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Change Our Nation Chose. Change Our Town Needs. A Local Analysis of the Change We Can Still Have By Colleen Kennedy Pam Maven for Upper Darby & Obama Campaign Volunteer Those of my generation are in a strange situation. We have seen economic triumph and struggle. America has been involved on the international level in numerous occupations and wars, and I have been a victim along with my classmates in the impending educational crisis. I have witnessed political scandal too often, yet now I can be proud to be the citizen of a country that elects public officials regardless of race or gender. Our newly elected president grew up in less than stellar financial straits, though he refused to allow that to impede upon his success. He put himself through Harvard Law, and then chose a career in public service rather than taking a firm position with a six-figure income. President Obama was one of the only senators to vote against the war in Iraq from the beginning. His background and childhood give him the proper perspective to bring reform to the greatly flawed No Child Left Behind legislation constructed during the Bush Administration. Reflecting upon the chaos of the past two presidential terms, and even before that to the Clinton scandal, it is refreshing to be a part of an electoral process where the real issues are addressed by a public official. Though President-Elect Obama’s intellect, education, and past experiences brought great control over the end result of the election, it was his ability to delegate responsibility and plan to the most insignificant detail that truly brought his political success. At the grassroots level, Obama’s staff designed everything focusing towards technology and accessibility to volunteers. Budgeting and preliminary research made it easier to target regions that needed the most swaying demographically. Communication at all levels and across great distances between the many field offices provided for more efficient use of canvassers and other volunteers. Phone lists could be accessed online by workers from their residences, and one could choose to make calls within their area or even across the country, ensuring that every single volunteer hour was used to sway voters to the right side. As someone who personally spent many hours working for the campaign, I know that my colleagues and I felt unified in our work because of how things were run. The no-nonsense, no-drama, methodical way tasks were distributed and achieved made all workers feel equally important, without overextending anyone past their scheduling limitations. As a college student, I made the time between work and school to make phone calls, canvass through my neighborhood, as well as make the occasional meal for those who had traveled long distances to canvass in our area. It was especially remarkable how integral our specific region was on the national level. On election night, as I awaited the television report that could very well change American history forever, I reflected upon the previous few months. The work we had done locally gave me a flurry of feelings, from pride of what I knew we had accomplished for the national cause, to the anticipation of a chance to take what I had learned from this campaign and use it on the local level. Then the report came that Barack Obama had won Pennsylvania, and though it was not official, I could feel in my bones that the time had finally come, where race would not be the deciding factor in this race. Our country overcame centuries of its own mistakes to elect the person whom most reflected what was in our best interests: a diplomatic foreign policy, more oversight in the financial sector, healthcare accessibility for all Americans, the real chance for anyone to receive a college education regardless of economic status, and the long needed reform to legislation passed in the Bush Administration; including the Patriot Act, No Child Left Behind, and many repeals on environmental and labor legislation. After eight long years, almost half of my life, I could remember again what it felt to not only be proud of my accomplishments, but the path that America had chosen. That night will not be forgotten by me for a very long time. Months later, heading towards an off year election, I have recalled the overwhelming feelings I had that night, and I know what must be done in order to spread the success of November 4th to Upper Darby, but it involves everyone. The level of involvement for the presidential campaign was monumental, probably one of the largest and most efficient campaigns in American history. The one thing many seem to forget is that our local officials are the ones who make decisions that impact us on a daily basis. They determine how high our property taxes get raised this time, or what contracts are picked for maintenance in the township. With new leadership, we can change that. With the use of technology, we can keep communication high between volunteers, not to mention the simplicity of an Upper Darby GOTV Campaign. Between this past primary and general election, we had recruited enough new voters to register as Democrats to form almost a two to one ratio against the Republican Party, yet we have only one official elected so far (Pamela Maven, School Board Director). The American principle of equal representation is clearly not being instituted in Upper Darby, but it is not something we cannot change together. The time where officials are elected in Upper Darby because they were already in office is over. The era of fear among voters that if they register as anything other than Republican risks their chances of getting a job is over. This new president has set an example for the America we can have, if only we try. We must work for accountability in Upper Darby in order to form the perfect union we can only become as a whole. |
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