(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Democrats & Independents Want to See Adults in the Room Governing in Swing States [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-06-04 For those in America who hadn’t figured it out, Democrats are the adults in the room tending to a bunch of careless teenagers still throwing temper tantrums when they don’t get their way. Voters have certainly picked up on that. Well, the voters in the 9 Swing States that Hope Springs from Field have been talking to, anyway. Top 3 Most Mentioned Issues of Voters who answered Issues Survey The phrase “the adults in the room" didn’t appear in voter conversations with our volunteers until May 20th, when all of a sudden (in this context), the tense negotiations over Raising the Debt Ceiling became a concern that voters would mention when we asked them, “What Issue do you believe is most urgent facing our country at this time?” Since March 4, Hope Springs from Field PAC has been knocking on doors (as weather and primaries permit) in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Virginia — all critical states that will determine who is our President and who holds the Senate majority in 2025. We start canvassing before campaigns do, in an effort to recreate what used to be the first and second rounds of the traditional 5-round canvass before the global pandemic upended Democratic efforts at door-to-door voter contact. These first two rounds were friendly touches, with a purpose of cleaning up walk lists (determining who still lived at the address), building up the Democratic brand and reminding voters that Democrats are serious about governing. Registering new voters (and we now make sure voter addresses are up-to-date to comply with federal and state law), asking if they is anything government can do for their family. Each state, of course, was different and this kind of voter contact, which goes back more than a century, developed regional, state and even local variations over that time. Democratic machines in urban areas were particularly effective at utilizing personal voter contact into GOTV for Democratic candidates. The campaign 5-round canvass resembles (or is a variation of) the 6 rounds of personal touches from Democratic committee precinct chairs in the best organized city machines “back in the day.” I use the phrase back in the day because this was a time when being a precinct worker often led to jobs and other sweet perks that kept Democrats in power and Democratic Machines manned. A lot of those practices are now against the law. Others have been overtaken by technology. And some have even been re-invented, to sustain the purpose of these multiple contacts. Biden Approval Hope Springs from Field volunteers walk with an Issues Canvass, where we ask voters what they think and whether they have a message for their elected officials. We find that most voters who aren’t in a hurry or in the middle of something are willing to answer at least a couple of these questions, especially their top issue or concern and their views of President Biden. Right off the bat, we are establishing whether the person identified in the VAN voter file still resides at this address. Precinct committee people would likely already know who they were talking to because of the frequency of their contact with voters in their precinct. The best precinct workers knew when houses were for sale and would visit new residents after they were sold. Housing units (apartments, condos) captains would track who left and moved in, as well. But we are using volunteers, generally volunteers who don’t live in that particular precinct. And we are using a much more sophisticated database to compensate for this lack of local knowledge. Creating a conversational tone, where voters actually lead the discussion (in response to these questions that we try to share with the voter up front) also makes it easier for the volunteer. We are asking voters to do something that social media has trained them to do: share information about themselves, information that will make it easier for the Democratic campaigns that use VAN for their campaigns. Asking voters what they perceive the most urgent issue facing the country right now is an invitation for the voter to share what is on their mind. And that’s how we got to the phrase “the adults in the room.” As in, ‘Democrats have to be the adults in the room.’ ‘Only Democrats are adults in the room.’ ‘Can we count on Democrats to be the adults in the room?’ Lots of variations. Lots of way about defining Democrats as grown-up (and Republicans as petulant children). But voters were telling us something else. They were telling us that they recognized the seriousness of defaulting on the federal debt, and they understood that Republicans were mostly reckless, irresponsible and, lastly, they were afraid of what Republicans would do if Democrats “didn’t bail us out.” Pretty weighty stuff for voters to be thinking about. Here’s the thing: we got those kinds of responses whether the voter identified MSNBC as their primary source of information about politics and government, or CNN or Foxnews. Didn’t matter if they relied on the local newspapers or the internet. It broke across the lines, male, female, younger voters or older voters. Sure, this concern was utterly driven by the news of the moment. We never saw it mentioned before, not in any of the last three years where we have done this. Hope Springs from Field PAC has been knocking on doors since March in a grassroots effort to prepare the 2024 Electoral Battleground in what has been called the First and Second Rounds of a traditional Five Round Canvass. We are canvassing Democrats and unaffiliated voters with a systematic approach that reminds them not only that Democrats care, but Democrats are determined to deliver the best government possible to all Americans. 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/fistfulofsteel Hope Springs from Field PAC 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. Biden Disapproval #s One other thing of note, although the correlation isn’t perfect, Biden’s approval numbers went down and disapproval numbers went up as voters became worried about the effects of a potential debt default. Voter responses to our questionnaire are entered into VAN and made available to all Democratic candidates who use VAN in the state after the primary. Creating this kind of data isn’t done with a specific goal in mind but has the purpose of engaging voters and creating a dataset that any Democratic candidate can use for a general election. We ask voters who talk to us whether they approve or disapprove of the job the president, their incumbent Senator (up for election this year), and how their governor (if they are up for election this year) is doing. After the primaries, we also ask about the Democratic Senate and nominees. We also provide voters with the opportunity to fill out Constituent Service Request forms. Completed CSRs are passed along to Democratic office holders, when possible, but decidedly to the appropriate office, if not. And we ask voters who express concerns about upcoming elections if they had witnessed an election incident, voter intimidation or suppression in the past. Those who have are asked if they want to fill out an Incident Report. These serve the purpose of guiding our Election Protection efforts, as well as serve as evidence in Election-related court cases. We are also asking voters in Georgia and North Carolina whether they have the required photo ID they will have to present to vote. We don’t just ask voters this at their door, we are also working with Black Churches in these states to help spread the message and to organize Voter ID days in their local Registrar’s/BOE office. In Georgia, Hope Springs from Field conducted 56 Voter ID days from June 12th, 2021 to October 2022 and helped 18,478 voters get the photo ID cards they needed to vote. For the most part, we knew who these voters were, especially those who were mobilized through the Black Churches. While 18,478 voters got their photo IDs according to the Registrar’s offices in 21 counties, we came away with a list of 13,168 names that we could match to voter history after the November 2022 election. Just to be clear, our efforts amounted to 13,168 voters who turned out to vote in November, voters who would otherwise have been turned away. This why this kind of early organizing effort has been called Deep or Relational Organizing. When the Senate or presidential campaigns start canvassing in these Swing States, our volunteers are encouraged to take their sweet canvassing skills there, while we revert to GOTV preparation. The latter, of course, will include continuation of our out-reach to the new voters we have registered during the election cycle! Hope Springs has targeted states that have competitive Senate races and/or the Electoral College in 2024, as well as Congressional Districts that are remapped in ways that offer opportunities or vulnerabilities for Democrats next year (specifically those where a Republican won a Congressional District that voted for Biden in 2022). There is a lot of work to be done! Especially since we have had to expand the map this year. By starting early, and aiming towards super-compliance with these really, really onerous provisions, Hope Springs from Field PAC seeks to undermine that strategy, while informing voters about the new laws and regulations aimed at them. 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 and election protection, please help: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/fistfulofsteel Thank you for your support. This work depends upon you! 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