O.K. I confess that Howard Dean personally did not interrupt my family's dinner this evening; however, two of his local minions did indeed knock at our door. Just as I was strapping my 8-month-old son into his highchair, the doorbell rang. Our front entrance is downstairs and we weren't expecting any visitors, so I opened our front window and called downstairs. Two fresh-faced young men appeared after stepping back from the front door. Both young men were carrying clipboards and both were wearing buttons bearing the Democratic National Committee "DNC" logo. Follow me below the fold for what I think is a discussion that MUST BE HAD about what happened next and its implications for the 50 state strategy.
Despite the dinner interruption, it was nice to see some on-the-ground evidence of Howard Dean's 50 State Strategy at work. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and it sometimes feels as if we are considered such a safe bet (i.e., being the "Bluest City on Earth" as our local Air America Radio affiliate often refers to this area) that we are overlooked by the DNC when it comes to making connections with average run-of-the-mill Democrats.
I shouted "hello" and the younger of the two men began his "elevator pitch" which began immediately with a request for a donation. I explained to the younger man that my wife and I had been giving regularly to the DNC through the Democracy Bond Program. I swear that all I got back from him was a blank stare of confusion. He then resumed his pitch and asked if I might come down to talk to him about making a donation. The slightly older fellow then jumped in and explained that his associate was still "in training", acknowledged my Bond program participation, and then asked if I would be willing to make an additional one-time donation.
I then patiently explained that I was a member of my local chapter of Democracy for America and had doubled my donation to them this year. I told them that I also gave some money to the national DFA organization. In addition, I've made some small donations to the DCCC, MoveOn.PAC, and several of the individual campaigns including Busby (CA-50).
He then asked AGAIN if I'd consider another donation. I continued, explaining that I'd also donated to the local PBS affiliate, the local food bank, the local children's center, the International Red Cross, etc., etc. The more experienced fellow grimaced and admitted that even he hadn't been trained for how to respond to what I had told him. He then smiled, thanked me, and both young men headed off to my neighbor's house.
I wasn't listing all the donations that my wife and I had made to brag or to show off our generosity. We're not rich, and most of the donations are small, but they are what we can afford. Mostly, I was trying to explain that as much as I wanted to give more, I was simply tapped out.
I guess I'm relating this story to all of you because I wanted to use it to stimulate a discussion about how this whole interaction might have gone better, particularly in light of recent discussions by Kos about how the Republicans have such a technological advantage over Democrats when making strategic decisions about deploying people for their ground campaigns. I was thinking that given all the donations we had made to progressive causes, and the fact that we were Democracy Bond holders, wouldn't it have better for DNC to avoid our house, knowing that we are already among the converted. Alternatively, perhaps they could have knocked on our door, acknowledged our Bond donation, thanked us for it, and presented some opportunities for getting involved locally or a list of upcoming events. Perhaps they could have introduced themselves and asked questions about the political leanings of our neighbors and collected data for a database. Basically, I think making a connection and then (PERHAPS) asking for some more money would have been better, given our history. Heck, maybe I would have given them my next day's lunch money at that point. I don't really know the right answer. I'm just throwing out ideas and offering what is hopefully some gentle constructive criticism. Howard was the person who got us active in politics, so I'm still very supportive of the 50 State Strategy.
Everything I've read about RNC efforts on the ground suggests that they are local and involve a lot of networking and building trust. Basically, neighbor talking to neighbor. I was a little saddened and disappointed that my first experience with someone from my own political party (as opposed to the many other grassroots and single-issue organizations that frequently knock on our door) was just another example of being treated like an ATM and nothing more.
What do you all think? How does one pass along any good suggestions that I get here to the local DNC office?
UPDATE: Lots of great comments and exactly what I wanted to see--a spirited discussion. I want to repeat that the young men were clearly DNC. They had ID buttons, literature with the letterhead, identified themselves as DNC reps, and one I think even had a DNC T-shirt. If they were imposters, they went to a lot of trouble. Still, I also want to reiterate that they were VERY nice and were clearly doing the best job they could. I wanted to talk more, but I had to feed my two little boys. I looked for them after dinner, hoping that I could invite them in for a bathroom break, so hot tea or water, and to give them my suggestions. I couldn't find them at that point, and it was getting dark. Again, I posted this in hopes that other people doing canvassing see it and perhaps pass the ideas on to their superiors so we might, as a Party, make some "course corrections" in our our approach. Alternatively, does anyone know how I can find the local headquarters or office of the DNC? I could send them my comments. I don't want to get these boys in trouble. I just want to help them improve their technique.
UPDATE2:I agree with many commenters that it would not be a good idea to give ground workers personal information. Still, higher level people at DNC headquarters could use commerical databases and donor data to lump people into categories like "strong supporter, follow up with solicitation to volunteer and a thankyou" or something like that and provide that info to state offices.