Petitioning can be fun! No, really!
Everyone moans inwardly (at least) when it comes time to petition. Even the most gregarious and extroverted among us find something difficult in approaching strangers who are going about their busy day and asking them for a favor. The more introverted types can find it excruciating. I have found that getting myself out there is always the hardest part - once I get warmed up, I almost always have a great time talking to people and getting something accomplished for ballot access.
But we all know petitioning for ballot access has to be done. So how do we make the work more palatable? How do we get ourselves started?
The best way to get going in petitioning is to go with a friend or a group of friends. This accomplishes several things; most importantly it gets you out there at a specific time and place and gives you concrete support. Of secondary - but vital - importance is the fact that it really helps to have someone to laugh with you over the rejections and share in your triumphs. Your partner can also steady you in case you tend to be prone to argumentation (not that Libertarians tend to be argumentative... well, OK, we do!:)
The rockin' Guilford County LP contacted the WakeLP last week about doing some cross-county petitioning, so the upshot was that Alex and I (Susan) met Allison, Rob, and Asa at Raleigh Farmer's Market to get some names on paper and make some friends for the LP.
Alex and I got there first, and got to work. Alex had get back to work, so he wanted to get right into it. Here he is getting the signature of the peach lady
Rob and Asa talk to people as well, while I do some strategic shopping (and photographing).
After lunch the Farmer's Market slows down and we head over to the NCSU campus, where there we find only a trickle of folks in the brickyard in front of the library - but it's a steady and friendly trickle!
One of the fun parts about hanging out with Libertarians to do petitioning is that most of the chitchat while petitioning and afterwards is not political - it's great to just unwind and talk about things like school and work and poultry (my not-so-secret obsession) rather than the usual unending (but fascinating) libertarian discussions about the death penalty, lottery, war, etc.
The benefits went way beyond today's signature gathering - we got some names of people to contact, talked about future projects, including a film screening and a social/music night, had a great lunch, scouted some petitioning places, got petitioning tips from each other, and did I mention had a lot of fun? Yes, 'fun' and 'petitioning' can go together in the same sentence!
Petitioning is fun!
4 Comments:
If Libertarians want government "off the backs of the people," why do most of the ones that I know support capital punishment? There has never been a totalitarian government that didn't have capital punishment, because dictators must have the power of life and death over the people that they rule. By allowing local, state or federal governments to execute people, we increase the potential of them to abuse the powers that they already have. Everybody knows by now that innocent people get executed. Therefore, anybody who supports the death penalty doesn't care if innocent people get executed. If you care about freedom in this country, you should work to abolish the death penalty.
I wish I'd been there.
Hiya, Sis!
Funny you should mention that; most of the libertarians I know -don't- support capital punishment. The ones who do mostly agree with you that such a terrible responsibility is the last thing we should allow the government to do.
The WakeLP has participated in vigils before and during executions (what we prefer to call 'murder by state') at Central Prison in Raleigh. Last year (or was it '04?) many of us (myself included) worked with the Death Penalty Moratorium Group's lobby day in Raleigh to try to convince our lawmakers to at least stop killing people for now and to reflect on the facts - which are, as you say, that innocents often get killed.
Libertarians emphasize restitution over retribution, and it's hard for a dead person to pay back his victim or his victim's heirs. We also recognize that it is the right of the victim (or his family) to forgive a criminal.
Heya, Paul - we wish you'd been there, too :)
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