Nice work, OFA

So you may or may not know that I am casually political, and fickle with my loyalty. In theory I'm a raging Democrat, but only because I really like Barack Obama. I totally wanted him to be president and I even did some volunteer work to help make that happen. But before I tried to help him, he came to me. He found my friends, too, and he got our attention. Yes, I waited with a huge crowd for hours to hear (not see, unfortunately, as he was too far away) the man speak. But I was only on the email list because I was tempted by potential Daily Show tickets and clicked my way into a database.

All of which is to say, Obama has mad PR and marketing skills, and they've hooked me yet again: Michelle Obama is speaking on a conference call this Wednesday and I get to listen. What's more, not everyone shares the privilege—only "top organizers." (Although I'm not sure what qualifies me aside from the ability to go to this website.)

I'd already been thinking about volunteering this week, since get out the vote campaigns are easy for me to agree with. I don't mind telling you who I'm voting for and why, but I'm honestly not trying to convince you to do anything but go to the polls. Even if that means my picks don't "win."

Because if I'm going to pride myself on my citizenry, it's counterproductive for me to discourage individual choice. I do, however, want my fellow citizens to do their jobs and to support the governing body their ancestors created. Our country functions by a voting system, and if you don't vote you are not participating. And if you're not going to intelligently participate in our government, stop benefiting from my tax dollars!

I flew in to Newark last night and on the shuttle bus to the city the surly driver was listening to talk radio. The speaker—who may have been Al Sharpton but I'm not sure; I know he was in some way involved—was imploring his listeners to get out and vote. I was impressed to note he was not telling people to vote for the sake of voting. He actually warned against voting along party lines unless citizens were sure those parties were serving their interests. What a novel concept! Encouraging people to consider what is best for them and then elect leaders based on their principles!

So maybe I was primed for action by the radio man, but when I got the political email from Mitch* today I was genuinely enthused to get more involved--and the prospect of hearing the First Lady live on the phone sealed the deal. I'll listen to what she has to say, and maybe I'll even take some action Thursday. God bless the power of communication.

*Mitch Stewart, Director of Organizing for America. We're on a first-name basis because I saw him speak at a kickoff rally back in June and he was pretty cool.