9/24/24

POSTCARDS:
To the voters who count

POSTCARD PLEA - One of the cards I've been sending to potential voters in swing states. The illustration is by Frank Gerardi, a Newport artist

 ALL SUMMER, and now into Fall, I’ve been sending postcards to places I will never visit, writing to people I will never meet.
     Some of my hand-printed postcards have landed in exotic-sounding places like Fishtail, Montana; Surprise, Arizona; and Sparks, Nevada.
     A number of the recipients have terrific-sounding first names like Destiny, Freedom, and Zoica; and others are somewhat ironic, like “Brian,” meaning that the addressee and addresser have the same name (“Dear Brian,” . . . “Thanks, Brian”).
     The postcards are aimed at Democratic voters in the seven or so battleground or swing states, the ones that will determine whether Kamala Harris or Donald Trump will be president, and whether Democrats and Republicans control Congress.
     The recipients are thought to be folks who have voted previously, but who might not have followed the current campaign very closely and might not vote this time.
     The hope is that they can be nudged gently to the polls on Nov. 5, Election Day, and better still, prompted to vote ahead of time by mail or to drop by polls open for early, in-person voting.

I HAVE NO IDEA if postcards will do the job.
     The theory is that if many millions of cards are sent, some thousands of voters will indeed vote, and in close elections, those will be enough to make the difference.
     So far, I’ve mailed 315 cards, which may be  a lot, or pathetic, depending on how you look at it. I’m hoping to mail  250 more before Nov. 5.
     It’s better than doing absolutely nothing while the cloud of a second and more destructive Trump presidency hangs over the nation.
     And in my best moments, I’m thinking that the cards will arrive at places I can’t go to; that they’ll end up in Apt. 3, North 102nd Blvd., and 36 Hacker Dr. – actual homes, with real people in them.
    
THE IDEA  is pretty smart.
     Phone calls are annoying. And so are political (aka “junk”) letters that go directly to a wastebasket, unopened.
     But a postcard has a fair chance of at least being flipped over and possibly read, maybe in its entirety. In my wildest dreams, one or two get attached to refrigerators with red-white-and-blue magnets.
     The downside is that under the rules, I can’t write what’s really on my mind to people in Las Vegas, Phoenix, Fishtail, Billings, Surprise and Sun City West.
     I’ve been working with a group called Activate America, one of a number of voter-contact organizations, and its brain trust has rock solid instructions for its volunteers:
      Print, don’t use cursive handwriting, which no longer is taught in many schools; leave at last a half-inch below the address block in case the Post Office attaches a bar code sticker; sign your first name or initials; don’t include your return address. Oh, yeah - provide your own postcards and stamps.
     Most of all, volunteers MUST use Activate’s scripts. The messages, we’re told, have been vetted with local groups, have proven effective in past campaigns and are carefully worded to appeal to the potential voters, whose names and addresses have been culled from voter records and methodically sorted.
     Bland is too bland a description of many scripts:
     “Democratic Congressman So & So stands with union and workers. He’s brought millions of federal dollars to our state to fund construction of affordable housing.”
     I’m skeptical that’s compelling enough to inspire a maybe-voter to fill out a mail ballot, much less get him or her out of the house and to the polls.
    I once got into an e-mail argument over one script that I thought violated all sorts of communication rules. It began:
     “Dear _____: Your MAGA Republican Congressman puts his extremist agenda above the needs of our families.”
     It seemed to me that the first thing you should do is to catch a recipient’s eye with the the name of our candidate. Just as bad, the wording about “YOUR Maga Republican.” That seemed to blame the recipient for putting the MAGA Republican into the House seat.
     I suggested a brilliant rewrite, and to the credit of Activate’s postcard program director, I got back a long explanation of why the script read the way it did, a gracious way of saying “Our way or the highway.”
     Which makes sense: the Activate folks have done the work, analyzed and refined their approach, and of course, figured out to whom we should write. At the very least, we should respect the process.

BUT WHAT IF we could write from the heart?
     First of all, I’m pretty sure I would like a lot of the people I’ve been writing to if I met them – door-to-door canvassing being the best way to talk with potential voters.
     After all, they’re Democrats, meaning that, it’s likely most of us aren't bullies; we don’t look kindly at the Capitol insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021; we don’t support book bans; don’t want women dying in hospital parking lots; we’re worried about the collapsing environment; and we don’t teach our children to lie, cheat, swear or to call people insulting and cruel nicknames.

Dear Zoica,
   Your vote counts. I mean REALLY. You’re in one of those states that could elect the next president.
   Whereas, I live in Rhode Island, a state so ridiculously small it shouldn’t  even be a state; and  it's so Democratic, my vote is taken for granted.
   But you’re in a “battleground” state, where the outcome may be VERY close.  
   Zoica,  my vote barely counts. Yours can change history.
Thanks,
   Brian – a volunteer.
* * *

Dear Freedom,
   Every day, I wake up scared out of my mind. I have panic attacks at the supermarket and walking down the street.
    The reason is Donald Trump.
   He lies. He abuses women. Calls people names. He tried to overturn the election that he lost.
   You’re in a battleground state, where a few thousand votes may decide this year’s election.
    Freedom, you can stop this monster.
Thanks,
   Brian – A volunteer
* * *

Hello Destiny,
   We’ve never met. But I know the power of your vote.
   That’s because just a few states will decide this election. And you live in one.
   Will America continue as a democracy, led by Kamala Harris; or will it turn into a dictatorship, under Donald Trump?
   Destiny, your vote can save the country.
Thanks,
   Brian – A volunteer
* * *

Hey Brian,
   Let’s speak frankly, Brian to Brian.
   Brians are not stupid. Many are patriots.
   But some, like me, live in states where our votes barely count. Others, like you, are in swing states, where your vote, and a few thousand others, could decide who’ll be our next president.
    So, Brian, stick up for Brians everywhere; for our families, friends, neighbors and all of our fellow citizens.  I’m pleading.  Vote!
   Please, Please, PLEASE, P L E A S E!
Thanks,
   Brian - A Brian