Over the past few months, I have been to New Hampshire three times to canvass for Hillary Clinton. Since I’m too young to vote, I felt like I needed to do absolutely everything in my power to get a decent human being to win this election season. With the election being this Tuesday, I thought I’d take some time to share my experiences from the campaign trail.
The first time I went up, it was August, and Hillary had just accepted the nomination for President. I was with my dad, my brother, and a friend of mine. I was pretty nervous because it was my first time canvassing, but I knew it was imperative for me to do my part. That time, we knocked on over thirty doors, and only a few people answered the door. One guy refused to talk to us, and a few elderly ladies were convinced that Hillary was a psychopathic liar (NOT TRUE). The most rewarding interaction of the day was when my friend and I convinced an undecided voter to vote for Hillary, even though the voter’s husband was so dead set against voting for Hillary that he refused to talk to us. As I have learned, every single vote counts, especially in this election. And who knows? Maybe the undecided voter talked to some other undecided voters and convinced them to vote for Hillary, and 1 voter turned into 5, then 5 turned into 10, and so on. You never know. The worst part of that first day was that our car broke down on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. Luckily, I was able to pick up a non-password-protected WiFi signal from a neighbor, so I was occupied until the AAA guy came to our rescue.
My dad and I went up a second time a couple of weeks ago. We went to the same place as last time, but this time, the doors we had to knock were all in walking distance from HQ, so car wreckage wouldn’t be a problem. We knocked on the same number of doors as last time, but we had even less success. A total of four people answered the door. One was a burly, middle-aged man who slammed the door in our face, and one was a timid, elderly lady who was still in her PJ’s and refused to speak to us. The other two interactions were much more successful. We met an elderly lady who was a vocal supporter of Hillary and had voted in every single election since the early 1960s, and at another house, we informed the 18-year-old daughter of a registered Hillary voter that she could register to vote and vote on Election Day, and the expression on the girl’s face completely negated every single rejection we experienced on the campaign trail.
Today was the last time my dad and I canvassed for Hillary. This time, we took a middle-aged woman up to New Hampshire with us because she did not have a car. We got our assignments at someone’s house and ended up teaming up with a middle-aged guy who was there by himself. We decided to take two packets of addresses and divide and conquer. My dad and I did half of the addresses, the other two people we were with did the other half, and we all carpooled with the guy we met at the launching site. It took us about two hours, but this time was the easiest and most fun because everyone on our list was a Hillary supporter, so it was essentially reminding people to get out the vote, or, as we say on the trail, #GOTV. However, it was also really scary because most of the houses and businesses we passed by had Trump signs on their lawns, and Trump supporters aren’t exactly known for their civility. My dad and I ended up escaping New Hampshire unscathed and with two new friends that we would never forget.
Even though a lot of parts of campaigning were enjoyable, I’m not going to lie: it is scary, sometimes disappointing, and absolutely EXHAUSTING. But this election season, the stakes were too high just to sit at home and hope for the best. Trump is a showman, and he has a Klan…I MEAN horde of supporters who will believe anything that comes out of his mouth and forgive his many wrongdoings. He is a racist pig who brags about sexually assaulting women, vows to ban an entire religion from this country, and believes that women who decide to get an abortion should be punished, and that’s not even the beginning of the damage he could do to the world. He could declare himself dictator, for all we know! Even if Trump wasn’t an awful human being, he has absolutely zero qualifications for being Commander-in-Chief. It seems like he just woke up one day and decided to run for President. Despite the propaganda that FOX News is spewing at everyone, there is only one option for this election season, and it is Hillary Clinton. She has always prioritized helping children and families in need, and she is one of the most experienced presidential candidates we’ve had in decades. Even though I can’t vote, I have a voice, and I will use it to speak up for what is right. On Tuesday, November 8th, you need to POKEMON GO TO THE POLLS and secure this country’s future.
I will end this with a quote from President Obama on this election:
“Civility is on the ballot.
Equality is on the ballot.
Justice is on the ballot.
Democracy is on the ballot.”
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