(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Kicking off GOTV in Ohio, and Voters Respond "Hell, YES!" [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-10-11 “In four weeks, voters in the Buckeye State will decide whether to enshrine abortion protections into the state constitution or be the first to reject an abortion-rights measure since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.” Early Voting begins today in Ohio. Last Saturday, Hope Springs from Field PAC began our hybrid GOTV canvassing in the major metropolitan suburbs. So far, we have identified 126,938 Reproductive Freedom voters who will comprise much of our suburban GOTV universe. This includes everything: voters who have told us they opposed Issue 1, voters who have told us over the last two years they were Abortion single voters, or named Reproductive Rights as a Top state or federal issue, etc. Any voter who gave us any indication they would vote to support this constitutional amendment this year. In some areas, where resources permit, we will fold Democratic voters into that universe. This time (as opposed to the August special election) we have a trained core of volunteers who are knocking on doors. In the Summer, we had to help volunteers adjust to our expansive walk sheets. We ask people to sign up for 3 hour shifts, provide training for “attacking doors,” which is grassroots-speak for predicting whether there is anyone home before you even knock on their door. We even have volunteers who count out the 8 seconds we recommend before turning away to go to the next door if you don’t think there is anyone home. So we don’t have a leisurely approach to canvassing. (We have a conversational approach, which means not wasting time on doors where no one is home.) You gotta love the continuation of the Ohio-Michigan rivalry You might even call it a competitive approach. In 2008, Ohio was the staging ground for several Illinois-based Obama canvassers who spent the day knocking on doors in the presidential primary. I was in Shaker Heights, another was in Columbus etc, where we went out with the intention of knocking on more doors than the others. I knocked on 429 doors, and it’s a story i tell lots when volunteers start talking about our walk lists being bigger than their local Dems or candidates. “You gave up 3 hours of your Saturday,” i will say, “and we want to make sure you feel like it was worth it.” But where Hope Springs from Field volunteers really understand our approach is when we talk about out-of-state volunteers who come in to knock on doors. Who would want to drive for hours to come out and get a walk sheet of 45 doors? Regardless, putting this constitutional amendment was a grassroots thing, and our volunteers have dived right in. At least 10 Ohio volunteers have knocked on more doors in their shifts than the 126 doors I had knocked in mine one Saturday there this year. Competitive, indeed. (It hurts (a little) when they say they don’t want to be out-walked by the old man.) One of the most frequent observations is when our volunteers talk about exchanging their “No” (or “Hell, No!”) swag for “Yes” swag. In the August special election, we were fighting against the Republican initiative to increase the percentage of the vote that ballot amendments (like the one we are fighting for now) would need to win. We soundly beat that back, but now we are asking voters to support amending the Ohio Constitution that would ensure women have the right to protect and control their bodies. Anti-Reproductive Rights signage for Nov. The anti-choice side was pretty swarmy in August trying to confuse voters about the issue then, and are back at it again. Compare the signage for the November No vote this time to that of the (very successful) No vote in August. Look familiar? Our opponents are hoping (again) to confuse voters this Fall. Pro-Reproductive Rights signage for August special election We have already run into this confusion at the doors. Realize that this election is just beginning to reach most voter’s consciousness but they are asking questions and pointing out the contradictions to us. Of course, the anti-choice people are arguing we are doing the same; many of the voters we talked to this week, when asked if they were supporting Issue 1 repeated back to us, “Doctor’s Orders!” It’s a frame that really works for us. We are asking a lot from our volunteers during GOTV, and GOTV lasts beyond Election Day in states like Ohio, where we can cure ballots. A full week longer. GOTV, baby! I’d say i was excited if i wasn’t already tired (getting old sucks). [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/11/2198689/-Kicking-off-GOTV-in-Ohio-and-Voters-Respond-Hell-YES?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=latest_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/