If you are like me, retaining the Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate is our primary goal going into the 2022 elections, and Pennsylvania is our best opportunity to retain and increase our majority there.
There are a number of important factors why this is the general consensus. First of all, it’s an open seat. Open seats are easier to win than trying to unseat an incumbent. But Senate elections are increasingly following the results of the prior presidential cycle. Biden won Pennsylvania, yet it was a lot closer than many of us expected (and definitely hoped). CNN calls this the Senate seat “most likely to flip.”
And the presidential results from 2020 give us a roadmap to follow to win in 2022: expand the electorate (especially after having largely abandoned the ground game in 2020) and mobilize the suburbs, east and west. This is by no means assured. The Democratic party in Pennsylvania is a meager version of what it was 20 years ago. There are Pennsylvania Republicans who hope that, with Trump not on the ballot, suburban voters will come back to the GOP — but there’s no sign that Trump will sit out the next election or let people forget what he wants. We have no idea if Trump supporters will vote in 2022. And Mitch McConnell remains a tactical force for which we have no answer. He and the super Pac(s) associated with McConnell are as committed as ever to regaining the Senate majority.
We know we can turn the tide here and elect a Democrat to the Senate in Pennsylvania. There is work to be done, though, and that work is on the ground. On Saturday, Hope Springs from Field PAC canvassed in three states: Texas, Pennsylvania and Georgia. This was our third week of canvassing in Pennsylvania, where we have been concentrating on suburban areas that have been trending in our direction.
Our primary focus at the door is the Issues Canvass. This was developed in Pennsylvania 15 years ago and used by Dean (DFA) groups there to help secure the Bob Casey win over the incumbent. The “shine” of that victory, beating a particularly despised incumbent (Rick Santorum), continues to reverberate in the suburbs we are canvassing (perhaps more so for the canvassers than voters). One volunteer noted that, until Trump won Pennsylvania in 2016, they felt like they were headed in the right direction. Of course, that changed after the surprising result of 2016.
An early online version of the Issues Canvass form can be found here but the questionnaire basically asks (among other things):
- Are you a registered voter at this address?
- What Issue do you believe is most urgent facing our country at this time?
- If you could send one message to your Member of Congress, what would it be?
- Do you have a favorable or unfavorable impression of how President Biden is handling his job?
- Where do you get most of your information about politics and government?
The answers to the Issues Canvass are being added to VAN (the Democratic database) in an open-source manner, which should allow all Democrats who use the database to access them.
We are also walking with Constituent Service Request Forms. Constituent Service Request Forms are used by Democratic officeholders at various levels in their official capacity, but they are rarely taken door to door (which is sad, because they are an effective means for generating support and enthusiasm for candidates). We include them in our canvasses because many of the neighborhoods we are knocking don’t have a lot of contact with their officeholders and we are trying to connect them with their voters. Completed forms are turned over to the Democratic officeholder best suited for the request.
Hope Springs from Field PAC is focused on the ground, face to face conversations that have proven effective in turning out voters year in and year out. By knocking on doors and delivering a hopeful, clear message, we want to remind voters of the differences between Democrats and Republicans, especially with their current fascination with keeping Trump happy.
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/hopefield
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 and our cause. 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).
On Saturday, we led 45 volunteers in Bucks county drawn primarily from old Dean lists, the Obama volunteer list and people who had expressed an interest in the ground game. They knocked on 3,285 doors and talked to 427 voters. 401 questionnaires were completed. Residents filled 28 Constituent Service Request Forms, which have now been turned over to the appropriate Democratic public officials who can help them with their issues.
Our main expenses (at this time) are typical canvassing materials (water, snacks, walk packets, lit) as well as the mobile printers we are purchasing to comply with the voter ID requirements in other states. At this time, all the money we raise is devoted to this. But we are relying upon the Obama alumni network right now for organizers and cutting turf. We want to bring in other field organizers as we are able, especially since many of the people who are cutting turf now will want to devote more of their volunteer time to the candidates and causes they support.
But all of us believed that Democratic candidates down ballot should have done better than they did (especially where Democratic incumbents lost) because we were not able to run a full field program due to the Covid restrictions and our commitment to our supporters (and volunteers) health. Much of the work we are doing now is make-up work. Voter registration, cleaning up our lists, running a full voter contact program are things we couldn’t do in 2020, and we don’t want to suffer, especially with redistricting changing lines and electoral districts. We have a lot of work to do!
If you are able to support our efforts to protect Democratic voters, especially in minority communities, expand the electorate, and believe in grassroots efforts to increase voter participation, please do:
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/hopefield
Thank you for your support.