(this is a second in a series of diaries about summer make-up work; the first is here. (parts three is here and four is here))
In my last diary, I talked about two reasons why Hope Springs from Field PAC is knocking on doors, talking to voters and engaging them as needed this summer: we need to make up for the field work we didn’t get to do last year and because voting rights are under attack. I want to continue on that second point a little more before I move on to the rest.
In an earlier diary, I talked about volunteers for the Georgia special Senate election from HBCUs convening to discuss how they could help circumvent the Republican effort to keep them and people like them from voting. One of the points they came to very early in the discussion was whether or not people could take printers out with them while they canvassed so they could help people in their communities get their photo IDs scanned and printed. They were looking at the new law in Georgia and trying to figure out how to get around its onerous effects.
It was an important lesson for them to learn, that they just don't have to give up (because that's what the Republicans want), that they can figure out how to get around their intended purpose. We are calling this "super compliance," mitigating Voter Suppression efforts through being super-organized, maintaining contact with voters, especially those who may have issues with the new laws, and doing everything we can to help get our voters to the polls.
Each state is different and we need to develop ground tactics that respond to different needs. In Florida, we have been gathering up information on Republican efforts in Central Florida to suppress the Hispanic vote, including insinuations that voters from Puerto Rico couldn't legally vote in Florida. Everywhere, we are forcefully reminding voters that they have to be registered to vote at their current address and that Republicans are trying to use Change of Address databases to infer some minority voters have to cast provisional ballots that would require them to prove their current address in order for their vote to count.
Several people have pointed out that, by telling people about the new laws and their impact upon Democratic voters, we are creating a new grievance -- and we might be pissing some people off. That could very well be, but I always like to remind people that visceral voters are damn likely voters. The point of canvassing now, before election season gets started -- hell, before the effects of re-districting are fully known -- is to help people understand and take care of any issues that might keep them from casting their ballot and having it counted.
Re-Districting is the third reason behind our efforts a year before votes are being cast (in most places). Because we did not do as well down ballot as we did in the presidential race, we lost state legislative races that we should have won, or, at least, hoped to.
Unlike 10 years ago, this time we knew in advance that Republicans were going to try to screw us as much as possible in re-districting. Even though we understood the challenges before 2020 with regards to re-districting, Covid-19 and the decision to forego field work until the last month really cost us down ballot. The DLCC did an amazing job, but our failure to knock on doors last year hurt those down ballot races more than those which were better known. Even lit drops, which most campaigns resorted to in the effort to raise name recognition and momentum couldn’t overcome the advantage that Republicans gained by a fully coordinated field campaign. We are playing catch-up, again.
Hope Springs from Field PAC is knocking on doors in a grassroots-led effort to make up this gap. We are thinking how to mitigate Voter Suppression efforts, get around them and make sure we have "super compliance," helping our voters meet the requirements and get out and vote. We are taking those efforts to the doors of the communities most effected (the intended targets or victims) of these new voter suppression laws.
Obviously, we rely on grassroots support, so if you support field/grassroots organizing and our efforts to protect our voters, we would certainly appreciate your support:
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/voterprotection
Hope Springs from Field PAC was started by former Obama Field Organizers because field was the cornerstone of our success. The approach we adopted was focused on listening, on connecting voters and their story to the candidate. Repeated face to face interactions are critical. And we are among those who believe that Democrats didn’t do as well in the 2020 Congressional races as expected because we didn’t knock on doors. We are returning to the old school basics: repeated contacts, repeated efforts to remind them of protocols, meeting them were they are. Mentoring those who need it (like first time and newly registered voters).
As we get closer to understanding what the new district lines are going to look like, we will start canvassing with the new lines in mind. We will be working towards introducing the “new” voters to their “new” Democratic incumbents, raising their name recognition and familiarity.
The fourth reason why we are canvassing in the hot sun is because people have stories. I don't want to sound flippant, but there are things we can learn this summer that can help us gain a foothold in next year's electorate. We are gathering data, inputting it into VAN, adding value to what Democrats know about voters.
We do this several ways. We are asking voters, "What do you think is the most urgent issue facing our country at this time?" Many, if not most, voters can answer this right off the bat. But for those who hesitate, we tell them, "It's not a test, we can move on." Some do want to give it thought, but most people that don't answer it right off are happy to do so. Which is fine, because we are looking for visceral voters here. Visceral voters always know the answer, without hesitation. And those voters will be making their voting decisions in whole and in part based on their answer to this question.
We met a younger woman and, presumably, her mother last weekend at their door in North Carolina. The younger woman had a Sunset Movement t-shirt on. She appeared right after a volunteer had posed the question. Her mother paused, but the young lady immediately said, global warming! Then she waited for her mother to respond. And when the volunteer used the "It's not a test" line, her (presumably) daughter responded, "yes, it is!"
We can, especially if we are canvassing in certain areas, gather information about voter's experiences at the polls in recent election. In Texas and Florida, especially, we have been gathering Incident Reports from voters who have witnessed or heard of acts of voter intimidation or suppression. Relying upon historical incidents, there are precincts where we flat out ask voters we talk to if they are aware of things like that where they vote. It won't surprise you to learn that precincts that have historical precedents tend to have higher instances of Early Voting. And if you are thinking, there must be a connection between Republican efforts to curtail early voting and increase the rights and/or power of poll watchers, you would be on to something. It is clear that Republicans want to drive Democratic voters into voting on Election Day in polls that have GOP poll watchers who are eager to challenge people they perceive to be Democrats to force them to cast a provisional ballot.
It's a thing.
As voters who have experienced this are relaying their stories, not only can we record them (and use them later on) but we can also remind them that there are ways to respond and challenge those people back. Reminding minority voters that they have rights and can report Incidents on, before and after election day gives them more confidence in going to the polls. If we didn't know this before, we certainly learned it in Georgia.
Being in listening mode, as opposed to persuasion canvassing, allows us the time to uncover things that matter to them at their door. Sometimes it is direct, like asking them if there is anything they'd like to say to their elected officials. Or offering Constituent Service Forms that we pass along to elected Democrats. Or just through the Observation slips that we arm canvassers with so they can add value to VAN, the Democratic database. The ability to look voters in the eye, provide reassurance that we are paying attention and that we care about their welfare, is something we need to do ALL THE TIME. Deep organizing demands it. Connecting with voters, not just right before an election, is just good politics.
But we believe it is also good for activists. Really good. One of the things that most Obama organizers believe is that you should walk turf you cut so you have an idea what you are sending your volunteers into. This sounds easy, but it is not uncommon for a campaign to assign a certain set of voters that aren't geographically confined, and it is the field organizer who decides how those doors get knocked when they cut turf. The beginning of cutting turf is easy, but it is not uncommon for organizers to want to complete the whole dataset and end up with terrible pieces of turf they want walked. Those are exactly the pieces of turf that need to be held out and not given to new or even less committed volunteers.
But the example above about the young lady with the Sunset Movement shirt is another vector here. She wanted her mother to say that climate change was her big issue, in part because she believed everyone should agree with her. This young lady walked with us last weekend, and she didn't talk to a single voter on her list that gave it as their big issue. And while I don't doubt that she was disappointed, she did have a positive experience and learned about the concerns that other voters had. When we live in an echo chamber, or only talk to people who think like ourselves, we can come to believe that everyone else thinks like we do. And Trump rally is an example of people looking only for people who do that. Democrats, the Democratic Party, remains a coalition of people who have different priorities but believe that good governance allows us to address all of them.
So we are knocking on doors because we gain knowledge and support by asking people what are their stories, what can we do for them in the political space. We don't do enough listening and we need to be doing it more, as a political party interested in governance and people's welfare. Talking to people at their doors, before they are in crisis mode, is the most comfortable means to learn about their stories, their priorities, their needs and their beliefs.
If you support grassroots efforts to protect the vote and our voters, especially in minority communities, please give if you are able:
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/voterprotection