List, My head started to throb as I thought about the contention that campaigns are run simply by fundraisers and consultants.
I am volunteering on three races this cycle. One of those, a State Senate race has well over 100 active volunteers. Fifty of those volunteers working at least 3 hours a week. Ten of them are working more then 10 hours a week. The only paid people are the printer and the mail house. Maybe we gave the designer a stipend after the 10 literature piece. Oh, and the person who coordinated the food for one of the weekly group door knocks may have gotten to take some extra food home. Rest assured all of the campaign's balance sheet for every party is recording far more volunteer hours then anything else. Personal feeling aside on the content of those campaigns from other parties (and some from my own) I think a huge congratulations and "thank you" are in order for the hundreds of thousands of volunteers all over the state that are doing the grunt work of democracy. Joseph Barisonzi Lyndale, Ward 10 PS: And a special pox on the homes of those who choose to participate only by complaining about a) Receiving too much literature in the mail; or b) The nature of political ads. Negative ads only work on people who are not involved. The best way to stop negative ads is to get involved in the dirty process called democracy. And I am on every fundraising list known to man, and I still get more ads from credit card companies begging me to go further in debt then from people wishing to represent me as an elected official. _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@;mnforum.org Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
