Phonebanking on a Saturday afternoon
For the second Saturday in a row, I spent the early part of the afternoon phonebanking at the Monroe County for Bernie Sanders field office. Getting out and doing some good in the world sure beats sleeping in all morning with a whiskey hangover—thank god we finally finished off all that duty-free Crown Royal!
It's a charming little scene over there at the Bernie headquarters, with people of all ages and colors stopping in to pick up T-shirts or lawn signs, get information, or just make small talk about the primary races. Last week, there were a bunch of people making calls for the upcoming primary in Arizona, which Bernie subsequently lost amidst controversy about voter suppression and manipulation. (He won the nearby states of Utah and Idaho by a ratio of nearly 80 to 20, so something definitely seemed fishy.)
There were fewer people at the office today. At one point, I was the only one making calls—this time to voters in
New York state. I overheard a couple of the head volunteers speculating that there were fewer phonebankers today because it's Easter weekend and people might have other plans. Perhaps—but not me. In any case, I was pleasantly surprised by the number of people I spoke to across the state who said they'd be supporting Sanders next month (April 19!). Far more shouts of "Feel the Bern" than "Go Hillary go" or whatever her supporters mutter to each other when she wins.
And the rabbit hole goes deeper. On Monday night, I'm going to attend a meeting about canvassing for Bernie in Monroe County. It feels good to get involved and see the enthusiasm Sanders is generating, so why not do more.
The rest of the afternoon will likely be spent watching the caucus results from Washington state, Alaska, and Hawaii come in. Right now (5:01 p.m. EST) Sanders is up approximately 75 to 25 in Washington and 80 to 20 in Alaska, with Hawaii caucusing later in the day. Obviously it would be YUGE to see those numbers hold. Having spent three months in Oregon last summer and fall—including attending a huge rally in Portland, where Bernie Sanders really came onto my radar in serious way—I feel an affinity for the Pacific Northwest that is being further enhanced Washington's strong support of Bernie today.
Later in the week I'll try to find something nonpolitical to write about ...
Oh, and go 'Cuse! Marching on to the Elite Eight in a year no one thought they were even going to make the tournament.
