Monday, November 14, 2011

The BattiestGrrl 1,000 Signature Recall Challenge


Because I hit more than 3,000 doors for Jessica King this summer, some consider me a recall rock star, but I have a confession to make. I didn’t collect signatures for the last recall. While other people were out collecting signatures, I sat out, convinced that I couldn’t make a difference. Then it occurred to me: if I wasn’t willing to go out and work for a better future, how could I expect anyone else to? I couldn’t just sit back and wait for someone else to do it; I needed to go out and make it happen.

By mid-June, I was canvassing regularly, and I began tweeting how many doors I hit each day. Inspired by my diligence, friends (@SpudLovr, @4SHCrane, @matt_t1) organized the BattiestGrrl Door-Knocking Challenge, and we were able to raise more than $2,000 for Democratic recall candidates by challenging people to pledge a set amount per door I knocked. I also used my daily door tallies to reach out to other potential volunteers, giving 140-character pep talks to try to motivate them to go out and do the same.

Naturally, when early numbers for the Walker recall were suggested, I started trying to motivate my followers and fellow cause-supporters. On October 18, I tweeted the following:

Dear #WIUnion: We have a lot of signatures to collect next month, averaging around 12,000 a day. Prepare yourself. #RecallWalker #WIRecall


I added an afterthought:

So far, I'm setting a goal of getting 1,000 signatures. I don't know if that's attainable or not. I'll reassess after a week or two in, I think.


It was a tentative commitment, but Karen “RecallWalker” Tuerk (Twitter’s @ktuerk), wasn’t going to settle for that:

I so want to start a competition with you. Bring it! : ) 1,000 is my goal too, btw.


And then it was officially on. I threw out the challenge on Twitter to others, but so far only @amadorlicea has taken up the challenge officially and pledged to also attempt the goal of 1,000 signatures. Karen was kind enough to point out that 1,000 signatures collected over 60 days only amounts to about 17 signatures per day, but no one else has taken up the challenge yet.

When I started knocking doors, I had no idea that I’d make it to 3,000 doors in two short months, especially since the idea of talking politics with strangers absolutely horrified me. However, I challenged myself to move out of my comfort zone and to take an active part in reclaiming my government. So what about you? Will you join @BattiestGrrl, @ktuerk and @amadorlicea as they take the 1,000 Signature Recall Challenge to remove Governor Walker from office? If 1,000 signatures seems too daunting, how about 500? 200? 100? 50? Or will you challenge your friends to see which of you can collect the most signatures in 60 days? Don’t wait for someone else to do it, and don’t wait to help until you have time. Make time. And if you’re not ready to challenge yourself, let me do it. A thousand signatures. Are you in?

Yours in solidarity and putting the "all" in "recall",

Joanne Staudacher
AKA @BattiestGrrl

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