Get Out the Aggravation...Constructively
Knocking on doors for Kerry with the League of Conservation Voters
August 2004
Joel Stonington Utne.com
For one week I have joined the League of Conservation Voters
(LCV) in the largest national grassroots effort ever launched by an
environmental group during a presidential campaign. I have joined
with a mission: do whatever I can to get that dummy out the White
House and make sure John Kerry is the next president.
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Together with a dozen students, acquaintances and friends, I
started out from New Haven, Connecticut, drove a thousand miles,
and started knocking on doors in a swing state: Wisconsin, decided
for Gore by 5,708 votes in the 2000 election.
'Normally people don't get this engaged so long before an
election,' said Mike Palamuso, the Wisconsin LCV campaign director.
'But this time there's so much at stake.'
LCV got involved in this election because George W. Bush is the
worst environmental president in American history. He recently
became the first president in LCV history to receive an 'F' on
LCV's yearly report card. It is a stunning contrast to John Kerry's
lifetime LCV rating of 92 percent -- higher than any other
democratic presidential candidate this year.
Palamuso said that Bush's 'F' made LCV understand they had to
reach beyond the typical activities of an environmental group this
election and go back to the grassroots with a strategic
door-to-door campaign aimed at convincing swing voters.
In practice, this campaign comes in the form of doorstep
conversations with Americans from all walks of life -- parents
holding babies in their arms, veterans with dogs barking at their
feet, elderly women, recent college grads -- and surprisingly, I
have felt a real joy listening to people talk about their needs and
telling them how I think John Kerry will help.
The joy, for the most part, came from the simple kindness of
connecting face-to-face with another person. 'We're still part of
an American community,' said Emly McDiarmid, an LCV volunteer, 'We
haven't lost that, even with all the antagonism between candidates
and parties.'