Meet the Left Slinger

It is almost impossible to miss: the elections are coming. On 22 November, we can vote again for the Lower House, which of course means a lot of campaigning. But how does such a campaign work? In this series of articles, we want to give you a glimpse of our campaign, and above all, get you excited about participating. In this article we talk to Sophie Nuberg, an active DWARS member who is now part of the campaign team. 

1. You were along for the left pendulum last time, but what is that anyway?

Yay! During the Left Slinger, we will be going into the province in vans with a group of young people. We visit local branches to support them in the campaign. Sometimes this is by flyering in a shopping street, sometimes it is by going door-to-door. Last time we went to Winschoten and Bedum, but Slochteren and Veendam are also on the agenda.

The JS has been organising this for some time. I think that's also the cool thing about the joint campaign: you take the fun stuff from each other.

2. And why is this important?

Anyway, we know that street campaigning is the most effective way to campaign. You create visibility with it and there is room to really engage with each other. Preferably, you do this with as large and diverse a group as possible. You see that local chapters have a bit more difficulty in getting young people to join in as well. That's where we can do our bit.

But apart from that: DWARS Groningen has members living all over the province. It is nice to go to them too, instead of them having to come to the city all the time.

3. What is the funniest moment you experienced during the left swing?

Then two very different moments emerge. In Bedum, we spoke to a woman who has been voting GroenLinks for years. Then, of course, you quickly find yourself on the same page, but she also asked us many personal questions. How do we find that cooperation? How does that work within a party? What if you don't agree with everything? Chances are that we gained an extra member after that conversation. In Winschoten we spoke to someone who leaned more towards the PVV. That's always a bit of a switch: how do you have a good conversation about that? After some further questioning, it turned out that this gentleman is particularly concerned about the housing shortage and affordability. Those are things that also worry me.

4. What makes the left pendulum so fun?

I got so excited about this! Above all, it's just really fun. It has a very high road trip content. You go touring around the province with a nice club of people in vans. Good music, good conversations, good snacks. In addition, it is fun to go to places other than where you normally go. You find that the conversations you have with people are also very different. Anyway, it is fun to go to local chapters. It gives energy to meet so many people in different places who are all going for the same goal: GL-PvdA the biggest!

5. How can you join the left pendulum?

Saturday 11 November is unfortunately the last one already. We are going to Slochteren and Veendam. That will be Left Slinger XL, though. We have been given a mega coach with the logos of GroenLinks and PvdA on it, as well as the heads of Frans Timmermans, Julian Bushoff and Habtamu de Hoop. So we also hope that extra many people will want to hook up. 

Can't be there, don't worry. We will still be going door-to-door and flyering a lot. We will even campaign two nights at night. So still plenty of chances to contribute!