Last Fall, with an eye towards what we knew would be a critical election year, we secured funding to develop and implement a get out the vote project. With those funds, coupled with the generous donations of our members and supporters, we have spent the year preparing to launch a set of new initiatives to make a difference in Kansas.
Engaging youth in politics
We are embarking on our first-ever get out the vote campaign. We have hired ten incredible college students to work for us during the primary election season (primaries are on August 2! Mark your calendars) and hope to continue intern work into this fall's general election. They come from schools all across the country, including several from here in Kansas. They are majoring in political science, for the most part, and one is even working on his Ph.D. They are, inspiring and enthusiastic and humbling and impressive.
With the help of our new Intern Coordinator, we have developed an exciting experience for these young people, full of hard work, yes, but also mentoring opportunities, creative opportunities, and experiences that will hold them in good stead as they begin their careers in political science and elsewhere.
Last week, they began their work, canvassing door to door to get out the vote on August 2. They also spent an evening phone banking, working to get advance ballots in voters' hands. This week they will brave the heat again, working neighborhoods in Johnson County and calling voters across the area. They will meet with ex-legislators and have been planning special projects (look for them on June 23rd at the Kansas Statehouse!).
A Place to Call Home
But our intern program is not the only change we've made the summer. MainStream has secured office space for the primary season, where partner groups can make phone calls, where our interns can gather before and after canvassing, where volunteers can meet up, where yard signs can be handed out... in short, where we can focus our energies to make a difference in Kansas this year.
Step Up Rally
Our most ambitious project yet, MainPAC (our political action committee) is holding the Step Up Rally on the morning of July 9th. We will gather candidates and partners, groups and citizens to come together, celebrate our energy, and then go out to knock on doors. You can come walk, or you can come rally, but bring everyone! It's outside at Harmon Park, in Prairie Village, so you can bring your entire family and friends. There will be food trucks and politicians, face painting and music, speeches and neighbors. We are expecting people from Blue Valley, from Shawnee Mission, from Wyandotte, and maybe even some from Lawrence.
Ten interns.
A thousand citizens.
A hundred thousand voters.
You.
Our ten interns have already made a difference. As many as a thousand citizens could attend our rally. Your work could influence as many as a hundred thousand voters. There are almost two million registered voters in Kansas.
There is nothing we cannot accomplish if we just step up and do the work.
Join us this summer.
