I ended my post Interning On the Campaign Trail: Advertising vs. Policy by saying that I harbored mixed feelings about my time spent interning so far. It primarily focused on my dissatisfaction with the way campaigns are orchestrated these days. Even though I have a lot to learn and my viewpoints are constantly evolving I do not hold out much hope that any of those sentiments will change. But now I want to focus on the more positive aspects of working on a campaign.
Getting people registered to vote is very important. Even though our two-party political system is deeply flawed and, as a result, each person does not believe his or her individual vote matters a to a great degree (I’m not sure how much I can disagree with that sentiment), I still believe that in order to change the system, one must work from the inside out. And I believe voting is a part of that. To cast your ballot this November, will not mean your giving up or that you are succumbing to a tyrannical system. It is not whether or not you vote that determines if the system has you in its grasp. It is how you vote. It is the reasons for which you vote. It is whether you pursue other avenues of civic participation besides voting. There are other ways. See http://www.rootstrikers.org and my last post before this one, Make Your Voice Be Heard….Petition Your Congressmen And Help End the Revolving Door It is difficult but not impossible. Whether you are being guided by truths or untruths, by facts or propaganda, by blind passion or reasoned analysis…..those motivations are what determine what your vote means and whether our political system will ever change by the will of the people. That is why I believe it is our civic duty to vote. When I vote this November 6th, I will have my well-being and the well-being of my fellow Americans in mind. I hope you do as well. Getting citizens registered to vote is not something I have experienced much of….yet. But it is one of the aspects of campaigning I know I will thoroughly enjoy. People power…..that’s the lens I try to see it through.
Now this will be more of a personal anecdote than anything specific to campaigning, but, to me, it means a lot nonetheless. I have been an intern for about a month, and I must say that the people I work alongside are excellent human beings and I treasure them deeply. They are my second family. I prefer not to go into the full meaning of that statement because it has many more implications for me than I care to think about or feel comfortable expressing to the blogosphere. Before school, my days at the office started out noon to 6 for about 5 days a week. Then, as I started to develop a kinship with my colleagues, my hours extended from 10 A.M. to 8 or 9 P.M. 6 days a week. Since I started school, I have had no choice but to cut back those hours. I sincerely wish this did not have to be the case. Hopefully, November 6th will be a day of celebration for the campaign, but no matter the outcomes of the various elections, it will also be an extremely painful day. In that sense, I sincerely wish that November 6th, 2012 would never come.
Reflective Thinking 