Reflections from a First Time Swing Left Volunteer

The truth is, I never felt the need to be politically active. It seemed that most politicians could not adequately distinguish themselves. A moderate Republican seemed interchangeable with a moderate Democrat; the ebb and flow between parties provided a sort of balance that I could live with. This sentiment started to change with George W. Bush, 9/11, and the rise of the Tea Party. Like many others, I became more vocal in my dissent and looked for more from my representatives, but, still not enough to become an activist. All that changed with the election of Trump.

I come from a family of immigrants just one generation back on my mother’s side and two on my father’s side. I’m a native New Yorker, born in Brooklyn, with bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in electrical engineering. I’m a registered Democrat but consider myself a socialist. I have always been informed about national politics, not as much about state or local politics, and voted in most elections although not all.

The day after Trump’s inauguration I marched in New York City with hundreds of thousands of others and it was empowering. But I remained depressed for nearly a year before realizing that marching, griping, and drinking was not a good solution. And after a year of watching the Republican-held Congress refuse to provide checks and balances on the executive branch as part of their civic duty, it was clear that these politicians were cowards and needed to be voted out. I’m not so naive to think that there aren’t cowards on the Democratic side, but one step at a time. So during the past year, I began following people and organizations on Twitter who shared my worldview. (I had abandoned Facebook in July 2016 for what are obvious reasons now). I found Town Hall Project, then Indivisible, and then Swing Left.

Swing Left got my attention because of its immediately tangible mission: they identified 70 swing districts that had a good chance of being flipped with an activated Democratic base and a strategy to make it happen. When I plugged in my zip code in to find my nearest swing district I was psyched to find MY district!!! This pulled me out of depression because I saw a way to make a difference. I signed up to volunteer and I immediately found several ways to get involved.

The first thing I did was sign up to have my own fundraising website to help the inevitable Democrat who will run against the incumbent in NY-19. It was easy to do and I continue to ask family, friends, and acquaintances to help out. I signed up to have a postcard party where friends came to my house and we wrote postcards to John J. Faso, our current representative, letting him know his performance is unsatisfactory and we plan to vote him out. And then the request came from Swing Left to help out with the Conor Lamb special election.

I was truly inspired by the on-the-ground activism in Virginia and Mississippi and had been keeping an eye on the special election in Pennsylvania. When the call came to help, I just knew it was my turn to get off the sidelines and get in the game! I signed up for two three-hour canvassing sessions during the week leading up to the election. Swing Left sent detailed directions, and a nine-page document, including information about Conor Lamb, what to expect, and how to canvass. I read the materials out loud in the car, occupying a solid hour of the seven-hour trip to Pittsburgh as my husband and I discussed the information.

We arrived a day in advance to make sure we were well-rested for the canvassing work. I received an email from the local organizer who was just checking in. It was very positive and encouraging and there was no judgment.They let me know we could connect easily by text message and that they were psyched I was ready to go and looked forward to meeting me the next day.

The next day at the field office, I found out we were going ONLY to the homes of registered Democrats to make sure they knew about the election, how important it was to get to the polls, where their polling place was, and to make sure they had a plan for getting there. We got Conor Lamb buttons to wear, we were directed to some food and drinks to fortify us, and then we were on our way.

I thought it would be hard to knock on a stranger’s door. But, now I understand how it is done. If you believe in what you are doing, you don’t think, you just do! And what I believe is that (1) the vast majority of Americans are decent, (2) too many Americans feel like their vote doesn’t matter, and (3) it’s worth the effort to talk to those decent Americans to let them know EVERY vote matters.

While some people were amazed I had driven so far just to talk to them, I can’t say everyone was happy to answer the door. But I found that if I listened, I had a chance of making a difference. The most rewarding experience was with an elderly woman in a wheelchair. She had her front door open so I spoke with her from the threshold as we were told not to enter anyone’s home. I quickly found out she was a Conor Lamb fan, but really wasn’t sure how she could get to the polls. I assured her I would let the field office know that she needed help. She was so grateful for my effort and I told her that I wished I could be there on Tuesday to get her there myself, but that I would be back in New York by then. She thanked me for the work I was doing. and when I got back to the field office, I made sure to pass her info along to the staff. I don’t know for sure if she got to the polls, but when Conor Lamb won by a little over 600 votes, I’d like to think her vote was one of them.

All in all, I knocked on about 100 doors and spoke with about 20 people. It may not seem like a lot, but when every vote counts, so does every knock. And every volunteer. Working together, we can win. And that’s why I’m so grateful to be working with Swing Left. This isn’t just about taking back the House. It’s about making democracy work for all of us.

If you’re interested in getting involved, you can sign up for Swing Left here.