[Sosfbay-discuss] Article

[Caroline Yacoub]

                                      BECOMING A CANDIDATE
   
       On the evening of the California primary election, I accidentally stepped into the world of Green politics for the first time.
       I had received a postcard inviting me to a Green Party party where, I was assured, I would actually get to see Green results. As this sounded like a lot more fun than sitting at home, gnashing my teeth over only getting results for Democrats and Republicans, I went.
  In the course of the evening, I met several very nice Green people, one of whom subsequently talked me into running for Green Party County Council.
       I had absolutely no experience running for anything. I was given several petition sheets and a list of names and addresses of Green Party voters in my city and told I had to gather enough signaures on petitions to qualify to be put on the ballot--in about two weeks.
       I didn't think that I could walk up to the doors of strangers and ask them to sign my petition. I wanted to call first. My list had almost 400 names, not in alphabetical order, or even grouped by zip code, and no phone numbers. I went through the list, highlighting the names in my zip code. Then I tried to find them in the phone book. This reduced the size of my list to fifteen.
       Before I started calling these folks, I wrote down what I wanted to say: my name. that I was also a green Party member, and that I was collecting signatures to get on the ballot for Green Party County Council.Nearly all of the people were receptive. I think they were pleasantly surprised that I wasn't asking for money. I made appointments to go to their homes.
       I was really glad that I had called before going to see my first few people. It loosened me up, and it kept me from waking napping babies or disturbing people during dinner.
       I got to meet some lovely people in the course of collecting signatures. After I went to all my appointments, I was more confident, so I didn't mind knocking on doors cold. My first "cold knock"  turned out to be a young man who lived with his parents, who were not Green. His mother answered the door and was very surprised when I asked for her son. He was folding laundry as I spoke with him. He seemed proud, as he signed the petition, that a lady old enough to be his grandmother had come to ask him to do such an adult thing.
       Finding phone numbers and calling people was worth the effort--and saved gas. After my appointments, I knocked on the doors of a lot of people who had moved, more people who weren't home, and a few people who had changed their party affiliation before I had enough signatures.
       Going to the Registrar of Voters office to file the petitions and fill out the required forms was a relatively painless experience. And, when the ROV called the next day to say enough of my signatures were valid and I would be on the ballot, I felt really proud.   
       In less than a month, I had gone from being someone who knew only three other Green people to a full-fledged candidate.
   
  Caroline Yacoub
  Candidate
  Green Party County Council, Santa Clara County
   
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