CONGRESS IS KEY
Many of us are by now known by name at our congressperson's office. Either we helped elect them and they're already pretty much voting like we'd like, or the opposite is true and our voice is lost in an ocean of legal-person-like oil (or wine) money. So we can just vote the bums out, right? But voters are getting harder to reach. The glossy postcards that your tax dollars regularly send to physical mailboxes are barely getting glanced at. Email feels like an avalanche to most people. The unfortunates whose phone number have been divulged to political parties are literally deluged with messages in the final weeks. More and more people have only cell phones and defend themselves by not answering any number they don't recognize.
Ironically, the more politically active people get swamped while the others, the ones who could use a nudge, get mostly benign neglect. And we know that if Democrats voted with the same constancy as Republicans do, we'd win every election, every time. The nonvoters are the real swing vote. The key strategy is not to try to convince Republicans that Faux News is feeding them lies (although by all means do try, but that's a long-term personal project generally). What wins us seats is getting out the Democrat vote, or the on-the-fence vote, or the well-meaning 3rd party vote..
So what's an activist to do?
Ironically, the more politically active people get swamped while the others, the ones who could use a nudge, get mostly benign neglect. And we know that if Democrats voted with the same constancy as Republicans do, we'd win every election, every time. The nonvoters are the real swing vote. The key strategy is not to try to convince Republicans that Faux News is feeding them lies (although by all means do try, but that's a long-term personal project generally). What wins us seats is getting out the Democrat vote, or the on-the-fence vote, or the well-meaning 3rd party vote..
So what's an activist to do?
TURNING OUT THE VOTE
An experiment out of San Diego has shown a possible way. Some districts have increased turnout by 12% by the GO Team (Grassroots Organizing) tactic of knocking on voters' doors and just urging them to vote.
The mechanism is simple: the local Democrat party produces lists of Democrat-or-friendly registered voters, and volunteers go knock on those doors, introduce themselves as local volunteers/neighbors, and simply ask people to be sure and vote. Just doing that is the most effective. Locally, we had an interesting result last June. District 2, led with gusto by Malcolm McEwen, achieved a turnout 4% above the county average by simply encouraging voting. District 4, which was mostly urging people specifically to vote for Jimmy Paulding (a worthwhile cause, don't get us wrong, we did our best for him from afar) only raised their turnout 2%. So it seems that the more general you stay the better the results. Many people told us 'well, yes, I want to vote Democrat but I don't really like this guy...' and our answer was 'we don't like them all either, but it doesn't matter, vote your conscience, the important part is voting at all'.
And in fact it doesn't matter. In fact, we don't have a very good or diverse pool of candidates locally, and we don't have to replace a Republican by an as-bad-in-different-ways Democrat. But getting Democrats to the polls will improve things in a general way, better than urging any specific issue.
The mechanism is simple: the local Democrat party produces lists of Democrat-or-friendly registered voters, and volunteers go knock on those doors, introduce themselves as local volunteers/neighbors, and simply ask people to be sure and vote. Just doing that is the most effective. Locally, we had an interesting result last June. District 2, led with gusto by Malcolm McEwen, achieved a turnout 4% above the county average by simply encouraging voting. District 4, which was mostly urging people specifically to vote for Jimmy Paulding (a worthwhile cause, don't get us wrong, we did our best for him from afar) only raised their turnout 2%. So it seems that the more general you stay the better the results. Many people told us 'well, yes, I want to vote Democrat but I don't really like this guy...' and our answer was 'we don't like them all either, but it doesn't matter, vote your conscience, the important part is voting at all'.
And in fact it doesn't matter. In fact, we don't have a very good or diverse pool of candidates locally, and we don't have to replace a Republican by an as-bad-in-different-ways Democrat. But getting Democrats to the polls will improve things in a general way, better than urging any specific issue.
JOIN THE GO TEAM
Many of us are middle-aged women, who are not used to being pushy, much less to knocking on strangers' doors. The mere idea often brings back traumatic memories of girl-scout cookie selling. But this is not selling! You're not going to be talking to anyone who's not already sympathetic to your message. Moreover, we do our utmost to send you out in teams, so that if you find yourself speechless there will be someone else to help you, or at least make you feel supported. You get initial training, and we also try hard to match a beginner with a more experienced person.
So you won't be alone out there, climbing dusty hills into the unknown, peddling shady encyclopedias. Especially since we try to match you with your neighborhood, or one you already know pretty well. Most people are downright happy to see you. The most shy, retiring introverts have taken to this door-knocking with great enthusiasm, really :-).
The Cambria team is led by our own Jane Lloyd. She'll be happy to talk to you and provide you with a patch of your own, just use the form below. September is when it's at, so please get in touch now!!
So you won't be alone out there, climbing dusty hills into the unknown, peddling shady encyclopedias. Especially since we try to match you with your neighborhood, or one you already know pretty well. Most people are downright happy to see you. The most shy, retiring introverts have taken to this door-knocking with great enthusiasm, really :-).
The Cambria team is led by our own Jane Lloyd. She'll be happy to talk to you and provide you with a patch of your own, just use the form below. September is when it's at, so please get in touch now!!
