Do you like talking to people about politics? Do you like talking one-on-one in particular? Do you have one or more causes that you’d like to educate people about, and even advance by concrete steps? If you’re in a political group, it’s probable that all three of these apply to you.

About 15 years ago, soon after my husband died, I joined a petitioning effort to put the Libertarian party on the Arizona ballot. It wasn’t an easy petition, but we did it.

I immediately started looking for another good petition to push, because I’d discovered that petitioning allowed me to pass libertarian literature to people pre-screened for an open mind and some agreement with my views. (I gave signers a “prize” of several informational leaflets for signing my petition.) It also got me away from home and children, and out of my introverted shell, talking to people about my favorite subject.

What other activity allows you to walk up to total strangers, and ask questions like, “Are you registered to vote in…?” And then ask them to support a specific proposal? It can get you into all kinds of fascinating conversations. And get you out of them: you always have the excuse of needing to move on and get more signatures.

Petitioning is thus a means to other ends, as well as an end in itself. The fact that it leads to an end, that it advances a particular good idea by concrete increments, keeps me doing it when the other ends—spreading the word, political conversation—would not. Likewise, the opportunity to educate and converse keeps me petitioning at most likely opportunities.

In Arizona, I was petitioning mostly outside the post office and county meetings, though I had a great time petitioning among the extras for “Mars Attacks” while we waited on our scenes.

Since I’ve started my latest petition, for All-Non-Partisan elections, I’ve figured out that post offices and grocery stores are not a good place to petition: people are in a hurry. It’s better to catch them standing still, or at least not in a hurry. And government meetings are not great for anti-establishment petitions.

One of the best places to petition is at street fairs and carnivals. You have captive audiences standing in lines for rides or refreshments. You have occasionally bored salesmen and carnies. Boat shows, gun shows, and other commercial and hobby shows also feature people walking around slowly, and bored salespeople. Street fairs and parades are also great. Anywhere that great numbers of people gather for entertainment will work. Petitioning thus gets me involved in community events that I would otherwise ignore.

When such events are not happening, a nice park with a playground always has adults standing around on weekends, watching their children play. Lithia Park is especially beautiful, and draws people from all over Southern Oregon, and beyond. The main problem there can be finding Oregon voters. At Riverside Park in Grants Pass, more people are likely to be localsbut fewer are registered to vote. Always carry registration forms.

It pays to leave tables and chairs at home when petitioning. Stay footloose and fancy-free with a petitioning kit consisting of a plastic box clipboard, in which you can keep your petitions and leaflets clean and neat, and separated with file folders. At a table, you are tied down, and can’t stalk likely prospects. People who would otherwise sign will walk past. The nicest thing about petitioning in a park is wandering all over the park.

My anti-drug-war protest is not such a great place for petitioning, though the petition box is there, and I sometimes ask people to sign. I am in full protest mode, folding and passing out leaflets to those who will take them, and talking to those who want to talk. My protest signs mostly weed out the Pharisees, and lead some people to talk, (mostly supporting, some against, some curious) but most people are passing through and just take a leaflet in passing.
Three major objectives (political talk, spreading the word, defying the State) being met and taking precedence at the protest, the petition becomes an after-thought. But it is good to have it there, as there have always been people asking for something they can sign to support my cause. I don’t even have to sell the idea; they’ll sign anything I support.

Petitioning for All-Non-Partisan Elections allows me to reach a wider audience over a broader area than my protest will allow. Like my protest, it gets me many kudos from strangers. Unlike my protest, it enhances my reputation among the unconvinced—and thereby enhances my protest. But only because it’s an idea whose time has come, the most popular petition I’ve ever pushed. I’ve gathered, by myself, over 650 signatures in less than four months, in my spare time, while working full time as a gardener.

When it comes to spreading a message while pushing a petition, the popularity of the proposal is paramount. (If they say no, you can’t pass anything else.) 26% of registered voters in Oregon are registered as unaffiliated or Independent Party. Another few percent are in minor parties that have no chance with winner/loser labels on the ballot, and no vote in their parties’ nominations. And a great number of Democrats and Republicans are disenchanted with their parties.

These are people who are prime ground for spreading the word about Writing In Ron Paul for President. So I’m keeping the “prizes” simple: I give them a copy of the Sponsorship Petition For All-Non-Partisan Elections they’ve just signed (or that they want to read and think about), with a circulating sheet on the backside and circulating instructions attached; and a leaflet with arguments for the petition on one side and “Protest Vote!” (for Ron Paul) on the other.

I am about half-way to the first goal of 1000 sponsoring signatures (1400 to be sure) to obtain a ballot title. We then will have until July 3, 2010 to collect a bit over 110,000 signatures (150,000, actually) to put this constitutional amendment on the November 2010 ballot. Considering how well I’ve done in 4 months, it should be a piece of cake, if I can recruit enough volunteer petitioners around the state.

Recent changes in petitioning law make statewide volunteer petitioning easier: allowing normal weight and size copy paper; and allowing e-mail transmission of petition templates. This allows chief petitioners to recruit volunteers at long distance and spread the costs of petitioning among the volunteers, who can print out and copy their own petitions.

Are you ready to supercharge your own political activism, while advancing a proposal to the ballot that will end the domination of our politics by Dempublican elites? E-mail rycke@gardener.com for the Petition for All-Non-Partisan Elections templates and copying instructions. The deadline for this step is ASAP; the sooner we can get a ballot title, the longer we have to get it on the ballot.

Please send this on to other politically active groups and individuals in Oregon.

Live free, and prosper.

Rycke Brown, Natural Gardener

rycke@gardener.com