One of the few bright spots in my afternoon
It was a beautiful day yesterday in NW Indiana. A great day to walk door to door. I chose an assigned “turf” that had been distributed by the local official Bernie campaign office. I drove to a nearby suburban neighborhood and parked the car. Things went downhill from there.
If you have not canvassed for a Democratic candidate before, this is how it goes: The Indiana (and other states) Democratic Party subscribes to a service called VAN-VoteBuilder (Voter Activation Network). It is a detailed database of all registered voters and (supposedly) information about their likely support for a Democratic candidate. The database can be organized by neighborhoods and then cut into “turf” which should give you walkable areas that you can canvass for a candidate. The goal is to GOTV for likely/possible supporters of your candidate. It is specifically NOT to convert the heathen.
My first house — “We are definitely NOT Bernie supporters” — “He’s a socialist, 90% of my pay will go to the government.” — “Trump will save the country.” I should have said thank you for your time and left but I was intrigued and engaged the occupant about his ideas a little — specifically that there was a difference in a democratic socialist and the post-WWII socialist that he might be envisioning. Nope.
Off to the next house — thank goodness they weren’t home — left a pamphlet (learned to be thankful for those).
Down the line I dealt with:
“I’m a capitalist, I believe that a person should be able to keep what he earns” and even when engaging the homeowner and asking him if he thought he had a voice in his government, he thought it was “OK that people with more money had bought influence and were skewing regulations toward their own enrichment because ‘they had earned it.’” OK
“I’m a registered Republican” — “I sure wish they had come up with someone other than Pence to run for governor, he’s destroying our state.” “I hate all the Republican presidential candidates but I’ll pull a Republican ballot because I want to have a voice in local primary races.” (OK, I’m good with that). “Yes, I support the Democratic Superintendent of Public Instruction.” At the same house I engaged with the 5th grade daughter who claimed to be a Democrat (always look to the future). The parent was very engaged in involving the child in the political process and we talked about canvassing and voting and the debates. As I left the house, I told the parent, you really sound like a Bernie supporter to me.
Three union households that were strong Bernie supporters (throwing in that slim reinforcement that there is a reason to be in this neighborhood).
Several households where the high school student answered the door, said, “Yes, I’m old enough to vote. Yes, I’m registered to vote.” (So far so good) “We’re Republicans.” One student told me, “My whole household is Republican and this is a Republican neighborhood.”
One door slammed in the face.
Several I won’t vote for Bernie and I’d NEVER vote for Hillary.
And on, and on, an on.
Thank goodness it was time to go home.
So what’s the lesson here?
WTF Bernie office and VAN software? Why the hell was I spending my afternoon canvassing in an area — to specific houses — if these are confirmed Republican voters?
If I was a newbie at this, it probably would have been my last ever canvassing effort.
But I’m a fixer, I like to make things work.
So VAN and the Democratic Party that subscribes to it, PLEASE:
Make sure your data is accurate and up to date before handing it out to volunteers.
Make sure your data is accurate and up to date before handing it out to volunteers.
Make sure your data is accurate and up to date before handing it out to volunteers.
(I can’t say that enough times)
Sort your addresses by odds and evens, then either two people can walk a block or one person can walk it, up one side and back the other.
Really, really, really, consider incorporating some actual routing software. It’s out there, I’ve used it. When we delivered signs, a list of addresses was useless, until I put it in routing software like a pizza delivery would use and then — voila! — the shortest route from house to house and the signs are delivered efficiently. In a walking campaign this is especially useful in the winding lanes of townhouse developments.
Maybe next time will be better.
