

Only this time, I'm the one with the addresses and phone lists.

Tomorrow the election will be over and done with. My three school board candidates (up from one when they decided to run as a slate) will discover their fate tomorrow night, and I'll be taking a deep breath as one thing is taken off my plate.

But it has been a blast! I've run reports on all the addresses in likely voting areas, I've sent out endorsement letters, spoken to voters, knocked on doors and left literature, planned and executed parts of the campaign, and I've been in heaven doing it. This while hearing a barrage of comments from the incumbents on what a dirty, nasty campaign this has been. I think that's because a) they're scared of losing and b) they can't respond to our strategy.

It's kinda funny, though. The GOTV (Get Out The Vote) effort has been multifaceted, and I think effective. A mailer went out to senior voters in the area that would help them get a ballot by mail. That's hitting elderly voters who care and vote, but don't want the trouble of going to the polls. I printed lists of people who voted in past primaries and we walked neighborhoods in over half the town. That door-to-door was really effective. There was a frequent response that this was the first year a school board candidate personally came to ask for their vote. We sent people to school campuses to the carpool lines and passed out literature off campus. We posted yard signs anytime a homeowner would ask for one. We printed call lists to give to people to call voters and remind them to vote, and told them where they could do so. On door hangers this week, we put a sticky note with their own polling location featured on it.

What do the incumbents say?

"They're spending a lot of money for a volunteer position."
"We care about kids, they care about power."
"We do NOT have the highest tax rate in the state! (It's sixth, by the way.)"
"They steal our yard signs."
"Who does radio ads for a school board election?"
"They put dog mess on someone's porch that had our yard signs in the yard."

Yep, they're scared.

And all they can come back with, when my candidates point out problems, is "Vote for us! It isn't as bad as they say it is!"

I tell ya, if this campaign can't unseat all three incumbents, then it's impossible to do so. If we can't do it, it can't be done. And if it works, this campaign will be studied dilligently to replicate its success.

While all this has been going on, I was elected to the county Republican Party Rules Committee, which is really cool. Being a rules nerd and all, I'll have a seat at the table while the rules are being made. That just gives me the giggles. It's an honor to be asked to run, and my husband is already teasing me about being a mover and shaker. I also got to bring into another committee a friend who lives in my precinct, a Ron Paul supporter who wants a fast-track political education. He was so eager and determined at convention, the chair decided he'd be a great addition to the committee to develop young leadership. Apparently my precinct is taking over the county and we shall rule one day. Hee!

I'll update with election results when they're in. But now, back to the salt mines; running reports, phoning voters, and taking over the planet, one precinct at a time.