Reid discovered FLIP NC when his friend (and now his fellow Alamance Leadership Team member) Marshall Botvinick posted glowingly about our organization on social media. Having worked with Marshall before through Environment NC and the Human Rights Campaign, Reid trusted Marshall’s recommendation.
A Durham resident, Reid works as a program coordinator at UNC Family Medicine and is also a musician. He and his partner, Maria Albani, have a houseful of cats and dogs, lovingly referred to as “the zoo.”
Reid has been interested in political and social concerns throughout his adult life. He focused on Africana Studies in college and became more aware of “the history of race in America and how politicians used racism to divide and undercut popular, important liberal policies.” Frustrated at how big money in politics teamed with misinformation in conservative media to divide the nation, he became active in politics.
Read on to learn more about Reid and what’s motivating him this election cycle. And click here to sign up for our Dec. 8 super canvass so you can join Reid in the fight to restore democracy to our state.
What has surprised you most about canvassing?
I've canvassed a lot – all of the presidential campaigns since 2004 and most of the House campaigns. Canvassing is always most surprising – and rewarding – when the person you've pegged as someone who's not going to agree with you turns out to be the most positive and fruitful conversation of the night. I've stared down many a person coming to the door thinking, "Oh boy." And then the person talks my ear off, excited I was there.
Reid with his friend and fellow Alamance Leadership Team member Marshall Botvinick
If you've participated in other canvasses, how are FLIP NC canvasses different?
I've tried to tell folks about it, but FLIP NC does the best job I've seen in election campaigns at being efficient with where they go, who they talk to, and how they prep everyone in an organized fashion. … I always feel like my time has been spent in the most effective way possible, which is something I've tried to do in the past and why I'll usually go back to my hometown/county of Wilson to canvass, getting folks out who just need a bit of a push/reminder.
What's your top canvassing tip?
Be yourself and just try to be present with the person at the door. If they don't want to talk, that's cool – you've got more to do, anyway.
Why have you decided to step into a larger role this election cycle as part of the Alamance leadership team?
On Election Night 2018, I chatted with FLIP NC co-founder Briana Brough about wanting to be more involved and had been “e-keeping up” with the goings on this year but hadn't been able to make any meetings until Marshall hit me up about Alamance. Excited! Exclamation points!!!
What is really motivating you to get involved? Obviously, you want to FLIP NC, but tell us a bit about the "why."
I'm a native of this state, who grew up thinking North Carolina was the "cool" Southern state. My family are friends with the Hunts (former NC governor) and most were Democrats as I was growing up, luckily. I saw things change – literally – overnight in 2008, with many of my hometown friends and family suddenly turning political allegiance for an obvious reason, based on the race of the person who ended up winning the presidency (save my parents, which I pat myself on the back for/maybe I should be patting their back/whichever). I think lots of progressive folks were resting on our laurels, thinking we'd done the hard work, and America and North Carolina were changed for the better forever. I remember receiving weird forwarded emails from an uncle, catching inane ramblings on talk radio, seeing overtly racist musings on social media from a “hometown friend,” and had an idea that folks outside of my Triangle bubble were troubled by change while having their fears amplified by Fox News, talk radio, conspiracy sites, and false stories on Facebook. I no idea that things were anywhere near as bad as they were, though, and it really caught us all at the worst possible time – a census/redistricting year, which has set the state reeling for a decade. The house is still on fire. We need to put it out. Afterward, we have a lot to clean up.
Reid (center) with fellow canvassers during our final GOTV push in the fall of 2018
How are you feeling about the 2020 election? Optimistic?
My favorite NC State sports blog Backing the Pack (Wolfpack!) has a poster that always sums up how they're feeling about any given game by stating he’s "scared sh*tless until proven otherwise.” So, yeah, that's how I feel about 2020. I like to say that as a lifelong State fan and a lifelong Democrat, I know all too well what it is to see defeat snatched out of the jaws of victory. Let's get to work, y'all.
Other than politics, what’s a passion of yours?
Writing and performing music is something I cannot not do, and I like being creative visually as well. That said, one of the things I most treasure is working with youth. I worked at camps through college, did some teaching and one-on-one work with students with special needs, and now volunteer with elementary kids and teens who are burn survivors through the NC Jaycee Burn Center. That and I usually become a playground when my friends’ and cousins’ kids are around.
Who do you admire in politics? Why?
Paul Wellstone is the first person to pop up. He was probably my first glimmer of someone being able to articulate liberalism as a moral way forward in a way I thought my "hometown" folks would understand.
What would you say to someone who is feeling totally dejected by our current state of politics? And how do you stay in the fight?
In my experience, people who are feeling dejected are coming from the left – mostly frustrated by the inability of the Democratic party to “grow a backbone” or embrace FDR-type policies. Lots of complaints that most of the mainstream Ds are “Republican light.” I can totally sympathize and in most cases agree with this assessment, but I’d probably start with saying that all progressive policy is and has been under a systematic existential threat for 40-plus years because as unfair as it is, Democrats are held to a double standard. We’re a “big tent” party, which means that while idealistically we hold a majority of popular policy positions, we have a variety of demographics that we have to bring along, and thusly have to compromise not our ideals, but what we end up coming together on. We have to stay focused on the big picture – what we’ve been referring to as a “lesser of two evils” is not even remotely accurate when you have one side who is hellbent on completely dismantling 70 years of safety nets, social security, civil and reproductive rights, and environmental policy. The current state of our government – corporations paying little to no taxes, disinvestment of public education, Roe v. Wade under threat – has been the Republican long play since Nixon. I really feel that if we come together as a more united front, progressive thought will be able to push for better candidates. Vote for the folks who don’t want to literally set the house on fire, then push for the candidates that want to invest in a more equitable, healthy home. There are more of us when it comes down to it – we just have to participate!
Tell us about a political moment that inspired you, whether it was a personal conversation, a speech given by a president, or a recent “blue wave” moment.
I was volunteering in Wilson, North Carolina in 2008 when Obama won the presidency – I canvassed, walked and drove many folks to the polls there who’d never voted before. I still get goosebumps thinking about the camaraderie and pride folks felt participating in democracy for the first time.