Bringing Bernie Back Home
by Kaitlin Campbell
The other day, as I was heading home to my apartment in Washington Heights—a small, somewhat close-knit neighborhood, geographically isolated from the tourism and crowds generally associated with Manhattan—I encountered a young man and woman with clipboards, gently trying to intercept passersby. "Hey," the man made eye contact, "have you heard about Bernie Sanders?" "Yeah,” I said, giving a thumbs-up and walking on, proud I'd been able to answer them in the affirmative. But they both lunged toward me, and started speaking very quickly. "Awesome! Are you registered? Do you know about our group? Are you interested in participating in our events? Do you want to volunteer?"
Brooklyn native Bernie Sanders currently doesn't have a New York City campaign office because, as I was to learn in the course of my encounter, he "didn't think people would like him this much." And so groups like the one I ended up learning about that day—Washington Heights for Bernie Sanders (they call themselves Bernie WaHi)—are getting ready for when he sets one up.
"We realized that the campaign didn’t have the structure yet in New York or as much funding as some other candidates,” said Adam Masser, one of three Sanders organizers who facilitate events and volunteer assignments in Northern Manhattan. Masser and his friends saw a "real opportunity to get the word out on behalf of Bernie and start organizing." So they started inviting their friends, and then their neighbors, to mobilize fellow Bernie supporters while also cultivating new ones.
Still a problem for Bernie at the moment is name recognition: “Bernie Sanders” doesn’t register with the same immediacy that “Hillary Clinton” does. So Bernie WaHi will focus on that, while also hosting more events and recruiting more volunteers. Voter registration is also part of the plan: Supporters are seeking to sign up people who’ve never voted, and to get registered Independent and Green Party voters to register as Democrats before the October 9 deadline.
more
https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/blog/bringing-bernie-back-home
= new reply since forum marked as read
I, in my own little world, have never seen people out getting an organization together when they do not even know for certain the candidate intends to put an office there. They will be ready, all they need is the space.
I think an awful lot of people are not aware what is going on with this candidate behind all the usual scenes and the usual means of checking their progress.
This kind of enthusiasm has not been seen since I was that age and we were interested in getting out of that horrible war among many other things.
Take heed. I could certainly be wrong but I remember what that felt like and I have been getting that feeling from young AND older people for a while now.
I hear this and it always sounds like Eeyore. Always. He can't win (tone going down), Hillary is our only chance *sigh*. I used to think that was one of those "you are a nut case" sighs but it isn't. It is because they are resigned.
The enthusiasm I do see here is certainly real but it just is not THIS kind of enthusiasm. I do have to admit, most of the time I am involved in something that garners stories like this it is nothing more than stories and it never really amounts to anything.
There are turning points though and when you look at our history it runs much like this I think. It also goes along with the "First they laugh at you" thing.
When you hit those points and society is in flux (Internet generations now, no way to accurately poll those numbers, people who keep much of their business to themselves or NOT) added to the misery we are either seeing, fearing or experiencing and BOOM it just turns on its axis.
I am just talking a lot. Most of this is anecdotal and just whispy thoughts. I had surgery, can't do much for a few more days so I have had time to look around and really see what is going on. Now I am just bidding my time. Thanks for the conversation.
I hope I am not wrong about this but it does feel this way. Fingers crossed, energy blasted into the universe and hopes sent out for all.
I have not had much but this was a relatively easy one but I can't do anything for a few more days. My husband is doing all my farm chores and I want to do it!! Makes me grumpy Thanks, I am certain it will fade quickly but at this age I am going to have some pretty funny scars! (thankfully my bikini days are 30 years in the past)
[img]
[/img]
