Follow Me To ... Boot Camp for Democracy and Beyond (#44)

Do The Most Good, Montgomery County

This was a great two-part project that hopefully has a lasting payoff in the near future!  One weekend I attended a Democracy Bootcamp led by Do The Most Good Montgomery County and Representative Jamie Raskin and the next, I marched out to enlist the troops!  Learning followed by action felt good - and it's oh so timely!  ...

Democracy Bootcamp (part 1) was a morning of motivation, information, and opportunity.   It started with great motivation and hope from Representative Jamie Raskin and continued with hands-on teaching of basic grassroots tools for political organization.  (I wish school-aged children were taught civics this way!)  There were stations where the most common tools of the trade were taught and demonstrated - phone banking, postcard writing, voter registration, poster making, and optimizing the use of social media.  These were informative as well as productive sessions for we signed up for a future outings and left our marks in real time.  Some made posters and others, like myself, wrote postcards to urge newly registered voters to come out for the June 26th Maryland Primary Election.  It was here that I signed up for something on my bucket list - to register voters (part 2)

The following Saturday, I went across the county to the White Oak Giant to register voters.  Yes, I was that person carrying the clipboard that you try to dodge getting in and out of the store - though I swear I smiled, was not confrontational, and took "no" for an answer!  Though I wasn't personally successful in registering too many voters myself, some of my colleagues were.  Many passersbys said they'd register online "later" or confirmed they were already registered.  One, changed his party registration and others asked the "when", "where" questions that were easy to answer.  In this area of the county, however, many people were highly interested in voting, yet were unable to due to their citizenship.  These people in particular seemed to appreciate the privilege of voting more so than others and smiled when they told me they hope to "one day" participate in our political process.

My Takeaways:  (1)  Our political system may be frustrating, overwhelming, and even disappointing at times, but it is so unique and really something to cherish.  Our democracy gives us each a say in our government and prevents the minority from ruling.  I know it can seem futile to participate in a system that has yielded undesirable results, but please don't turn your back on the process!  And don't only show up for general elections as primaries are where the final ballots are determined.  If you think you already live in a state where your voice is echoed (or not), don't forget about the "smaller" elections for positions that affect your day-to-day life like County Executive, County Council, County Judges, County School Boards, etc.  Meeting the people today who could NOT vote, but who wanted to were the true inspirations.  (2)  Be a good example for your children and lead by example.  Parents who display voter apathy convey those feelings to their soon-to-vote children.  I loved listening to the moms and dads who explained to their children who we were, what we were doing, etc.  (3)  Seeing so many people gathered at the Democracy Bootcamp was pretty cool.  The best part was seeing how many high school students there were.  Most of them were part of a summer bootcamp led by Jamie Raskin to teach the tools of leadership.  I knew one special young person there and really regretted not bringing Sarah who would have enjoyed the experience.  (4)  Grocery store sabotage can work!  We scored some new voters and I hope they turned out on June 26th!!  (5)  Don't shy away from getting involved in education and mobilization efforts such as these because you think they are one-sided and partisan.  These, like others, don't advance a particular agenda but rather promote the exercise of rights we are privileged to have!

---