Election Season is Over! I Have Personal Bandwidth Again

I've spent the past several months neck deep in local elections. I volunteered for three different candidates who asked for some help, a State Senator, and two (2) different County Commissioners. We went three for three, and I was able to help unseat an incumbent which is a rare feat here.

Volunteering was a combination of statistical and data analysis, followed up targeted door knocking, then as a poll greeter for 13-days of early voting, then again on Election Day. The photo here is me volunteering on Election Day, the morning started out just above freezing and then wound up being t-shirt weather. Early voting itself was ten (10) hour days in the cold and wet with only one (1) day being pleasant weather. It was a grind but worth it.

This was a primary election, two (2) of the candidates I volunteered for do not have opponents in the General Election, so their races are effectively over. Over the course of the process I knocked hundreds of doors, and talked to thousands of voters in person, and tens of thousands on my other social media platforms. While Facebook is grating, it is where local politics and governance is done.

My additional goal this cycle was avoid making any negative statements about the opponents of the candidates I was campaigning for. I achieved this through deliberate stoicism, and almost formal level of politeness when people were bound and determined to argue about something. It was an interesting exercise, and validated that if the candidate is of adequate quality fundamental political work has almost no observable diminishing returns.

I'm happy the results, and happy it's done. I also enjoyed focusing on a local context, people get caught up in National politics, and that can be a hobby and a trap for some, but it has little discernible impact, A few people doing methodical work may have substantial impact locally.

Time to get caught up on Hive, albeit slowly, and learn about all the new projects that have started during my absence.

Note:
The polling place I was volunteering at on election day, was a church, with bells that chimed out a song every hour. It was an entirely wholesome and pleasant experience and I'd volunteer at that site again without hesitation.