October 30, 2007 7:09 AM

Drinking Liberally Shot of Truth: Trick-Or-Vote

(cross-posted at Living Liberally)

People dress in all sorts of outlandish outfits and play make-believe, some to frighten you and some to amuse, as they come to your homes and demand that you give to them.

Yes, it's the Presidential campaign.

And while I may see a lame joke in the parallel between Halloween and campaign politics, other more insightful activists saw an opportunity: and Trick-Or-Vote was born.

This action is innovative, effective...and should have been obvious: use the one day when people expect to open their doors to strangers to talk to them about voting...which is never more than 8 days after All Hallows' Eve. The good folks at the Oregon Bus Project have proven just how well it works. The story, as they tell it, is a compelling one:

In the mists of the year 2000, this dude was in Cincinnati helping a friend run for office. Halloween came along, so he dressed as a lawn sign and went door to door with his face covered in blue and the word VOTE.

One year later, that same young man convened his cohorts in fair Portland, Oregon, to drum up ideas about how to change the direction of politics and engage new people in the political process. That phalanx of friends stormed the political scene in Oregon in 2002 and on Halloween they decided to do together what the young man had done alone two years before. One of the friends proclaimed, “We won’t trick or treat; we’ll Trick or Vote.”

In 2004, we did it again. This time the group was 800 strong in Portland alone.

Thousands now participate and the phenomenon has spread beyond Portland. It's a reminder of what we at DL believe: that politics should be fun...and easily can be.

And it's in the spirit of the day: after all, what's scarier than opening your door to a costume of Dick Cheney? (Obvious Answer: the real Dick Cheney.)

(photo from The Oregon Bus Project)