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Voting and Volunteering: Delanie Blubaugh, Maryland

As told by Delanie Blubaugh
Frostburg, Maryland

Story Narrative:

Delanie has long, wavy brown hair and wears a white tank top. She sits in front of a window with white curtains.

This snapshot was gathered in conjunction with the Maryland Voices initiative at Maryland Humanities, specifically to supplement the "Voices and Votes: Democracy in America" traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street program. This collection, made up of stories of first-time voters between the ages of 18 and 24, showcases the experiences of young people as they wrestled with the 2020 presidential election, issues around social justice, the environment, immigration, and the pandemic. 

Delanie Blubaugh (00:00): Okay. My name is Delanie Blubaugh. I am a junior political science and legal studies double major at Frostburg State University in Frostburg, Maryland, so all the way up in the mountains in Western Maryland. I know that a lot of times, even people who are at least partially civically and politically engaged don't necessarily see the importance of participating in the midterm elections. When I was turning 18, I actually voted in the midterm primary in 2018, before I turned 18 because of the Maryland law that let me do it, if you're going to be 18 by the general election.

Delanie Blubaugh (00:39): I was interning for a congressional candidate on his campaign to become the Congressman of the sixth district of Maryland. I was so excited because I'd been working with them since, I think, probably March. I had been phone banking, and I'd been canvassing, and I'd been knocking on doors, and handing out signs, and going to events that were specific to Western Maryland. I was one of the only under the age of 20 people doing so.

Delanie Blubaugh (01:06): It was so exciting to just go. I went and early voted, actually, and brought so many of my friends along with me throughout the whole early voting time, and then also on election day. It was just so exciting to just walk in. It almost felt like the doors were just opening. I opened the door, but it just felt like the doors were opening to this whole world that I hadn't been a part of yet. I think that's one reason that I was just so gung-ho to start studying in college, political science and everything.

Delanie Blubaugh (01:37): I was so proud that my candidate won the primary election and then also won the general election. Shout out to David Trone. Thank you, Congressman, for your work. It was so rewarding to see that the work that I had done with my colleagues and with the people who really felt strongly about this candidate. It was so rewarding to see other people with signs in their yards, and other people with the stickers and the magnets on the back of their cars.

Delanie Blubaugh (02:10): Then for him to win the primary, and then for him to go on to win the general election, I think that's something that a lot of people don't talk about is not only campaigning and working for a campaign during a presidential election, obviously that's a lot more talked about, but get involved as locally as you can. Work on a campaign for a county commissioner, if you have the option to, or for city mayor or whatever it may be, because it's just going to be so rewarding when you see people sharing in the same values that you and this candidate share, and going to cast their ballot for the same people that you feel strongly about too.

Delanie Blubaugh (02:49): That was just a really magical moment for me, I think a turning point almost. I think I'd known, probably since I was 12 or 13, that I wanted to study politics. My parents were very open with me talking about politics and the political realm and everything. The presidency of Barack Obama changed my whole life, in a way. We saw that barriers were broken and it didn't matter what you looked like, you could still serve in this beautifully high and beautifully powerful position, no matter what you looked like.

Delanie Blubaugh (03:29): I think even as an eight year old when Barack Obama was inaugurated, I was like, politics, they're pretty cool. I really started to get engaged with them at a pretty young age. I had always known that I wanted to study politics, but as soon as I worked on the campaign, and as soon as I saw what my personal work was making an impact on people and changing people's minds about maybe some more progressive initiatives or issues and whatnot, I could see that I was really making a firsthand impact on them, changed my life. Changed the way that I saw politics and changed the way that I saw advocacy and activism and just being engaged. That was really a powerful moment. I think I would probably tell anybody who wanted to just see what politics is like from the backside, just get engaged. Volunteer as much as you can even if you don't get a paycheck for it. Just participate, go to as many things as you can and be as involved as you want.


Asset ID: 2021.03.08.c
Themes: Voting, elections, volunteering, campaigning, congress, political science, Barack Obama, inspiration
Date recorded: January 29, 2021
Length of recording: 04:35 m
Related traveling exhibition: Voices and Votes: Democracy in America
Sponsor or affiliated organization: Allegany Museum, in partnership with Maryland Humanities
More informationhttps://www.mdhumanities.org/programs/museum-on-main-street/2021-2022-tour/

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