I was really quite surprised myself. I'm not sure quite how I got to be knocking on doors and asking voters to support Bernie Sanders in the primary. It was the day before the last date to register to vote in California and I answered a plea for supporters to help register people to vote. That sounded good as I had already helped everyone in my row at the Citizenship Ceremony. But when I got there they started 'training me' for canvassing.
I have to say canvassing when you are almost 50 is quite different from when you are in your 20s'. There no clipboard now, no stacks of voter lists to carry - its all on an app just for that. So if you see canvassers looking like they're walking and texting - now you know why. And then also there are no bathrooms and my bladder is not 23 any more.
I did my whole list though. The trainer seemed surprised. Like she didn't expect people to really follow through. It wasn't as hard as it seemed because they were all out. Every single house. Yes all of them on a Sunday late morning. Funny thing was, it must be a really safe neighborhood because their windows were open, the music or TV blaring, their cars in the drive and their shoes on the door mat. But ring and knock, a few 'hello?'s Nothing. So I recorded them 'not at home'. 'Refused' seemed too harsh. 'Uninterested' wasn't an option in the app. Twelve people were 'at home' and ten of them told me that they were enthusiastic Bernie supporters, had been to a rally, they didn't need a flyer or a button they were all set. One lady told me 'We are Hillary people'. I chose not to argue since she wasn't on my list (only a male name at the same address) so not registered as a Democratic or independent voter.
So based on my experience, in a small neighborhood in North Redondo, Bernie is set for a landslide. Yeah!
They wanted me to go out again today. 'The kids have too many activities' I fibbed. 'What is the point?' I thought. I wasn't changing any minds. Of course that is not what canvassing is about. But I really wasn't collecting meaningful data either. The only thing I was doing was showing people that someone else that they don't know is supporting Sanders enough to give up their Sunday and cares enough about their neighborhood to do it there. California so rarely gets any presidential campaigning that all you have to do to get their vote is turn up to campaign. If you're a Democrat.
I also really didn't like the trainer. A generation X wippersnapper from Washington State. She kept going on about millennials and Gen X and Gen Y (what generation am I anyway? Gen BG - Before generations) and oh she knew all about everything. Her tip for dealing with Hillary supporters was to remind them that it was a secret ballot and no-one would know that they actually voted for Hillary. She went on and on about the reasons Republicans hate Hillary being the same and us.
This got to me probably because I don't hate Hillary. Actually, I like Hillary. I am already excited about having a women president. I just like Sander's policies better. I wanted to say to her its not about personalities, its about policies. In the beginning that was what the Sanders campaign was all about. Taking the high road. Now its gone. Lost in the quagmire of the primary battleground. And the reasons that the Republican's hate Hillary are not the same as hers. Its not because she's a Neo-Liberal hawk backed by Wall Street. Its because she's a woman. But hmm don't judge a candidate on their supporters.
And then there was the other voter. The independent. She was in her yard in a bikini and excited to talk about the election. She was listed as an independent and told me she hadn't decided yet so here was my chance to sway someone's opinion. I could see that she had worked hard all her life and partied some too. She was proud of being an independent. I went with education and told her that Sanders wanted to make college free for everyone. She told me that her nieces had gone to college and it was a waste of time as they were just partying all the time. Her big concern was immigration. Uh oh. She told me that she had grown up in a Latino neighborhood (that wasn't quite how she put it) and went on for a while about riding around in cars with Mexican kids. At this point I am just wondering what the best way is to leave without being impolite. But she asked me outright - 'what does Bernie Sanders think about immigration and the whole refugee thing?' And then it came to me what I should do.
It occurred to me that I could mention that the Hillary campaign have made a big point of Sanders voting against the last big immigration reform bill to protect American jobs. That would sound good to her, right? And I shouldn't mention that Sanders said he did it because the bill was going to set up a second class of worker leaving immigrant laborers on less than minimum wages and was really an attempt to exploit cheap labor. If I was really a campaigner. But I couldn't do that. I just wished her good luck with her decision.
Maybe - as I think you all suspected for a long time, I really like talking about politics much more than doing it.
So what will happen next? On Tuesday we have the last round of primaries, including California. It's exciting for me going to vote for the very first time in America. And its exciting for California that for once our primary counts. Except it doesn't. The media are planning to declare Clinton nominated when the New Jersey Primary closes based on the exit poll. Three hours before Californians even finish voting. Even if Sanders gets a landslide its kind of daunting to think how many people will not bother to vote on their way home from work when Clinton has already 'won'. Clinton has already changed her focus to Trump and the General Election. The burning question now is what is she willing to do to achieve the impossible and turn Sander's supporters (and trainers) into hers?
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