The following student report was submitted by Ambassador League Agent Nathan K. during the 2008-2009 League.
Mission: Take Action - Volunteering for a Political Campaign: Bryan Brandenburg, MI State House, 24th District
This adventure began on a beautiful autumn morning in St Clair Shores. My brother and his wife; my sister and I had arrived on schedule at 10 a.m. About 10 volunteers, including us, waited about an hour for some campaign literature to arrive. The candidate was Bryan Brandenburg and he was seeking the 24th District seat in the Michigan House.
(In addition to campaigning for Mr. Brandenburg, I also volunteered on another occasion for Paul Scott, Republican candidate in the 51st House District. On election day, Scott won his contest but Brandenburg was narrowly defeated in the 24th District.)
The material eventually pulled into the driveway. Everyone was promptly shown the precincts (designated voting areas within a county/city) we were to cover and the campaign teams headed out.
There are several ways to contact voters. One is to go door-to-door --this is where you go knock on the door of each listed house and talk to the people about the candidate. Another approach is a literature drop. The "lit drop" is the fastest way to cover the district, you simply drop a piece of literature at every door you see!
The process is not all fun and games. There is a lot of hard work that goes into every aspect of the campaign -- raising the money to pay for the literature and signs, finding volunteers to go door-to-door, debating your opponent, all of these factors are important.
My sister and I were dropped off at our designated areas and started dropping literature at every door. Depending on what day of the week it is, some voters are at home. Most of the people just smile and go on with life but some are suspicious or think you are soliciting. Thankfully, these voters are few and far between.
One resident asked why I wasn’t in school (I just graduated this year and am homeschooled) so I had to explain all of that to him and then returned to my walking duties.
Though not the most exciting job in the world; contacting voters directly is something that is important for our country's survival. To quote the famous Edmund Burke “All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing."
If we as Christians sit back and say “God will take of the world” and don’t DO ANYTHING to change the world, we are surely lost! That's why it makes sense to get involved.
I pray every day that God will heal our land, for our nation is unlike any in the world! WE ARE BASED ON GOD!!! And although nothing can separate us from His love, we can turn our backs on Him. The United States of America has to turn to God for guidance, plain and simple, WE have to turn back.
