Knock Three Times and Tell Me that You Voted

Hope Springs from Field PAC volunteers in Northern California and Pennsylvania were busy last night!  Every door was tagged, every flag was planted, and — working until 1:12 AM (Pacific time) this morning — every “front” door was found.  Yeah, it’s only 9 here.  I did mention this was a basically a 20-24 hour gig at this part of the election cycle.

In between (8 PM and 1 AM), some of our California volunteers threw me, 5 of our Georgia, 2 of our North Carolina and 2 of our Ohio SuperVolunteers a little going away party.  It was sweet — if undeserved, from my point of view.

             Obligatory Consensus 2026 Senate Map

And there were some tears.  One volunteer told me that “this was how the Democratic party was supposed to be.”  I didn’t correct her — we’ve only been filling in the holes, not the party — and it’s really up to all of us to make the Democrats the party we envision.  Tomorrow night, i’ll be home to try to do that to my home-town Democrats, the Arlington Dems.

I’ve been camped out in California for about a week (save for my Voter Protection trip to D.C.) and today that task is done (well, all save the fund-raising to pay for it all).  But these elections will be won, i am very confident of that.

Hope Springs came here with a purpose: put some fight in the Democrats here (surrounded, in their minds, by Republicans everywhere) and leave behind skills, experience and winning attitude so that these envisioned blue Congressional Districts can win next year.  I have to admit, president felon makes that easier.

We’ve been knocking on doors every day of the week last week in California and Pennsylvania.  That’s how we do GOTV (Get-Out-the-Vote).  We’ve been “dragging” voters to Voting Centers or to mail their ballots (whichever they prefer and is available).  We have talked to more than 109,588 voters Democrats in Northern California since Labor Day.  In Pennsylvania, we have talked to more than 228,068 voters.

Today, we try (again) to reach out and touch our 1s and 2s, and make sure they have voted.  If not, we offer to take them to the polls.  That’s what we mean by dragging.

In Northern California, we identified 32,693 1s (strong supporters of Prop 50) and in Pennsylvania, we identified 22,685 1s.  These made up the core of our GOTV lists.  We had more 2s, but some of those numbers bled back into the 1s, so harder to really say how many unique 2s we had going into election day.

But we’ve found a number of 1s who have turned in their ballot at an Early Voting Center or by mail.  Mail makes it a little harder because VAN doesn’t record the ballot returned until the elections office receives it.  Still, those 32,693 1s in California have been whittled down to 11,641 and the 22,685 1s in Pennsylvania down to 14,052.  

We will drive and drag (pull in our nomenclature) these remaining 1s and 2s (as well as close by Democrats as modelled within VAN — why bypass a base voter, especially in the 2nd or 3rd pass).  Hence, the reference to the 70s tune, knock three times.

Hope Springs from Field PAC began knocking on doors in California after Labor Day, in support of Prop 50 and has been canvassing in Pennsylvania since March 29th.  We target Democrats and unaffiliated voters with a systematic approach that reminds them not only that Democrats care, but that Democrats are determined to deliver the best government possible to all Americans.  The voters we talk to continue to tell us they come away more invested in governance and feel more favorably towards Democrats in general because of our approach.

Obviously, we rely on grassroots support, so if you support field/grassroots organizing, voter registration (and follow-up) and our efforts to protect our voters, we would certainly appreciate your support:

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/UNRIGtheMidterms

Hope Springs from Field understands that volunteer to voter personal interactions are critical.  Knocking on doors has repeatedly been found to be the most successful tactic to get voters to cast a ballot and that is the goal of what we do.

Yes, we really need your help here!  Our printer’s bills are — like most things — much higher than we had anticipated for the year.  Adding extra states (like California) did not help the budget!

GOTV is one thing that Hope Springs volunteers have gotten really good at.

Last night, 68 volunteers came out to tag, plant and locate 12,849 doors in Northern California.  These are our 1s, 2s and modelled supporters conveniently close-by (like next door) to our 1s and 2s.  Our final GOTV list for today’s knock and pull.

In Pennsylvania, 74 volunteers came out to knock on doors last night.  They visited 14,786 homes of 1s, 2s and modelled supporters conveniently close-by (like next door) to our 1s and 2s.  We expect about 700 today in each state.

This is pure Get-Out-the-Vote.  But that means driving from door-to-door.  Sometimes for miles before the next door.  We’ve already helped out a few of these volunteers with gift cards for gas, because, well, gas isn’t cheap (no matter what the president claims!).

This is my last post from California.  Tomorrow, it’s back to president felon’s Rigged Districts and our fight to make him sorry next November.  The fight goes on and on.

Hope Springs is a seat-of-the-pants grassroots-driven operation.  We don’t have employees but we realize that to formalize and professionalize this effort that will have to change eventually.  We are a bottom up project, one that doesn't just help Democratic presidential, senate and house candidates, but every Democrat running for office in these swing state areas (who uses VAN).

Hope Springs has been called “the most comprehensive, organized grassroots voter contact project out there right now.  It is truly astonishing that it is grassroots-based!”  Not sure why it is “astonishing,” but i probably have more faith in grassroots or self-organized efforts because of my experience with Barack Obama’s early days in 2007.

No other Democratically-aligned org has been methodically trying to circumvent MAGA efforts to rig the House Midterm elections.  And we need your help to continue.  Our printer costs alone are way beyond our budgeting.

If you are able to support Hope Springs from Field’s efforts to protect Democratic voters, especially in minority communities, expand the electorate, and believe in grassroots efforts to increase voter participation and election protection, we would appreciate your support:

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/UNRIGtheMidterms

If you would rather send a check, you can follow that link for our mailing address at the bottom of the page.  Thank you for your support.  This work depends upon you!