“You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give.” ~ Winston Churchill

“Volunteerism is the voice of the people put into action. These actions shape and mold the present into a future of which we can all be proud. ~ Helen Dyer

“Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they have the heart.” – Elizabeth Andrew

“I urge young people to consider public service, whether they do it now by volunteering in their community or prepare for public service as an adult.” ~ John Walters

For a last word on the recent election ( for now :), I’d like to pay tribute to a particular group of Americans who I believe define what it means to be involved citizens: political campaign volunteers.

In my view, campaign volunteers demonstrate the quintessential role of an American self-governing citizen. And, as I’ve been one myself for more than a half century, I’ve seen up close how these volunteers donate their time and efforts to speak directly to voters on behalf of the candidates they are supporting. They listen patiently and empathetically to voters’ concerns, inform them about their candidates and urge them to get out and vote.

And while political campaigns might appear glamourous to the public, they are the result of hundreds of thousands of volunteers doing a lot of grunt work. And all the work culminates in the Get Out The Vote (GOTV) effort, which includes reminding voters to vote, guiding them in registering to vote, helping them to understand the various methods of voting, locating their polling places, assisting them in getting rides to their polling places, and answering any last-minute questions they may have. GOTV is an intensive push that is physically and mentally taxing. Volunteers must access, retain and convey an enormous amount of information, accurately and completely, to voters.

Leading up to the GOTV,  these unpaid volunteers for weeks, months or years — depending on the type of campaign — knock on an untold number of doors (canvass), make and send millions of telephone calls and text messages, help set up and work at endless rallies and attend other rallies to show support, drive candidates to rallies and around neighborhoods so that they can knock on doors themselves, write thousands of post-cards, sometimes send personal letters to their registered-voter neighbors, write letters to the editors of their local newspapers on behalf of their candidates, assist campaign staff in various tasks, hand out candidate materials at commuter trains stations, host Meet & Greet gatherings for candidates and much, much more.

Volunteers are not only members of a particular campaign; they can also be members of a political committee in their hometown; in those cases, member volunteers will assist candidates and their campaign staff and volunteers in knocking on doors, phone banking, fundraising, etc.

History has shown how crucial volunteers can be to a political campaign: for example, the first presidential campaign for then Senator Barack Obama.  And volunteers are rewarded with the experience of helping candidates to get elected so they can govern our nation, state, county or town. Along with voting, serving on a jury, in the military and in elected office, campaign volunteering is an integral part of the process of self-governing. And even if their candidates lose, volunteers are equipped with invaluable experience and skills that can propel them into careers in government or the private sector, as well as apply those experiences and skills to future campaigns. 

The downside is that many volunteers have been have been cursed, hung up on, had doors slammed in their faces, their handouts thrown to the ground, and worse by voters that they are trying to inform about their candidates, the issues, voting schedules and polling locations. I wrote about this in 2014 and 2016, but it the ill treatment of volunteers seems to worsen with each election, along with the political rhetoric that has degraded etiquette and good manners in general over the past decade. 

The irony is that those same volunteers also have their doors knocked on, receive a tsunami of phone calls and texts and truckloads of campaign mail. As a volunteer myself, I try to remember that, and treat with respect and courtesy those volunteers who knock on my door, call or text me, or try to give me their candidates’ handouts. Even if they represent opposing political parties or opposing candidates to mine, I realize that the candidates themselves and the volunteers that are helping them are devoting an enormous amount of their time to get out the word about their qualifications and policies, and to remind citizens to vote. I have even thanked opposing candidates and their volunteers for what they are doing! Exercising our rights and responsibilities as engaged citizens is what we have in common!

No matter who or which propositions they are supporting, campaign volunteers are outstanding examples of democracy in action and they should be treated as such. I believe we can decline to speak with a volunteer or support their candidates with a simple and polite, “No thanks. I appreciate the reason for your (call) (visit), but I must decline. Sorry.”  If the volunteer presses you to engage (that’s their job), simply tell them “no” again, and politely end the call or gently close the door. 

What about those redundant phone calls, texts and visits? First, U.S. voter rolls are maintained by the states rather than a central database. Second, human beings are updating them as fast and as accurately as possible, but when voters relocate from one state to the other, for example, the voter rolls in each state might not be updated quickly enough to avoid folks being called, or called on, by mistake.. Often, volunteers call on members of their own party; but if, say, a Democrat has moved from an address that is now occupied by a Republican, and the voter list has not yet been updated, well – oops. As well, multiple organizations in addition to the campaign staff, have access to voter rolls and they all will be calling the same voters. So, now that you know what is going on — all in good faith and with good intentions — rather than wanting to throttle the volunteer caller, just chalk it up to a messy system, which democracy often is.

That all said, should you, yourself, decide that you are interested in getting involved in the noble work of campaign volunteerism — which can be exciting, instructive, gratifying and inspiring work, start by contacting:

• The campaign office or website of a candidate you support and for whom you plan to vote and tell whoever is in charge that you would like to volunteer.
• The DNC, or the RNC  and ask to be directed to the appropriate local party committee in your area.  For those independent or unaffiliated voters, check with the local election office for guidance in which parties are registered in your area and how to get involved. For some examples, there are the Working Families Party, the Conservative Party, and in California there is an American Independent Party. 
• Your local election office at usa.gov/voter-research to find out which candidates are running in your district (or ward, precinct, etc.) 

Whichever side of the election-season fence you find yourself on — campaign volunteer or voter — showing tolerance, empathy and kindness toward each other — including and especially during intense election seasons such as the one we’ve just been through — will make our country, states, counties and hometowns much stronger and better places to live.

Finally, a reminder that nearly every year there are elections somewhere; if we want to keep our republic and remain a democracy, campaign volunteers will help to ensure that we do. We need to encourage, not discourage them.

Until next time,

Jeanne