Human Nature

Yard signs. Seemingly innocuous, these yard signs have become the bane of daily life in the office. Supporters of Obama stream in daily asking for signs and one would think, why not indulge potential voters and give them the signs they so badly want so they can demonstrate to all who they support. These yard signs however represent something to the staff that is much bigger.

Let me take you through an interaction that occurs daily with Obama supporters.
Staff: Hi Sir, how are you doing today? Have you decided whether you’re supporting Barack Obama in November?

Voter: Absolutely! He’s the greatest thing since slice bread and we all love him here.

Staff: Well that great to hear sir, we’re looking for people in your neighborhood to step up and volunteer for campaign in your neighborhood. I am actually a volunteer myself. Can we count on you to reach out to your neighbors about voting?

Voter: Well you know I would normally jump at the chance to volunteer, but…[enter random excuse here]. You know what though? I would love a yard sign -- can I get 5 of them?

And it would be one thing if that happened once in a while, but that happens 98% of the time (today we had 3000 phone calls and recruited 50 volunteers) so gets demoralizing. People come in constantly to the office asking for nothing more than yard signs, taking staff away from reaching out to potential voters and volunteers. Our office, being in one of the “worst parts” of Cleveland, is usually the last office in Cleveland with yard signs left. This translates to folks local and suburban coming to the office for a yard sign scoffing at the idea of contributing time or money to the campaign.

Yard signs, t-shirts, buttons and posters, better known as chum in the office, are the antithesis of the Obama campaign. “The campaign is centered around organizing members of the community to come together and work for the change they know to be necessary. Yard signs don’t vote, people do.” That usually the party line you’ll get but there is something more -- my observation is that frustration on part of the staff is fueled by an ever so subtle sense of entitlement. We have put, school, work and families on hold to come work for Change in your neighborhood and you won’t pick up the phone to call your neighbor? I don’t know its hard to put my thumb on exactly what it is, but on an unrelated note we got these amazing posters and stickers of Obama in to the office today which were snatched by the field organizers and full time volunteers. I'm lucky I got a couple -- check them out in these pictures