Politics 08
Thursday, November 6th, 2008This election was a markedly different one for me. I’ve been able to vote in two presidential elections now, this being my second. My disdain for the Bush administration stretches as far back as the infamous “hanging chad” incident in Florida that cost Gore the 2000 election, so it’s no surprise I voted for Kerry despite my rather indifference to him. I didn’t really volunteer any money or time to the campaign, and if someone had asked me to I’d likely say “nah.” This time though, I donated several times. It certainly helped that Obama’s donation process was very simple and straight forward. It also prided me greatly that Obama was not accepting donations from special interests at all, and only from individual Americans (of which the cap is a reasonable $2500 or so per person). This was the most honest, and honorable campaign I’ve ever seen. That this man was able win on merit alone, and not on disgusting political maneuvering like attack ads and pointlessly concocted scandals warms the cockles of my heart.
Not only did I donate my money, but my time writing Obama ‘08.app. I can’t thank everyone enough who was responsible for making it a reality. We worked tirelessly on an impossible deadline for an application that would have a 30 day shelf life. We did it though because this app going to go into the history books. I’m not trying to toot my own horn, there’s good reason for it. It marks the first time in a Presidential campaign that using the internet and technology effectively was necessary to win the election. Obama is the Kennedy of our generation, in terms of using the latest communication channels to reach the growing youth vote. Traditionally the internet, despite being around since the 1996 election, hadn’t been used a primary means of communication because the majority demographic of the average voter just wasn’t computer literate enough to find the latest candidate speech on YouTube (or wouldn’t necessarily think to). Hard to do it when YouTube didn’t even exist until recently, as well. Without the internet to motivate the young voters, who were undoubtably Obama’s most active volunteer group, he never would have been able to get such massive turnout numbers for this election. The iPhone app we made was a first, and with nearly 39,000 phone calls and 10,000 active callers it won’t be the last. I can already envision an army of get-out-the-vote volunteers canvassing neighborhoods and providing realtime information back to the campaign headquarters database. This will come in ‘12.
Why is a more streamlined canvassing system actually important? Let me give you a brief journal of my experience in Nevada on November 3rd, and 4th. I was part of the Drive for Change Obama volunteering effort to get out the vote in Nevada, a swing state right next to California. I’m often pessimistic — while I hope for the best, I do often assume the worst. How could a few volunteers make a difference? The truth is it’s all in the numbers. While one or two can’t, if everyone felt that way we’d never have gotten such a large brigade of supporters canvassing the neighborhoods of Las Vegas county. The other side of this equation is that sadly, only 64% of registered voters turned out to vote in this historic election. Despite that, it was the highest voter turnout in nearly 100 years. It turns out that the most difficult thing about getting a candidate elected isn’t getting the voters on your side, it’s just getting them to the polls! Without an army of efficient canvassers to knock on every door and get them out of their houses and to the polls, there’s simply no way we could have pulled off the crushing victory in Nevada we achieved. I truly believe this now, and I’m ecstatic to think of what we’ll do next election with a technologically superior canvassing system using an iPhone that knows where you are (CoreLocation FTW) and push notifications from HQ to command an army of mobile volunteers that can be redeployed in neighborhoods instantly.
Why all this hub-bub though? Why is all of my time, passion, and money worth it for this one man? The truth is Obama will not, and cannot, fix all the problems in this country. The power of a president is his ability to not only make good decisions, but to build a team of people who can carry out his vision. Without respect, a leader is powerless. If no one believes in you, how can they follow you? Obama’s proved he can be respected as a leader. This is true political capital that he’ll be able to cash in with the best and brightest administration this country’s seen in 100 years. And we need it, because trying the same thing over and over while expecting different results is the mark of insanity. This is why I voted for Obama, and why I believe this is a major inflection point for our country. Here’s hoping. Here’s hoping the next 8 years will be filled with optimism that we will start fixing a lot of the problems that are effecting our country and our world. Here’s hoping that the collectivism of the most inclusive leader we’ve seen can bring everyone together to achieve it.
