Volunteer April 11, 2008March 10, 2017 Sorry for yesterday‘s late posting. If you are one of my Republican readers, I admire your open-mindedness in coming here. Seriously: America is all about getting along with each other despite differing points of view. (Now go away and come back Monday.) If, on the other hand, you share my view that we desperately need to get the country back on track, then click here to volunteer and let us know what you’d be willing to do. [Hint: don’t be shy about offering to go ‘door-to-door.’ We will soon be able to give you a specific list of 25 progressively-inclined neighbors and the tools to help you make contacting them a fulfilling civic experience.] In the old days, we’d get a million volunteers at the last minute. There were two problems with this. First, it’s more effective to start a dialog with your neighbors before the last minute. In time, say, to help them register to vote. We want our volunteers to have at least three relaxed, low-key visits with each of their assigned contacts between now and November 4. Second, most of the folks offering to volunteer would never hear back from anyone. (You try accepting the help of a million well-meaning strangers at the last minute – it’s not easy to do!) For the last three years, the DNC has been investing in the infrastructure to make mass volunteering possible-and effective. We have had local organizers in every state laying the ground work. Tens of thousands of local volunteers have already signed on. It will not go perfectly, needless to say. Nothing this big ever does. But if you click that link, the website promises you will be contacted within 48 hours. And the chances are pretty good that you will. Of the 12 states we’ve tested so far, 11 did make contact within 48 hours, and the twelfth missed the deadline by only 4 hours. If you want to help win back the White House, widen our lead in Congress (and thereby stanch the rightward slide of the Judiciary), click. And bring this to the attention of your kids, in case they want to click. Meanwhile, if you’re a little shy about your idealism (who isn’t?) – or a little flustered by Rush Limbaugh’s ‘ditto heads’ when they start in with the mantra – this essay, first sent flying around the Internet four years ago, just might give you the confidence: A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JOE REPUBLICAN By John Gray Joe gets up at 6 a.m. and fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some tree-hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards. With his first swallow of coffee, he takes his daily medication. His medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought to insure their safety and that they work as advertised. All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer’s medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance – now Joe gets it too. He prepares his morning breakfast, bacon and eggs. Joe’s bacon is safe to eat because some girlie-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry. In the morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because some crybaby liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained. Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because some environmentalist wacko liberal fought for laws to stop industries from polluting our air. He walks to the subway station for his government-subsidized ride to work. It saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees because some fancy-pants liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor. Joe begins his work day. He has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some lazy liberal union members fought and died for these working standards. Joe’s employer pays the same standards because Joe’s employer doesn’t want his employees to call the union. If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed, he’ll get a worker compensation or unemployment check because some stupid liberal didn’t think he should lose his home because of his temporary misfortune. Its noontime and Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe’s deposit is federally insured by the FSLIC because some godless liberal wanted to protect Joe’s money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Great Depression. Joe has to pay his Fannie Mae-underwritten mortgage and his below- market federal student loan because some elitist liberal decided that Joe and the government would be better off if he was educated and earned more money over his lifetime. Joe is home from work. He plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive. His car is among the safest in the world because some America-hating liberal fought for car safety standards. He arrives at his boyhood home. His was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers’ Home Administration because bankers didn’t want to make rural loans. The house didn’t have electricity until some big- government liberal stuck his nose where it didn’t belong and demanded rural electrification. He is happy to see his father, who is now retired. His father lives on Social Security and a union pension because some wine- drinking, cheese-eating liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Joe wouldn’t have to. Joe gets back in his car for the ride home, and turns on a radio talk show. The radio host keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. He doesn’t mention that the beloved Republicans have fought against every protection and benefit Joe enjoys through out his day. Joe agrees: “We don’t need those big-government liberals ruining our lives! After all, I’m a self-made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have.” ☞ Have a great weekend. We have a lot of reasons to be optimistic. If you sign up to help, we will have one more.