Yesterday I took my first steps to being politically active – I canvassed for my local NDP candidate, Peggy Nash. At the end of the day, I had sore feet, a bit of sunburn and a real feeling of actually ‘doing something’.
I’ve always voted and I’ve never been afraid to talk politics, but I’m a hermit by nature and not much of a ‘joiner’, so I’ve never actually got off my butt to join a political campaign or hand out leaflets.
The day of canvassing was both an invigorating and disheartening experience. The majority of the people I spoke to hadn’t given much thought to how they were voting and politely took my brochure and wished I’d disapppear. I can sympathize – I hate dealing with people who come to the front door selling chocolates, god or conscious-easing environmental donations. But about halfway through my route, I was hoping for someone to take me on, challenge me, sick their toddler on me, something, anything, other than “Thanks, go away now.” Even scarier were the Stepford wives who have apparently handed over all agency and were letting their husbands decide their vote. Chandrasutra has all the terrifying details.
Near the end of the day I did talk to one young woman who, upon hearing the letters N-D-P, immediately said: “I’m not left.” Usually this is followed by a door in the face, but this woman actually asked me a few questions about the party, our platform and why she should give us her vote. She was still undecided when I left, but I felt great because it re-affirmed that there are people out there thinking about these things and willing to listen to other opinions.
If there is a political race going on in your neighbourhood, I highly recommend that (if you haven’t already) you get out, get involved and get connected once again with democracy.
Update: Boy you guys are fast! I just tried to go back to the NDP website and I got this message:
“Thank-you for your interest in Jack Layton and the NDP’s positive choice. Due to overwhelming interest, we are experiencing some delays today. Please check back soon.”
Either I’ve got more readers than I know about or somebody is hitting NDP.ca with a Denial of Service attack.
