It’s another Saturday so for those who tune in, welcome to a Saturday Diary of Nuts & Bolts of a Democratic Campaign. Each week, we discuss issues that help drive successful campaigns, and once a month we look into “Horrible mistakes you should avoid” (last Saturday of a month). If you’ve missed prior diaries, please visit our group or follow Nuts & Bolts Guide.
For those who have been following, you know that our candidate, Jessica Jones, is preparing her run for a state senate seat. Her campaign has already assembled data, gathered local resources, she’s begun to interact in a way designed to generate some earned media.
Now, when we talk about Nuts & Bolts, today we are going to talk about the most essential element of Nuts & Bolts, putting together an effective canvass. How important is this? Well, canvass management is one of the few subjects we will re-visit and next week we’re going to combine this up with videos (GASP!) that help demonstrate some of the tools we are discussing this week.
So, let’s get going!
First things first, let’s talk about what canvass actually is.
Canvassing is the process of going door-to-door in a neighborhood, and discussing the candidate’s issues with the voters who live there. Canvassing is about identifying voters, issues, volunteers and capturing data. Every interaction at the doorstop will be recorded correctly in order to make sure teh data that is received by the campaign is accurate and can help them identify where and how to deploy their resources in a primary or general election.
The goal of a canvass is to SUCCESSFULLY complete conversations with as many potential voters as possible over the course of an election. I want to focus primarily on what a successful interaction is at the doorstop, and how you can increase (or decrease) your chances of getting that interaction. Before we get to that, though, we are going to talk about logistics.
Many campaigns will strongly prefer PAID CANVASS. While many who hear the term will think of non-local political groups walking a district, in many cases paid canvass are locals who are simply being repaid for their time. The reason why campaigns may prefer paid canvass are as follows:
- Paid Canvass is considered more reliable. A campaign who believes they will have 3 or 10 canvassers on any given day believes that should those canvassers be paid, they are much more likely to appear and work, volunteers are considered less reliable in the number of hours they walk or issues with them not showing up at all.
- Paid Canvass can be trained in a much more in-depth way in regards to the specific campaign for which they are walking. Some campaigns believe that volunteer canvass can and will discuss other campaigns on the doorstop, which can impact the reach of their candidate.
- Paid Canvass can be terminated for poor performance. Volunteers are seen as difficult to “fire” for poor performance, and this causes some candidates consternation as to how to release canvass who are not effective for a campaign.
Whether your campaign pays canvass or uses volunteers, many of the rules remain the same. Let’s talk about some of the rules.
Canvass Training & Management
Before any canvass can hit the streets, the campaign has to be prepared to properly train and manage their campaign. Untrained or poorly managed canvass can be a negative for your campaign. In 2000, Al Gore for President ran mixed canvass in the Kansas City, Missouri market. This canvass picked up sheets and walked — fantastic! Due to targeting issues, however, some households were visited as many times as 5 or 6 over the course of two months while other homes were not visited at all.
This is the role of a Canvass Cordinator, who will help make sure that data is properly checked in and followed in order to make sure that voters are reached effectively without risking voter fatigue.
The importance of data gathering here is critical; not just to identify voters, but to create effective patterns of where to walk during their scheduled canvass.
I Plan to Canvass, What are the basics?
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Attire: Dress appropriately for the purpose. Do not wear tattered shirts, shorts, clothes with promotional material for name brands, sports teams, etc. You do not know how a person at a door feels about any of those items, do not let your appearance color your conversation with a potential voter or sidetrack you from the purpose. Your town sports team is doing well and you want to support them? GREAT! But the conversation at a door should not be about your sports team; it should be focused around the candidate.
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Personal Appearance: Hair should be in proper order, clean, and presentable. While I wish this didn’t have to be said, canvassers should look well kept, they cannot smoke or chew tobacco products as they canvass as a matter of appearance. Canvassers cannot stink! You will be walking, and sweat can happen. Canvassers should be aware deodorant is not a personal choice and is required for their job.
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Walking Paths: You are representing your campaign. Follow walking paths in the neighborhood in which you are walking. Do NOT walk on a voter’s grass if they have sidewalk or other walkway to reach their door. You do not know how they may feel about that; do not alienate them before your conversation starts.
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Do Not Carry Food or Drink With You. You may have a vehicle that moved you into an area to do your canvass work. Do NOT carry with you to the doorstop food or drink in your conversation with a voter. No one wants to talk to you with food in your mouth, and other items in your hand as you try to collect data can have bad results. Do not leave any trash in the area in which you are canvassing, food and drink do that. Treat their yard/door as you would your own, with respect. Make sure your canvassers have water that they can put in a commonly parked vehicle or area that they can reach between canvass, but avoid carrying around such items if possible. (NOTE: in some areas of the nation, carrying a water bottle is an accepted exception due to nature of weather in that region)
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DO. NOT. ARGUE. WITH. THE. VOTER. : If you reach a voter who is resistant to your campaign or notes that they will not vote for your candidate, THANK THEM for their time and move on. DO NOT, repeat DO NOT, argue with a voter or stay at that door. Thank them for their time and MOVE ON.
What’s with this Tally Sheet?
Campaigns will make use of Tally Sheets, a way to code your conversation with voters at the door. Some campaigns will use mobile devices in order to capture tally sheets. You can use paper, NGP-VAN Mobile, Organizer, PDI Mobile, etc. Whatever you use, the Tally Sheet is your way of capturing data critical for your campaign.
It is important that all interactions at the door be coded on a tally sheet!
Canvassers Are NOT the Candidate. Conversations To Avoid.
- Voters may ask your canvass questions about policy issues for your candidate. Your canvass is NOT the candidate. Canvassers who are asked these questions that are not a specific part of their script should respond: I’d encourage you to visit the website or call this # (the candidate’s office) and they will gladly take time to talk to you about the issue.
- Voters may press on the issue; but good canvass needs to be clearly aware that they are NOT the candidate and they do not speak for the candidate on policy issues. This also relates to “Do Not Argue with the Voter.”
- Your time in canvass is limited per door. You want a good interaction, but you cannot spend all day at a door. Be aware of the need to say “thank you for your time, I have your information, and I need to move on. Thank you!” Be as polite as possible, but do not get trapped in a conversation.
In order to hammer home Canvass, next week we Nuts & Bolts will feature several VIDEOS demonstrating good and bad door interactions as well as a more in-depth overview of the practice.
With that in mind: Go Knock Doors!
Nuts & Bolts: Building Democratic Campaigns
Contact the Daily Kos group Nuts and Bolts by kosmail (members of Daily Kos only).
Every Saturday this group will chronicle the ins and outs of campaigns, small and large. Issues to be covered: Campaign Staffing, Fundraising, Canvass, Field Work, Data Services, Earned Media, Spending and Budget Practices, How to Keep Your Mental Health, and on the last Saturday of the month: “Don’t Do This!” a diary on how you can learn from the mistakes of campaigns in the past.