No, I never got a pinky promise. I never got a selfie. I’m definitely heartbroken Elizabeth Warren didn’t make it to my state, but I know that the pinky promise is still there. The promise to dream big and fight hard will persist. The Saturday, before Super Tuesday, I set up to host a phone and text bank at my house. I got mini muffins, fruit, a veggie tray. I set up a pot of coffee and prepared for a day of training people and getting out the vote with Team Warren. 3 people came and I set them up to do texting. We talked about our mutual admiration for our candidate. I was online doing volunteer leader shifts, with the campaign in their slack community.
Sunday, I set up for another phone/text bank. 4 People had signed up, but no one showed. I was online all day, doing volunteer leader shifts. Nevertheless I persisted. 10 AM til about 8 PM. I took off Monday and Tuesday, so I could again host GOTV events at my house,and spend the entire day supporting the campaign. Tuesday was lit. I was volunteered from 10 AM til 8 PM and I teamed up with another volunteer leader. Together we help assign and re-assign texts to volunteers, all psyched to reach out to voters about this important election and why we believed Elizabeth Warren was the best candidate for the job.
One thing we were sure of, once people get to know Elizabeth, they like her. If only we had more time. I somehow got myself to tune out the news on Tuesday. 1 person showed up for my phone/text bank that day. He got set up and we talked about the race. I put Elizabeth Warren’s YouTube channel on in the background, so we could be inspired through the day.
While this campaign didn’t get a fair shake in the media, and we didn’t get the outcome we wanted, I do not regret $1 spent or 1 minute of the time I gave volunteering with Team Warren. I was fulfilling my civic duty, and fighting hard for a vision I believed in. I still believe Elizabeth Warren’s records, and her plans, were the best shot we had right now of fulfilling the promise of our nation. It’s a promise that has yet to be fulfilled.
Wednesday I saw that we did not hit the mark in terms of delegate wins, and I knew what was coming. I wished we could have had a hail mary delegate rush, but it didn’t happen. Instead, I had volunteers reaching out to me on social media, texting me, and calling me wanting to know what was happening. I conveyed that Senator Warren would make her choice, and we would know when she was ready to tell us. I respected that this was her choice, and I would support her choice whatever it was, and when she was ready to give it. The last thing she needed was to be rushed.
Thursday morning, I woke up to an overflowing toilet, water in the basement, and Elizabeth Warren suspending her campaign. Great day. I joined the volunteer call at 6, to hear from Senator Warren, and I read her statement. I sent some love to the staff and volunteers I got to work with on the campaign, and watched Rudy, like any sane person would.
I also took a call from someone working on a State Senate campaign. They are meeting to carry petitions this weekend. I signed up. I know we aren’t getting the best candidate for President, but we must carry on. Warren hasn’t endorsed anyone yet, and I respect her right to endorse or not endorse as she wishes. I know we need to keep fighting and I will keep my virtual pinky promise. I’m going to keep dreaming big. I’m going to keep advocating for plans like the ones Elizabeth and her team crafted. They make sense.
One thing I loved about her campaign, is that she approached Booker, Harris, Castro, and Inslee, to ask if she could include some of their plans in her platform. I have no doubt she will be working like hell to get the next person to adopt as many of her plans in their platform as possible. She doesn’t care about the credit. She wants the change. (I should totally write slogans).
Because I’m in a lot of Warren friendly groups, and knew Warren supporters, I read a lot of the chatter that Biden or Sanders should make her their VP, or have her be the next Treasury Secretary. The option I liked the most, was flipping the Senate and making her Majority Leader. Can you imagine how much we could get done for working families and the under represented, if we had Nancy Pelosi leading the House and Senator Warren as Majority Leader? It would be phenomenal.
So there it is. We can still have big dreams. We just need to be willing to fight hard for them. We must create a coalition out of this primary, and we must energize the vote, so that we can win not just the Presidential election, but flip the Senate and win down ballot races. I will still campaign for the nominee. I will still volunteer for local and state legislative races. I am working out an outline for a course I want to offer in my community, to make voting more accessible to people. My thought is to explain the process, how to look up your registration, how to register, checking for deadlines, knowing who your reps are, how to state in contact with them, and the state level voting rules.
I believe that patriotism is an act. It’s fulfilling your civic duty, and it’s something that is on each of us to do. In 2016 about 120 M voted, but 90M didn’t. Until we get this government being truly run by the people, it will never be for the people. I want to see if I can do my part to try to change that locally. They say think globally, act locally, so that’s what I will do. I’ll volunteer to swing left red districts. I’ll work to register people and get out the vote, because every citizen should be paying attention and I want to make that more accessible to everyone.
I’ll keep on fighting, and I’ll leave teeth and blood on the floor if I have to. Pinky swear.
Image Rotated 