Postcards From The Edge
When I started getting more politically active I attended meetings, focus groups, and local rallies. We were encouraged to do phone-banking, both in groups and at home from lists. I did some and found it difficult. It seemed intrusive and I received all too many angry responses. I also printed out professionally written campaign letters and sent them to lists of Democrats.
More recently Mrs. side pocket and I have been doing postcarding. Last election period TonyTheDemocrat wrote a diary which gave a good explanation: Postcarding Myths Busted. We have been doing this in groups at local homes and even a local pizza place. We began with texting. Under the tutelage of some younger techies we were able to send hundreds of texts with a pre-written message and optional responses. I experienced quite a few responses in the realm of “leave me alone” and worse. So we turned to post carding. We get a list of recipients and a message, which is carefully crafted to avoid running into charges which might be leveled by opponents. Everything is hand written; some print and some use cursive. We make mistakes and use whiteout. It’s all very genuine.
The feedback from this effort, ours and others nationally, is amazing and very encouraging. When our message alerted Democrats that their names had been removed from the voter rolls (y’all know the drill) there was a massive number of registrations in a county in North Carolina. Quantifiable success. Often the cards are forwarded to operatives in the target state and mailed from there. Who would trust messages from hippie California, right?
The actual post carding parties are wonderful social occasions with refreshments and political discussions…..sometimes so distracting that it’s difficult to focus on one’s writing task. And at least in our liberal Sonoma County we meet folks that we’ve met at other events, marches, protests, etc. And as we discuss this activity with friends, many of them have joined in the activity. If you are interested in doing this, Google is a good starting place, as well as asking in your local Nextdoor. Many of these efforts are run by the organization Indivisible.
Since this is KTK I thought I’d include Emeril’s coleslaw recipe. We learned of this as accompanying his pulled pork recipe but it’s so good with everything, why make it any other way?
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons buttermilk (we found powdered buttermilk so you don’t need fresh)
- 4 teaspoons celery seeds
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
- 3 cups shredded green cabbage (about 1/2 head cabbage)
- 3 cups shredded red cabbage (about 1/2 head cabbage)
- 1 green bell pepper, finely diced
- 1 large carrot, peeled and shredded
- 1/2 cup grated yellow onion
- 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley