Take it to the bank
She may not be able to vote, but junior Jordan Bibby is making her voice count in the midterm election
November 5, 2018
ANSWERING THE CALL: Volunteers who live in the McCallum district gather to make phone calls on behalf of Beto O’Rourke’s U.S. Senate campaign on the night before the Nov. 6 midterm election.
Junior Jordan Bibby can’t vote yet, but with the midterms just around the corner, she’s getting involved in other ways, like phone banking.
“A lot of times people aren’t interested,” Bibby said. “It’s hard because there are people you’re calling and they don’t agree with you, and you’re not ever going to be on the same page, but it is really nice when you call someone who is like, ‘Yes, I have plans to vote, I’m going with friends.’ Or if someone wasn’t sure about voting and now they are because you called; it’s nice especially because I can’t vote yet to feel like I got someone else to.”
It’s nice especially because I can’t vote yet to feel like I got someone else to.
— junior Jordan Bibby
While this is Bibby’s first time phone banking, she plans to do it again in the future.
“In past years”, she explained, “I didn’t feel like there was a place for me in any of this. There also weren’t many candidates that I cared about.”
It’s super easy, you have a script and it’s really simple. When Beto O’Rourke visited Austin with Pod Save America, Bibby also went to see them talk.
“It was a really cool experience,” Bibby said. “It was all focused on the midterms that are coming up and things that we can to do have people be more aware of what’s going on about what their politicians actually believe. A lot of times recently there’s been a really big difference between what politicians are saying and how they’re campaigning versus the laws that they’re passing.”
I think a lot of people who may be viewed as independent or don’t really care about these elections are going to go out and vote this year.
— junior Jordan Bibby
Not only is Bibby involved in campaigning for Beto; she also thinks he has a good shot at winning on Tuesday.
“One thing he said when someone asked him the same question was that the people they’re asking that they use to create these polls are not really a great representation of Texas,” Bibby explained. “He’s been really good this year at getting people who usually don’t care about smaller elections to go out and vote. I think a lot of people who may be viewed as independent or don’t really care about these elections are going to go out and vote this year. Also, just like the past few days, these days of early voting, turnout has been really high. We don’t know yet what party that’s for, but I can only hope that at the end of this, Beto wins.”
Bibby also is getting in activism here at McCallum with a club.
“Kelsey [Tasch] and I just got it approved,” Bibby said. “It’s the Student of Color and Ally Alliance here at McCallum. We just thought it would be important to have a safe space for students of color at McCallum. A lot of other high schools and colleges have these sorts of clubs that are just there to create a space for people to feel comfortable to where we can talk about our experiences and also talk about different advocacy opportunities around Austin and sort of just like inform people about what’s going on.”
The club will meet at lunch in the art portable every other Wednesday.
Dashel Beckett • Nov 8, 2018 at 9:48 am
I love seeing people go out at do something for their country in any way they can. I like that you are showing how we can stay active politically even when we can’t vote!