I am linking here to a great post from Vicky Pynchon on how her mediation training helped her when she was canvassing for Barack Obama on Monday in Nevada. It is truly lovely–great story and great lessons.
What did I learn on the campaign trail? Other than breaking a lifetime phobia of the cold call I re-learned what I already knew from my mediation training and experience:
- share stories (not opinions)
- look for similarities rather than differences
- listen with a compassionate heart
- remember that behind every accusation and stated fear is a plea for help
- create/expand common ground
- be respectful of other people’s point of view
- assist people in making new or different decisions only when they ask for it
All good advice as well for the next administration!
Vicky Pynchon’s experiences remind me of my first attempt at canvassing the day after Barack Obama came to speak in Milwaukee ahead of the Wisconsin primary. Galvanized by his always captivating speech, I traveled to one of the poorer neighborhoods on the west side of Milwaukee armed only with a list of potential voters given to me by the local Barack Obama campaign office. The most difficult part of the process was getting the persons I met to speak to a total stranger, but after taking Professor Schneider’s ADR class and reading Pynchon’s article, I can see that as that day unfolded, I employed one of the fundamental keys to mediation: focus on what motivates a person, i.e. their interests, rather than what position they are taking. By talking to people, some of which were very excited to talk about the then Senator Obama, I was able to hear what mattered to them most in the election and in life, be it simply having a leader they could believe in and respect, or rather having someone in office who they felt would actually help them get through hard times when misfortunes such as layoffs or bad health struck.
Back on that cold February day, I had no concept of the interworkings of mediation that I have now, but it is interesting to me to see how the training that we undergo in law school can manifest itself far before we actually undertake said training. I don’t know if that’s more of a product of human nature or whether it means we were meant to be here, but taking an ADR class has really put things in perspective.
I believe that Vicky Pynchon really captures the essence of emotional involvement in a campaign. She mentioned that it is important to connect with people on a human/emotional level. This is an extremely important thing, indeed. As much as people like to dismiss emotional influence and claim that their only rationale for voting for one particular candidate is based on policy considerations, this usually is not the case. In my opinion, most people vote for a Presidential candidate based partly on emotions, likeability, and shared interests.
The election made fairly clear that one of the primary considerations many people had in voting for either Sen. McCain or President-Elect Obama was emotional. In voting for Obama, many people made clear that they would love to “see the first African-American President.” Similarly, my grandfather, and many other military veterans, felt a strong, emotional bond with John McCain due to his distinguished military career. One cannot forget the amount of times people mentioned President Bush’s sway with voters in the 2000 election based in part on his likeability. I would argue that President Bush won in part because more people would prefer to “have a beer” with him. In other words, his personality charmed many voters. By the way, this is not a swipe at Democrat or Republican voters. President Clinton undoubtedly was and is still a master of connecting emotionally with people, like him or not. Even going back to JFK brings up emotional memories of “Camelot” for many Americans.
Also, just because someone votes partly based on emotion does not mean that their vote was irrational. For instance, I don’t believe that it is necessarily irrational for one to base his or her vote partly on a candidate’s skin color or shared background (i.e. military). President Elect Barack Obama’s election may have very important, positive implications for the African American community in this country. These positive impacts could actually come as the result of feeling an emotional connection or hope and inspiration based on a President who looks like them. Inspiration and hope may help to motive some people without any to make positive changes in their own lives, which could benefit society as a whole. I don’t think we can dismiss this real possibility, even if we personally don’t believe it’s a “valid” rationale for voting for a particular candidate.
Finally, I liked Vicky Pynchon’s statement: “if someone implicitly asks for your assistance in making an important decision, and if your goal is to help them make their decision instead of the decision you want them to make, you will, at a minimum, create common ground.”
My brother called me for advice and information about the candidates. We already have “common ground” on many things as brothers. Instead of giving him my fairly strongly held belief in a particular candidate, I attempted to explain each candidate’s positions on the issues. However, I didn’t try to give an unbiased, non-emotional answer because I felt that emotional reasons for voting are somehow invalid. I merely felt that while I can fairly objectively explain the candidate’s political views on certain issues, his emotional reasons for voting for one candidate or another are specific to him only, however valid or invalid they may appear to others. Any common ground we needed to establish should have been already established at this point.
Vicky Pynchon offers a beautiful snapshot of why campaign work can be so rewarding and I appreciate the connection to mediation, which had not occurred to me before. I’ve done door-to-door political work since I was a teenager and the simple act of appearing at someone’s door, ready to hear their story, can sometimes change everything. I’m going to add Pynchon’s list and her take on campaign work to what I am learning about mediation in Professor Schneider’s ADR class.