How Involved are You in the election process?

[suburban george3]

I wanted to pose these questions to the UP forumers as we wind down this election year, as this has been one of the most heated election we've had in years.

1.) How much involvement do you have in the political process, do you decide at the last moment as you enter the booth? Or have you spent months volunteering for a party/campaign to hopefully ensure victory?

2.) Where do you think political discussions should be taboo?

This is the first year I've ever volunteered to work on a campaign and have loved every minute of it. I've met some great people and it gives me great pride to know regardless of the outcome that I've been more involved in the democratic process besides just voting. I honestly can't wait to do it again. I wish I could have the time off from work and work at one of the precincts on election day. I'm curious as to how others get involved.

Also, based on the 'historical' nature of this election, conversation everywhere can turn quite heated and nasty quickly. We had a very conservative co-worker today reprimanded and sent home for the day because he was handing out 'Pro-life' material contrasting the differences between presidential candidates with a condemnation of one of the candidates as the closing paragraph. He was handing these out to people he believed to be supporters of the 'condemned' candidate. A nasty email ensued spelling out company policy on this to the entire company. I also have been in more ugly and heated conversations in several places this election. I personally don't think politics should be discussed in the workplace, it can cause way to much of a distraction. I also don't think churches should venture any further than stating there stands on issues of the day. Once a church starts endorsing candidates, I feel they've crossed a line and should lose their tax-exempt status.

Just wonder what everyone else thinks...

[Neo]

This is the first election where I have placed any sort of bumper sticker on my car (magnet of course!) and the first election where I have donated to my candidate's campaign. I typically don't talk politics with friends, family, co-workers, etc. but this election has been vastly different. Everyone I know has been talking about their candidate and it offers me a chance to sway the vote in favor of my personal choice.

Who knows if I'll be active or not in 2012 when this comes up again, but I know for a fact that I'll be there to vote for those running for office.

[krazeeboi]

I've been quite engrossed with this year's election and is the first time I've ever donated money to a campaign. I've worked for a local congressman's office when I was in college with my fraternity but this year will be the first that I will volunteer my own time for a campaign (I've committed myself for a few hours for the Obama campaign on tomorrow). It's been pretty exciting this year to say the least.

[vdogg]

This is the first election where I have placed any sort of bumper sticker on my car (magnet of course!) and the first election where I have donated to my candidate's campaign. I typically don't talk politics with friends, family, co-workers, etc. but this election has been vastly different. Everyone I know has been talking about their candidate and it offers me a chance to sway the vote in favor of my personal choice.

Who knows if I'll be active or not in 2012 when this comes up again, but I know for a fact that I'll be there to vote for those running for office.

[suburban george3]

I've been quite engrossed with this year's election and is the first time I've ever donated money to a campaign. I've worked for a local congressman's office when I was in college with my fraternity but this year will be the first that I will volunteer my own time for a campaign (I've committed myself for a few hours for the Obama campaign on tomorrow). It's been pretty exciting this year to say the least.

[monsoon]

A donation button selection above would have worked for me. I also made a political donation to Obama. Only the 2nd time I have ever done this. I've thought about doing a somewhat of a "political sign" in my signature for Obama, but I decided against it just because of the shear number of posts I have on UrbanPlanet, (it's a whole lot higher than my info suggests) and I really don't want to push it on people who might disagree. So I have limited most of my discussions on the subject to just this forum on UP.

The other thing I did was specific to Mecklenburg County. I posted a non partisan public service announcement for the forum that gives all of the early voting information for the Charlotte metro area.

[suburban george3]

I added a donation option to the poll, don't know how I missed that!

I spent today driving canvassers around as well as doing some canvassing myself. Spent about 8hrs doing that. Most of the people in our group were from Knoxville or Chattanooga. They were brought in by the campaign on a tour bus to help with the push here to make NC an Obama victory. I had a blast, we went into some inner city neighborhoods and were greeted very graciously by the residents and had a really good time (even though my dogs are barkin' tonight! lol) I wish I was off Tuesday I would volunteer more! I have really enjoyed getting involved in the process this year!

[kayman]

Aside from taking part in on-campus rallies here at UAB, I haven't had much time to get very involved due to my coursework. However, I am a enthusiastic supporter of Obama on the side.

[FromCityToRural]

I have never missed a vote save for when we first moved here and it was after the registration deadline. I ALWAYS inform myself on the issues before voting, difficult here in Texas because information is not readily accessible. If I cannot obtain adequate, objective information on an issue or candidate, I simply cast no vote in that race and move on to others on which I have been able to gather adequate information. Also, although I voted for the "other ticket", I did go see Michele Obama speak when she came to the University of Texas campus here in town. Hey, I do have an open mind.

[JerseyBoy]

During the primaries, I worked with Hillary Clinton. In Winston-Salem, I headed up the Hillblazers part of the campaign and ran our campaign office for a couple of days. I also responded to NCAskMe.com e-mails and was in the car with Chelsea Clinton coming back from the airport. During campaign events and fundraisers, I got to meet and carry on conversations with Maya Angelou, Leecia Eve, Charlie Rangel, Chuck Schumer, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, and Suzanne Malveaux (CNN). It was an amazing experience that I will remember for a long time to come!

After the primaries were over, I did very little up until two months ago. I started to get involved with Obama's campaign by canvassing a couple of weekends with fellow supporters and making a donation.