Are we making history on Tuesday? Oh!

I am canvassing Las Vegas for Barack Obama and having a helluva time at it. I love engaging people in conversation in general and to what end this time? It’s crazy and fun and new all in one job. Discovered in Las Vegas indeed. I went undercover as a street performer until the political hoop was dangled before me again and I started working for a non-profit organization that mounted a big effort here in Nevada, notably a swing state.

It’s bizarre that I grew up in Nevada and when I recapitulated Reno in January, I went canvassing for the first time (for Ron Paul) and began my journey into politics. I prefer the JedI Temple to the Senate, but there is a theoretical democracy at play in the U.S. and the decision-makers do affect people’s lives, so I guess I gotta be involved. Humans! Duty.

I coined the catch-phrase that is the title of this piece while street-canvassing locals. Some people feel weird when asked for whom they voted, which is somewhat understandable. Very few people are answering their doors at this point, having been canvassed to tears (haha). But I have a knack for going up to strangers on the street and talking. I have actually identified a number of folks who needed (702)455-VOTE to get information and/or a ride to get to the polls on Tuesday. Did you know that Bush won Nevada in 2004 by only 12 votes per precinct (roughly a zip-code!)? Imagine how many factors-of-12 people couldn’t get a ride or were occupied with work and life in the short window of 7a-7p? It’s compelling. I think there would be some serious April 26, 1992 action if Barack loses the election at this point.

Some people know my history with this election, which slipped out as not authorized during rap-practice at work one day. I had the most interesting conversation on the bus this evening. I met a fellow Obama-canvasser working with a different group to Get Out The Vote here in Vegas. She told me about a website that has a script that is very convincing to the reader about how key their opinion is for the election and she used my name as an example. I play around with the veracity of that. I laugh to distract myself from what I’ve endured, which while tragic is flattering. My view on politics is jaded to the point of laughing in the face of madness. “I’ll vote when we have a democracy!” is a catch-phrase that I started in April of this year. But for now, we do have a choice between one party and another and one is much more cOmpatible with sustainaBility, so I’m Barack’ing the vote.