Great idea for voter registration - Batman & Barack

[kariseal]

I got this idea in my inbox today, and I think it is worth passing on. It could work for any movie, anywhere, but according to this volunteer Batman is Barack's favorite superhero! This is definitely OK if you’re on a public street since it’s in the public realm. If you’re in a mall of some description you may need to ask permission from the movie theatre or mall owner…


We've been heavy into the voter reg. here on the Upper West Side. One of the things we've learned is that movie theaters on the weekend, particularly Friday nights, are great spots to be. If there's a long line, you get a fair amount of people on the way in because hey, they're in line doing nothing. And then you get even more in the crowd when the movie gets out, since they're no longer in a hurry, and they already saw you on the way in. This past Friday, I and another volunteer were outside 84th Street Loews (hardly a big capacity theater) for only a couple of hours and netted over 25 new registrations -- and the movies coming out this past week were hardly big draws (Hellboy II and Journey to the Center of the Earth).

So it occurs to me this week we have what will likely be THE BIGGEST MOVIE OF THE SUMMER in the Batman film, especially with all the Heath Ledger-related curiosity.
It also occurs to me that, well, Barack's favorite superhero is Batman. That's gotta count for something.

And themed voter registration events outside something cool -- the Batman movie -- it could really prompt some volunteers to show up who might not commit for quotidian voter registration, and might be worth blasting out to Facebook and see if we can get city-wide involvement.

Alan Howard
NY 8th CD

[Susan Kitchens]

Excellent... that one seems to be making its way around the Barack-O-sphere.

Just saw this one, too, via email list in one of my local groups.barackobama.com:

"Let's decide right now that we will spend our energy on things we have control over and let go of what we have no control over in this campaign. Before beginning the campaign, one of the norms that Barack set for the campaign was, "No drama." In other words, knowing that a campaign has finite resources of time, people and money, he would not waste any of those resources. Let's take our cue from Barack. If it is not about hope, action or change, it is not part of our campaign. No drama.

What we have control over is refurbishing our organizing infrastructure, training volunteers, registering voters and developing voter contact here and in nearby swing states without being distracted by.....distractions.

To that end let's consider taking up an idea that is being practiced by some of our brother and sister activists both in Northern and Southern California- "Hope in Action." Service to the community has always been a part of Barack's call to action. Let's find a way to include this in our campaign everywhere.

Cleaning up parks late on Saturday afternoons (while wearing Obama gear) and a host of other actions, will demonstrate what we are about as a campaign, provide visibility and another means for Obama supporters to come together in a meaningful experience of unity. Each team's Events Coordinator can be responsible for organizing one or two events per month. They do not have to be big deals.

In this way we can keep our focus on what really matters. Time is short. 114 days to Election Day."