Pot-smokers vote, but most campaigns don’t want to be seen directly appealing for their support. Of course, it’s telling that our political culture coddles war crimes by government officials and warrantless wiretapping by corporations, but stoners are just too out there. Anyway, while activist pot smokers — especially young ones — could break strongly for Sen. Barack Obama, the campaign has not been officially engaging them. That’s where the bottom-up organizing comes in.
Several thousand people just gathered for the 17th annual Hempfest in Seattle, and activists independently organized a voter registration drive on-site, recruiting volunteers through the campaign’s social networking portal, MyBo. (The SeattleForBarackObama blog has more.) Josh Castle posted his plan to spread "Obama love" and recruit new voters:
Join us at the Seattle Hempfest… We’ll register thousands of new voters, sign up new volunteers and give out Obama gear and literature. Hempfest is one of the largest annual events in Seattle. It attracts tens of thousands of young people, many just becoming eligible to vote. We can be a huge team of volunteers, blanket these new voters with Obama love, and get everyone registered and ready to vote!
The Silenced Majority Blog reports that the volunteers were able to register hundreds of voters.
