Who's done local Dem volunteer stuff?

[Robb]

I'm curious, as I'm about to have lots of free time, and no reason not to volunteer for the Dems. What on earth do they do?

I ask this out of true, unqualified ignorance; I live in an extraordinarily small (~500) town, and have heard nothing of a local Democratic chapter or such a thing. I can see myself wandering about during election week carrying signs or the like, but what else, man?? :bounce:

[pop goes the weasel]

1. the list is endless

Register voters, distribute campaign info, put up web sites, be an election official, drive people to the polls, drive around all day election day with a megaphone reminding people to vote, gather names if needed for petitions, work fund-raisers, work voter education events.....

You are definitley needed where ever you are.

[GOPisEvil]

2. Does your county have a local Democratic Party HQ?

If so, I bet they need help with all sorts of things. Oh, they might need a precinct chair for your area. That would be my first stop.

[Robb]

7. Doesn't look like it

I checked coloradodems.org, and it seems my county is a vacuum.

Although, I could'a told ya that....

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

10. Congratulations!

You are now the Chairperson of Your County's Democratic Party! Please assume that you have a mandate to endorse candidates and raise money for the party...

...I'm only about half-kidding. If the party has no structure, I would suggest contacting like-minded friends and neighbors and putting something in place. Assume that you have complete authority until somebody at the Colorado Democratic Party says otherwise.

But as a courtesy, I would contact you state party and tell them what you intend to do. They might actually be glad that you called.

[pop goes the weasel]

15. there should be a county chairperson

Contact your state party organization. They should be able to put you in touch with whatever passes for a Democratic party in your county. It took me over a week to get a name for someone in my county, and another week in tracking him down by phone.

And Dems wonder why we lose.

[Zephyrbird]

3. Things are pretty quiet right now.

What you might do is go to your favorite candidate's forum on the internet and sign up to volunteer or get notices of when meetings are held so you can attend. My local Dem chapter sends out notices on Dean, Kerry, Clark, and Kucinich meets (the most often mentioned). Then you can attend a meeting, get to know folks, get introduced to your county's Dem leaders, and then--watch out!--come next year you'll be finding yourself doing all kinds of things.

My local Dem chapter also sponsors a yearly Dem vs. Republican baseball game (we usually trounce 'em! hee hee), picnics between adjacent county dems, work with the homeless, etc. The trick is to get yourself involved and introduced, which may take some time. Look for the county chapter in your area, not necessarily a town Dem chapter.

Most likely when you sign up with the democratic party (DNC, not DLC!!) on the web, you will be directed to the chapter closest to you.

Good luck! They'll need help for sure next year, but don't wait until then to establish yourself within the party.

[AWD]

4. I have

There's lots of things we did.

Stuff candidates mail for them, go door-to-door campaigning, phone banks, giving rides to the elderly on election day.

I have no clue how to start a chapter in your town, so I'm lost on that one.....

[XNASA]

5. I would imagine that it's a lot different depending upon where you live.

I live in a heavily Democratic, tightly organized District. There's never a shortage for volunteers.

I've done door to door stuff, but the real fun is..........

Manning the phones. It's usually very rewarding. If you contact someone on the phone who agrees with us Dems, then it makes you happy. If you just happen to contact a ranting Freeper-type, then it's usually hilarious.

Do it. Volunteer as much as possible.

[MoonGod]

6. I tried...

... I called twice and left messages and I've emailed them twice. Never got any response. Sad, huh? If there's anybody here on DU who's active with the San Fernando Valley Dems, you have somebody here who WANTS to volunteer but can't seem to get a hold of anybody. :)

I did, however, intern in the office of a local state assemblyperson, which was cool... and I'm now volunteering at KPFK (Pacifica radio), our local listener-supported "leftist" radio station, which is also cool.

[Kolesar]

9. I am still waiting on responses from emails I sent--LAST YEAR!

My county has an effective Democratic party; they occupy most of the offices. I am quite disappointed that they did not write back when I volunteered my help. Maybe I should offer to send money to get their attention /sarcasm.

I decided to help an environmental group instead. They welcomed me to any and everything they do.

I have a hunch that the Dean campaign knows what to do with volunteers. Check his site or www.meetup.com (Note that I am still on the fence with respect to a presidential nominee).

[MoonGod]

11. Dean/individual campaigns...

... I'm not particularly interested in working on the campaigns of any of the Dem candidates right now. Kucinich looks like a great man, but that ranting thing is going to cost him the general election if he somehow manages to win the primary. Whoever DOES win the primary has my support, though that level of support may vary.

As far as Dean goes, he is looking more and more like just another politician with a good campaign manager. I was an early supporter back when nobody had even heard of him... long before his opposition to Operation Bring 'Em On helped him get a lot of attention. Nowadays, though, whenever I see him in interviews, he seems to waffle on just about every question. He'll say "I'm a straight shooter" and then 2 minutes later will desperately try to avoid answering a question.

I don't mean to knock Dean. Quite frankly, I don't know all that much about him. I just wish he really was the straight shooter he claims to be. He might be the best president this country has ever had, but his tendency to prevaricate leaves me with little knowledge about where he stands on a host of issues and little confidence that he'll take a strong stand once in the White House.

Either way, being in California, my more immediate concern is the recall election. I'd love to jump in and help stop this thing, but my local Dem party doesn't seem to want me enough to response to phone msgs or emails.

[Kolesar]

12. Maybe you can call the aide of a Democratic representative in your state

Call the office and ask whomever you get on the phone. Just a thought.

[MoonGod]

13. Yeah, perhaps...

... 'though having worked in such an office, they don't seem to be too closely tied to campaigning, either... not even to their own campaigns.

That being said, I am interested in helping out my local state assemblyperson in his reelection campaign. He's great.

[MaineDem]

8. Thank you!

I commend your ambition.

Here's a start. http://www.democrats.org/states/index.html
Check out your state's Democraitc Party web site and go from there. This time of year there's a lot of organizing for caucuses and primaries (unless you're in CA where they're a little tied up doing other things). As the election gets closer there'll be tons of stuff to do, as mentioned above.

Jump right in. Don't be discouraged if things seem a bit disorganized. After all, we're Democrats. ;)

[geniph]

14. I usually volunteer for individual campaigns

for sign-waving and stuff like that. If I'm volunteering to do that for several candidates, I make sure they have no problem with the others for whom I'm sign-waving, and make a "totem pole" of the signs.

It's amazingly tiring. I didn't understand at first why they were recommending such short shifts, but after standing in the cold holding a HEAVY pole with three candidates' signs on it, I was exhausted and sore!

[goobergunch]

16. I live in a swing congressional district (PA-06)...

I called about volunteering for the Wofford campaign in 2002, but they never returned my calls...he then lost by five thousand votes. Maybe in 2004 they'll return my calls...

[oneighty]

17. Get a few friends

together. Wife, sisters, brothers ect., any body interested.

Start a Democratic Club. Set some dues, elect officers.

Given a little time would be politicians will come to you.

That worked here years ago. We started in my house and

we grew and grew and grew. We sponsered interested

persons to run for office, and soon we started winning!

Takes a lot of interest on your part. But you will find it to be fun

and worthwhile.

Ed

[davsand]

18. I've done some...

I just agreed today to compete in a local Business Development organization's annual Chilli cook off and beer tasting representing the County Dems. Team Dem took second last year, and by golly, this year I intend to win it. Last year we did a Flaming Chilli that made the local news and got pictured in the local papers...

Sounds goofy doesn't it? Thing is, it gives the Dems a public face and makes the political thing look like the fun that it is. We got the party about five different press hits and all it cost us was the ingredients for 5 gallons of chilli and an entry fee. During the time I was working on cooking it I bet I talked to at least a hundred people who were wandering by and curious. I had a stack of motor voter forms on the table next to the chilli recipe...

Not a bad way to spend a day.

I do phone banking and I do a lot of campaign work. I do door to door (lit drops, as we call them) petition work, you name it. The stuff that is most fun for me is getting out and talking to people and making them realize that politics IS a day to day thing, not just every four years when the Presidential races end.

I'd suggest borrowing a page from the Greens when it comes to organizing a local party. That party started out as Grass Roots, and they have kept it going strong. Find four or five folks who are like minded and start working on a local issue...

Good luck with volunteering! It can be a lot of fun!

Laura