Earlier this week I received a letter from a neighbor. It was obviously mass mailed, though the envelope was personally addressed. She introduced herself and stressed the importance of the upcoming election.
Next she went on to explain that she was part of "Durham Women Vote" ( I think that's what is was called) and shared their endorsements. I was provided with no justification or background information on their endorsements (except Obama). After the endorsements came the early voting information. This was the part I felt useful so I did keep that portion.
Really people? I don't know you, you don't know me. But let me tell you this, I'm not voting for a woman just because she's a woman. There are more then issues specific to gender when it comes to politics. It annoys me to no end when complete strangers make presumptions as to my political or religious preference. To assume that I would be influenced by your opinion is just asinine. If you really want to influence my vote, tell me that Kay Hagan is going to personally come remove my neighbors cars from their lawns and turn down their thumping bass. Then I might be swayed...
5 comments:
OMG - the thumping bass - I had the WORST neighbors at my first MI apartment. Things vibrated right off of the furniture on that side of the apartment...I am not exaggerating. As I was in grad school and did not have a laptop, writing papers in that apartment was one of the most challenging things I've ever had to do. I do NOT miss those neighbors!!!!
what?!?! you don't like being bothered by "campaign volunteers"?!?! i personally love that they suck 5 minutes out of my lunch break every day blathering on about their candidate of choice. it helps me destress so much ;)
I did some letter-writing for Durham Women Vote. The letter you received was not mass-mailed. Each volunteer got a list of 20 women voters who are registered Dems, or in some cases unaffiliated, but who have not made it to the polls much in recent years. We were each asked to write our own personal letter and to provide details about early voting dates & locations as well as the location of your Election Day polling site.
The idea is to reach out to likely Obama supporters to encourage them to vote. That's all. The only presumptions made about you were those provided by the voter database: that you are a woman, residing in Durham county, registered Dem or U, and don't consistently vote. I don't speak for the organization and am not trying to change your mind here--I just want to clear up any confusion about the letters themselves.
I do appreciate you taking the time to clarify the purpose of the organization. I actually had a friend clear this up for me a few days ago as well. The letter that was addressed to me was ineffective in the way it was written. And I also mentioned this to the friend who informed me about the organization, but I have been an extremely active voter for the last 10 years. I'm not sure why my name would have been on your list. Perhaps because I'm new to this district?
I did read the letter my friend was sending out and hers actually provided substance and reasoning on issues for why she was suggesting the perspective voter vote her way... I have respect for what you're trying to do, but be aware, the way in which I was approached felt generalized and not very helpful.
The voter database could very well be wrong! Sorry the letter you got was not well-written. I sure hope it wasn't mine... I am sure some of the volunteers had more time to put into it than others. But everyone who did it did it because they want to see Obama in the White House.
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