Election Pep Talk
1/2/20 - We’re managing our election anxiety and getting out the vote. Does phone banking, text banking, and making a voting plan really move the needle? We find out with Crooked Media political director Shaniqua McClendon.
Transcript below.
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CREDITS
Producer: Gina Delvac
Hosts: Aminatou Sow & Ann Friedman
Theme song: Call Your Girlfriend by Robyn
Composer: Carolyn Pennypacker Riggs.
Associate Producer: Jordan Bailey
Visual Creative Director: Kenesha Sneed
Merch Director: Caroline Knowles
Editorial Assistant: Laura Bertocci
Design Assistant: Brijae Morris
Ad sales: Midroll
TRANSCRIPT: ELECTION PEP TALK
Aminatou: Welcome to Call Your Girlfriend.
Ann: A podcast for long-distance besties everywhere.
Aminatou: I'm Aminatou Sow.
Ann: And I'm Ann Friedman. On today's agenda we are talking about managing our election anxiety and getting out the vote and we have a special guest Shaniqua McClendon who's political director at Crooked Media.
[Theme Song]
Aminatou: How's it going over there?
Ann: [Laughs] I'm just like sitting here with my mouth open. How's it going over there? I don't know. I don't know how to answer that question. How's it going for you?
Aminatou: [Laughs] It's not going good. I have complete existential dread about the upcoming election. I hate coronavirus. I'm fully over it. Yeah, and my stomach hurts every day from just general anxiety but other than that still here.
Ann: Thank you. That is more or less how I'm also feeling, like my body feels broken, my soul feels broken, but we have an election to attend to. [Laughs] Not an option.
Aminatou: Boy do we. I've just felt really exhausted already from this election that hasn't even happened because it just feels like we have been in campaign mode for -- you know, get Trump out of here -- since he announced that he was running for president at all.
Ann: Right.
Aminatou: And the pace just feels really frenetic. It's every time you turn in this country there's an election and it turns out that that's actually true, like the US has the busiest election calendar of any country. There's so many layers of federal, state, local government, and so Americans vote more -- you know, vote for more elected offices than anyone else in the world.
(2:10)
Ann: And is that just . . . I don't know. Part of me is like that just seems like a total lack of central coordination and commitment to making voting frictionless for people who are working and care-giving and have busy lives and schedules.
Aminatou: Hmm, I think that's a tiny part of it. The truth of it is that federal government is just not official and we are . . .
Ann: You mean American federal government, or all -- yeah, yes.
Aminatou: American federal government. We are a ginormous country. We also have a federal system. Everything is run at this local level then at the state level then at the federal level so that means that you have literally hundreds and thousands of people to elect for every state to just get the ship running and that's part of it. Like I think for me that was important to know because it helped snap me out of my like "I am so over this." It was like okay, great, like reminder that actually there are a lot of justice seats to fill and the truth is the media always focuses on the high-visibility races. So president, senator, governor. That's where all the money goes and all of the attention goes. But the majority of races are actually waged at this very personal and smaller scale and the thing that's true about any race whether it is like sheriff of a tiny town or it's the president of this horrendously messed up country is that mobilizing voters at every single level is the most crucial and most cost-effective way to win elections.
(3:45)
Ann: Ugh. I mean so first of all I feel like the level of chaos and overwhelm I feel related to the election is somewhat justified based on that description. I also am thinking a lot about like, you know, this personal and smaller-scale experience and how to translate the kind of huge existential dread that I feel into what concrete things am I doing? And I have found myself giving many friends a pep talk for phone and text banking.
And I know it's kind of easy for me to say as someone who talks into a microphone in part for a living and someone who likes to talk to strangers which I realize those two things do not apply to most people but I have to say this week for example this episode is airing at the end of a week in which we had the first presidential debate aired which was like honestly a pretty devastating experience I think for many of us who watched it. Not that it felt shocking or surprising but for me at least experiencing so many of these horrible and long-running dynamics distilled into this one exchange was something that really left me crumpled in a heap on the floor. I really did not personally start to crawl out of that until a couple days later when I had some phone banking time marked out on my calendar.
I kind of think about it as like going to the gym or something, which I'm saying this as someone who doesn't go to the gym so I'm speculating here [Laughter] but it being something where I'm like okay, it never sounds fun to log into a Zoom to educate yourself on some talking points and then to make your way down a short list and call some strangers. But there are -- especially in this election -- so many organizations really doing a lot to support people who want to phone bank. So my phone banking this week was for some local and state-level ballot initiatives that have to do with really altering the way the criminal justice system functions.
(5:55)
And so I'm like great, this is not the presidential election. It's something I really care about. It's something I'm going to care about after November 3rd and the list of people that you are calling -- this is part of my pep talk -- the list of people you're calling are often registered Democrats or people who have opted in to care about these issues. So first of all I'm not calling like Blue Lives Matter or mass skeptics to say here is why you should care about this bail reform ballot initiative. I'm calling people who have probably professed at least some interest in these issues which was true. And I also think that because it's a limited list setting a goal like okay, my time right now is going to be used to call ten people and if they're hang-ups or if they're brief conversations that's okay. I'm just going to put in my time and do ten of these which that's kind of where I get the gym metaphor.
And honestly it really felt a lot better. This week I only had a couple conversations. I did not have ten conversations; I had more like three. But it was enough that I was like okay, instead of just feeling like absolute garbage after consuming 20 minutes of the debate, because that's how far I made it, I can feel like I'm doing something and actually engaging. So that is my personal selling pitch for phone banking is to pick an issue or pick a state. I'm also doing some text banking for Iowa against Senator Joni Ernst, goodbye forever and ever.
Aminatou: Oof.
Ann: Pick a state, pick an issue, and then just put in the calendar some phone banking time once a week between now and the election. That is honestly how I am personally coping with my feelings of overwhelm at the dynamic you just described at the US election calendar.
Aminatou: So real. It's also just worth repeating that making contact with voters actually works. The national election study survey tracks this every election and in battleground states it contributes to at least a ten percent surge in people showing up to vote. So I think that for me that is really significant because there is the part of it where I get to feel like I am contributing something to the election effort but knowing that it's tied to actual results. And unlike other things that we are asked to do during elections this actually makes a ginormous difference, that is really worth understanding and remembering.
(8:25)
And to your point, you know, about doing it I remember the first time that I knocked on a door for a candidate just how nervous I was because that is truly my nightmare endorsing something to someone, like to a stranger and talking to them about it and you're walking around random neighborhoods and random states that you've never been in there's always ginormous posters for the other candidate that you don't really care for. I have to say that it feels really good. It is not as hard as you think it is. It makes a huge difference. And I think also on a personal development level it really helps clarify for you what your position for that candidate is. You know, it's like what are you trying to -- why should you care? And I think that is something that is also just important to know.
The other reason that I care about this stuff on a super nerdy level is that so many people do not vote in America. So many people do not. It is mind-boggling. It is embarrassing. It is baffling. It costs us so much. But doing GOTV efforts and doing the research round it really helps us to understand why people are not turning up to vote. So your point about knowing that -- you know, no one is throwing you as a volunteer into just some random pit. You are generally talking to people that have opted into hearing about this information. That calms me down immediately, you know? Because it's just like okay, great, someone in this household signed up to know about this and someone in this household is someone that we have identified as someone that we need to reach. And it really is just about making sure that everyone who could care about the candidate we care about or could make a difference has been reached and knows how important their input is. It is as simple as that. And I say this as someone who is always cynical of the like -- I'm like if Joe Biden sends me one more text message that starts with please the eyeroll is whatever. But I've really had to quiet that cynicism because it really does matter. All of it does matter and it's good to be reminded and there is no excuse not to show up when you have been contacted so many times.
(10:40)
Ann: It's true. You know the other thing that I have been thinking a lot about as this election coincides with a period of extreme economic hardship for a lot of people is that this kind of action of taking a half an hour or an hour or a couple hours out of your week to make phone calls or send texts is something you can do with your time instead of your money. And right now I am guilty of this as much as anyone but there is so much need in the world. You know we are all bombarded all the time with not just campaign requests for the election but a ton of worthy organizations, bail funds, mutual aid, friends with medical bills. All kinds of efforts right now to put your money or what you can afford towards something.
What I love about this, the effectiveness of this kind of personal action as it relates to the election, is it is a way for people regardless of the amount of disposable income they have to plug in and kind of put some action where their beliefs are. And I think for me it is a really important piece of the puzzle as I think about the ways I live my values and the ways I show up. Because a great example is doing canvassing for a candidate or doing text banking for a candidate is awesome and great but things show up on the ballot that are not directly vote for this person or that person. I say this from a state with tons of ballot initiatives so I guess it's an easy perspective for me to have but a lot of these elections have to do directly with issues that we care about in non-election years too and it's a way to kind of say okay, maybe I showed up at one out of the three protests I wanted to go to this year and I'm going to make up that time in phone banking.
(12:25)
Aminatou: Yeah. You know, and I have to say that I have done most of my GOTV with the same crew of people and it is really nice as a community to have that accountability together where we're like okay, great, these are the days that we are phone banking. These are the days where we have our really quick 30-minute meeting about how much money we are trying to raise which is another thing that we do together and where we are focusing and volunteering our time. And I have found that really fulfilling on the level of just being like okay, you don't have to do democracy alone.
Ann: I love that! Sorry.
Aminatou: It's hard. Thanks cheesy Ann Friedman. [Laughter] But you know at the same time it's so much more helpful to look to a group of friends or a crew of people and be like these are the values that we have and this is how we are all going to encourage each other to show up. Phone banking, knocking on doors, canvassing, whatever, these are not things that I would've done alone. I one thousand percent can attribute all of that to some very loving and gentle peer pressure from lovely people in my life and it feels great to do. It is like an investment of your time. It does take -- you know, it takes from the other things that you think you need to do. But I just cannot purport to be someone who says I care about the things I care about if I can't give a couple hours every year to actually making sure that happens on the most basic level of volunteering. Like volunteering for campaigns, it is something that we can all do to contribute to the greater good and the people who run those volunteer offices are saints and they're amazing and I've met so many cool people through it. And it's just so nice to know that you don't have to do it alone.
(14:10)
Ann: Ugh, democracy is a team sport. I love that. For me when I think about ways I have gotten involved in -- yes, in election-related things but also broadly speaking most of my action in the realm of social justice is built on a friend pulling me in or me pulling a friend in. And that kind of building on existing relationships I think is the way that it can feel a little less intimidating to get into this, to say "Okay, I'm already part of this community group. How do I check in with members of this group to find out if we all have a voting plan?" I am already on this group thread with friends who I know share my values and political beliefs. I'm going to tell them that I just phone banked and it wasn't scary and send them the link because that I really do feel like is the kind of interpersonal version of voter personal contact that we talk about, like how do you also engage the people who you know care but maybe haven't come across the same opportunity as you? That kind of private evangelism for getting involved is so, so powerful.
So to that end we talked to an expert this week. You know, there are so many great experts when it comes to what works in getting out the vote and where we should be placing our energy this election. We spoke to the fantastic Shaniqua McClendon who is the political director at Crooked Media and is doing a lot of work with Vote Save America to educate people about what is happening in swing states, to give people ways to plug in, to do education around making voting plans and figuring out what the actual deadlines are to make sure you get your ballot in and get it counted. She has a great way of breaking down a lot of the stuff we just talked about into really concrete steps and actions.
Aminatou: Let's take a break and when we come back we will listen to your interview with Shaniqua.
(16:15)
[Interview Starts]
Shaniqua: My name is Shaniqua McClendon and I am the political director at Crooked Media.
Ann: Shaniqua welcome to the podcast.
Shaniqua: Thank you for having me Ann. How are you?
Ann: I'm not good. [Laughs] Tired and scared and worried I think is the accurate answer. How are you?
Shaniqua: Yeah. You know, I'm not going to lie. I have been all over the place. You know, fortunately I get to talk to a lot of groups who are specifically in battleground states on the ground doing the really hard work and they give me a lot of hope and energy. But then when I turn on the television and do things like watch the debate last night I get to a low place so I've just been kind of going back-and-forth.
Ann: Ugh, you mentioned battleground states. So I would love to come start there as a person who doesn't live in a battleground state who is already planning on voting but is also feeling like I have seen the electoral college maps. What people who are far from battleground states can do to actually make a difference or move the needle?
Shaniqua: Yeah, so I think I will split this into two answers. At the presidential level and even at the senate level every state does not have a dramatic impact just because some states like California, they as a state tend to elect Democrats. So whenever someone is up typically that is who's going to win. If you want to have an impact on the presidency and so by extension the electoral college or flipping the senate I feel like I'm just always plugging our stuff but I guess that's why I'm here. [Laughter] We created Vote Save America over at Crooked Media and we designed a program called Adopt a State. It features six battleground states, Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Caroline, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. And when you sign up for that -- we've been running this program for about three months so we have one month to go -- but when you sign up for that program every week we send you an email with a call to action.
(18:15)
And so you might be texting folks, you might be calling folks, or we may be asking you to donate to one of the grassroots organizations who are on the ground working directly with voters. And we have spent about a year talking with all these different organizations so whatever we're sending you is the most impactful thing you can do in those states. And you're talking to voters in not just a swing state but you're talking to them in swing districts and swing counties where they could determine the outcome of the election there. So that is one thing you can do to have an impact in those states. You can also call your friends in those states. Make sure they're registered to vote. Make sure they have all the information they need.
The other side of this is we all have local elections that elect people who have really tremendous impacts on our everyday lives. We've seen a lot of the response to police killings, especially as of late, and a lot of the people who are making decisions about whether or not to charge police officers or even the laws that allow police officers to do the things that they do, those are local elections. And kind of tying this all together, especially at the state legislature level, those are elections where you can have I don't want to say a lot bigger impact as if your vote doesn't matter at the national level but these elections come down to a lot fewer votes so you could be the deciding factor in those votes. And thinking about state legislatures, our Supreme Court, there's been a lot of conversation about that right now. A lot of the cases that they decide have national impacts, they come from laws that state legislatures have put in place.
(19:50)
State legislatures now know if Donald Trump is able to confirm another justice the state legislatures in conservative states know okay, we'll pass this law. The Democrats will go crazy, they'll sue us, and this can trickle all the way up to the Supreme Court where we know we have people who will take our side. Then that law that may have started in Alabama is now the law of the land.
Ann: Ugh, so I want to go back to the first part of what you said because this idea of me sitting in my house writing out a postcard or calling or texting, I think there is a perception sometimes that what that is designed to do is maybe argue with someone who is possibly going to vote for Trump or that you are trying to reason with someone who isn't planning to vote in this election and is not worth the time anyway. I'm wondering if you can speak to the research about whether and how these things actually work, the postcards, the calls, the texts?
Shaniqua: Yeah. The best thing you can do is have direct voter contact. Canvassing is the most effective thing you can do with a stranger, so we can't do that right now though but canvassing is knocking on someone's door, asking if they plan on voting, how they plan on voting, and getting them any information they need. Typically people will not be as mean to you on the phones as they are in person but, you know, then you move over to phone banking and text banking.
Especially phone banking, that's the next-best thing when it comes to direct voter contact and I will not lie: sometimes you are calling people who are marked as undecided and a swing voter so you're calling them to see can I convince this person to vote for the person that I'm supporting? And maybe the data's a little off and they are absolutely not interested in it. But typically you are calling people who are truly undecided or people who we know share the same values as us but need a little bit more push to actually take a step to vote.
(21:55)
So typically you're not going to be on the phone with someone who wants to argue with you. Specifically now at the point we're in in the election cycle a lot of states have sent out their mail-in ballots already. Some states have actually started early voting already in person, so right now what campaigns are focused on, they're kind of stepping away from trying to persuade people to vote for one candidate or the other and actually getting into conversations of getting out the vote. Normally that's closer to November although we're basically a month out from there but because of coronavirus the get out the vote period is a lot longer because now we have to talk to people about mailing their ballots back in and making sure they filled that out correctly. We have to talk to people about voting early, where they can do that, what they need to do to be safe, and then doing that on election day.
So if you sign up to volunteer now you're probably going to be talking to someone who they've indicated their support for one candidate and we just need to get them from that kind of saying they will support that person to actually voting. Honestly the closer you get to the election the less scary it is to talk to folks.
Ann: Okay I love that. So already I'm not picturing a contentious conversation with a family member who I don't agree with because that's sort of my model sometimes. I'm like gosh, what if I reach the kind of person that I am forced to have family dinners with sometimes? So okay, we're not doing that. We are telling people here is how you actually follow through on voting for the person that you indicated you want to vote for. That doesn't seem that scary. But what if I'm someone who's like listen, I only order food through my apps. I hate talking on the phone. I am like -- it is my nightmare to do this but I still . . . I still want to do something. What do you tell people in that category?
(23:45)
Shaniqua: Yeah. So I was actually just chatting with a group today and they said they have all these text banks and they need more texters. And this is in Florida. It's going to be a state that we are all watching on election night to see what happens and so there are so many opportunities to text voters. And that is, you know, you don't have to actually talk to someone. You know, if someone's mean over text message that's a lot easier to deal with than them actually yelling at you and you can just kind of move on to the next person. And you can actually reach a lot more people texting in the same amount of time that you would if you were making phone calls, and a few other things.
It doesn't always have to be with strangers. We all have a lot of people in our lives who don't know as much about the election and haven't been paying attention as much as maybe we have and we can text them and make sure they're registered to vote, make sure they have all the information they need, and even go a step further. Something we saw a lot in 2018 and I think we'll see modified to make sure people are being safe are ballot parties. People come together, they have their ballots, and they all just kind of go through it together and talk through the candidates, talk through the ballot initiatives, and fill that out together.
And for folks who are a little intimidated about voting because they don't want to mess up and vote for the wrong thing that's another way that you get them to come to a small gathering, you can do this over Zoom, but just come together and fill out that ballot together. Then you can all commit to putting it in the envelope, closing it, and sending it off. So there's a lot of things you can do. Also you mentioned this, letter writing and postcard writing. That's another kind of activity you can do with your friends but again sending those -- that information out to people who still need it.
Ann: Right. And not to belabor this point but are these things that work? I sometimes wonder if I am doing phone banking or text banking just to make myself feel better in the face of what feels sometimes like odds that are stacked against us because of the electoral college or because of how far away I am from a lot of these voters.
(25:55)
Shaniqua: Yeah, so there's kind of a hierarchy. The hardest things to do work the best. [Laughter] So knocking on a stranger's door and talking to them is the most effective thing you can do. Canvassing normally has -- it's a small net impact but so many elections are decided by two to three points that it's enough of an impact that it can move an election toward your candidate by a point or two which could mean you win on election day. So we can't really do that now but that is the most effective thing you can do. And then you get into phone banking and then texting.
Letter writing and postcard writing, you know, just to be honest there's been mixed results on that. We just might not have enough data to truly know. But then when you're thinking about reaching young people letter writing and postcard writing might not be the most effective way to do that but young people are on their phones all the time. Now can they ignore a text message? Yeah. But you're more likely to get someone to read a text message because it's not as intrusive as a phone call. So whereas if someone doesn't answer the phone they'll never get that information that you were trying to get to them but a text message they will see it.
And, you know, if you're like me I've gotten so many text messages in the past couple of weeks but it's all good information that they're sharing and if I didn't work at Crooked Media and work in the voting space I would definitely be using the resources that these folks are sending out. So it's not just to make you feel better, all of these things have an impact. Especially there are so many people -- I have to remind myself of this, I am plugged into politics all the time. There are a lot of people that last night is the first time they tuned into the election at all. So sending those reminders, those phone calls, those text messages, those letters, that primes a lot of people to remember oh, it's an election. This is an election year. Let me look into what I need to know.
(27:45)
Ann: Right. And what about this term voting plan? I feel like in previous elections this is something that I hard talked about but this year because of COVID, because of post office shenanigans, because we are not sure exactly how things are going to go down on election day I keep hearing voting plan, voting plan, voting plan. So for people who are listening to this who are like "Yeah, I'm obviously voting. I don't need a text message," what do they need to be doing to make sure they can actually cast that vote?
Shaniqua: Yeah. So we will soon have this feature on our site where you can make a plan to vote. We want people to do more than just think about what they're going to do. So if you plan on voting let's say by mail you have to know what's happening in your state. So right now on Vote Save America if you go to votesaveamerica.com/states you can look up your state and we've gone through every state and answered questions like "If I don't get my ballot in time what are my options? If I get my ballot but I feel like it's too close to the election to drop off what are my options there?" And you can go to a drop box or drop it off at your local elections office. And so we go through all these different scenarios so that you can first have the understanding of how voting works in your state. We have that for in-person voting as well.
So then a plan is I know when my ballot is due so I'm going to turn it in by this day. I know that it either needs to be postmarked or actually delivered by a certain day so that will inform the day that I drop it off and get it filled out. When you're voting in person normally early voting -- normally you can vote anywhere in the county but if you vote on election day you have to vote at your precinct. So knowing whether you're going to vote early or on election day is part of your plan, then once you know that knowing exactly where you're going to go, knowing if they have long lines. How much time do I need to allot to vote? Do I vote at a place where I can just hop in and hop out or do I need to set aside unfortunately two hours to vote?
(29:45)
So planning ahead so when you get to that moment where you have to vote it doesn't become unforeseen circumstances popping up that you just couldn't account for and now are discouraged from voting. So I think it's important every year. I typically vote by mail so I harass the Board of Elections office like "Is my ballot coming?" And so just making sure that you know what you're going to do and can anticipate any obstacles that come up and still will be able to vote is why so many people are talking about making a plan this year.
Ann: One thing that I have seen lately online is that even if you are registered to vote by mail and know that you've got a ballot coming that way, you've checked your registration and all of that, if you are able to physically drop it off during early voting or on election day that that might be a better bet than sending it through the USPS. I'm wondering if you have guidance about that.
Shaniqua: Yeah, so I think it's not a question of if it's safe to send it through USPS but it's just a timing question. A lot of states that we've seen have been shifting so that as long as your ballot is postmarked by election day or the day before it still has a few extra days to actually get in. But the date we are suggesting for folks is October 20th. If you can't mail your ballot in by October 20th you should just go ahead and make a plan to drop it off in person.
You know, it's pretty easy. You can go -- again look this information up for your specific state but you can typically go to your local election's office or a drop box and drop your ballots there. I wouldn't say one is better than the other unless you're within that October 20th to November 3rd window, then I would just go ahead and drop it off in person. But if you do send it in the mail a lot of states allow you to check your ballot. Again I'm pushing our product hard but if you go to your state page on votesaveamerica.com we answered a question if your state allows you to track it and then we provide the link for where you can track your ballot.
(31:50)
So if you've sent it in and you are not seeing progress you can call your local elections office and say "Hey, I want to know what's going on with my ballot. Do I need to come in and vote in person? What are my options because I don't see where my ballot is yet."
Ann: One big, underlying question that I think we've grappled with a lot is how much energy should we be pushing at the election right now? Given what we know about the fact that look, just because Joe Biden might be president or just because we might get some state-level officials who are Democrats or something like that doesn't mean a lot of these issues that we really care about -- specifically things having to do with police violence and criminal justice reform -- how do you kind of balance that out? Is helping someone who is feeling really pulled in a lot of directions, who cares about a lot of issues, do you think we should be kind of in this month all in on the election? Then it's like okay, then we get to work on this other stuff. Or how are you answering some of those questions for yourself?
Shaniqua: Yeah. To me it is all interconnected. You know, I don't want to put blame anywhere but I think an unhelpful view that a lot of society has is elections are the only form of civic engagement. And so we do all this work around elections to get people elected then we wait for them to do what they said they were going to do. And politicians are politicians. If no one is putting their feet to the fire they're not going to do the hard things.
So I think it's really important right now for us to be focused on every election. I know that takes a lot of energy and so if you have to choose one I would get plugged in where I'm most excited. So for me right now of course I want Joe Biden to win and I want a lot of other people to win but I'm from North Carolina. I used to work for Senator Kay Hagan and I worked for her when Thom Tillis beat her. And now I am so excited to help get him out of office and get Cal Cunningham elected and that's where I've been putting a lot of my energy and my donations.
(33:55)
And so I'm still focused on helping Joe Biden but me helping Cal Cunningham in North Carolina helps Joe Biden win North Carolina. And if he can win North Carolina that is very helpful because it will help with his electoral vote but it also will help flip the senate. It also will help flip the state legislature in North Carolina where Republicans have gone wild and gerrymandered the maps. They've just implemented a lot of voter suppression laws and even when we elected a Democratic governor they stripped him of his gubernatorial power so that he was pretty much unable to do anything.
So I think find the candidates or the level of government that you get most excited about and plug in there because it will either work up the ballot or down the ballot to affect the whole system. And then when the elections are over maybe take a week or two off but it can't end there. We have to continue to hold people accountable. Show up to their town halls. Ask them if they are working on the things they said they're going to work on and don't let them off with easy answers. Honestly this is harder to do at the presidential level but if your local person is not doing the things you asked for find someone else who will and have them run against them.
Ann: I love it. It's sort of like the equivalent of a mom who's like "I brought you into this world and I can take you out of it."
Shaniqua: [Laughs] Exactly.
Ann: I canvased for you and I can canvas against you. Yeah.
Shaniqua: Exactly.
Ann: I love that. One thing you mentioned was taking a little time off after the election. I think one thing I found myself going through as I was trying to engage with the debate or sometimes as I even try to engage with the news lately is it feels really bad. I'm like this is really not a good feeling to engage with what's happening in politics right now. And on the flip side I also feel bad when I turn it off, like I actually don't want to look away from what's going on. And so I guess I have tried to combat that by saying okay, I'm going to schedule time. I'm going to put my phone banking on the calendar. I'm going to put my text banking on the calendar. I'm wondering if you have advice for people who are managing their time, their emotions, their health and mental health as they figure out the best way for them to plug in?
(36:10)
Shaniqua: Yeah, that is a great question. When we had to start sheltering in place I was watching the coronavirus briefings every day and I realized it was getting to me. And I was kind of in that same space. I was like I need to know what's going on. This is we're in the middle of a pandemic. Our leadership is not doing the greatest job. I'd like to know what is happening. And then I realized I just couldn't. I couldn't keep consuming it that way.
So for me I read a lot more. Even online I would much rather read an article than I would watch a video and so I just try to read my news more. I'm a big proponent of reading news from multiple sources so you're not just reading people who reaffirm what you think but just to protect my mental health I just had to start kind of reading from progressive outlets so I was getting the information but not seeing the lies that the president was telling and somehow turning that into someone's opinion and not just lies and incorrect information.
And then on the volunteering side, so I think if you're working a full-time job, you have kids, you know, definitely be cognizant about prioritizing like the time that you need to just decompress and have time for yourself. And the same way you pencil anything else in pencil in your volunteer time. And so if you can only devote an hour or even 30 minutes that is an hour or 30 minutes worth of calls or texting or letter writing that wouldn't have happened otherwise and you should not beat yourself up for not being on a call for four hours. It is a privilege to have four hours to set aside during a day and make calls. So definitely don't feel bad about that. This is not something I would normally ever say publicly but if you can't do those things that's okay. If voting is the thing that you can do, do that. If voting and talking to your family members is the thing you can do, do that.
(38:10)
There are a lot of us who have the time and space and energy to do this and we're doing it but we should always put ourselves first in these times. We're in the middle of a pandemic. This election year is a lot harder than any other election year. As you watch everything that's happening another thing that's been really triggering for me is I'm on the phone with these groups who are doing amazing work and then I hear the president is suing to have ballots thrown out. And you think I'm doing everything we're supposed to be doing and some -- you can't control all of the evil forces. So in those times sometimes I just, you know, I do this a few times a week: I step away from my computer and I will just go lay on my bed because I'm at home now and I can do that and it just allows me to get away.
Ann: [Laughs]
Shaniqua: But the big thing I'm trying to say is prioritize yourself, fit in volunteering where you can, and find ways to consume news that are not too triggering but you also don't have to do it all day.
Ann: Shaniqua thank you so, so much for sharing all of your wisdom and these calls to action. I feel better.
Shaniqua: That makes me happy and thank you for having me. It was a pleasure to be on your podcast.
[Interview Ends]
Ann: So so many of the things Shaniqua talked about are available at votesaveamerica.com but there are a lot of great resources for volunteering and I honestly recommend Googling. I found my Iowa text banking by just Googling "Iowa I hate Joni Ernst text bank." Like that kind of thing can also work. These resources are out here from so many great organizations.
Aminatou: You know, thank God for Shaniqua's expertise and for people who care about GOTV. I'm really excited to do it again this election cycle even though we will not have the same opportunities to knock on doors and meet voters. There's still so much to be done so I will see you at the polls."
Ann: I will see you on the phone bank Zoom.
Aminatou: Bye boo-boo.
Ann: Bye!
Aminatou: You can find us many places on the Internet: callyourgirlfriend.com, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, we're on all your favorite platforms. Subscribe, rate, review, you know the drill. You can call us back. You can leave a voicemail at 714-681-2943. That's 714-681-CYGF. You can email us at callyrgf@gmail.com. Our theme song is by Robyn, original music composed by Carolyn Pennypacker Riggs. We're on Instagram and Twitter at @callyrgf. Our producer is Jordan Bailey and this podcast is produced by Gina Delvac.