(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Groundgame: GOTV for Pennsylvania & Georgia Canvasses because the Grassroots just don't stop! [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-10-26 We say all the time that Hope Springs from Field PAC is driven by its grassroots volunteers. They have a lot of input into our approach, the literature we pass out and even where we are canvassing. One of the things we have tried to “hold on to” has been a weather or temperature range: we don’t start knocking on doors in a state until it gets above 65° in the Spring and we definitely cancel canvassing when it is projected to be above 100° before noon. And, for the most part, volunteers agree (even appreciate it). 2024 Senate Battleground Map But all bets are off when we are approaching an election. As it should be. Here’s the thing: grassroots still drives this decision. This week, one volunteer told us, kinda resentfully, that “this election (in Pennsylvania) is just as important as that election (in Ohio.” And you can’t argue with that. Every election is important. Even more so for Democrats because we don’t have the fidelity to voting that Republicans do. We have to work for our turnout. I wish it weren’t so, but it is. The Democratic coalition is so diverse and so many of our core voters look at each election through the lens of, “what’s in it for me?” Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But it’s a fact. And it’s not going to change. The more voter contact we have, especially when it is matched by related advertising (field should be coordinated with message strategy), the more Democratic voters we turn out. And this is something we continue to emphasize in our trainings before each canvass. Democrats have lots and lots of people among us who have a sense of what the campaign message should be. Which is why we can have thousands and thousands of different messages out there — confusing voters. And it does (confuse voters). Message discipline is not only critical to the success for our Democratic candidates it is frustrating for all those Democrats and progressives who have a better idea. Incredibly frustrating. But voters are bombarded with tens, perhaps hundreds, of messages every day (buy this! believe that! do something else!) that it takes a kind of concerted message discipline on the part of all of us who want to win in order to win. Being grassroots driven, Hope Springs from Field hears a lot of the struggle to maintain that kind of concerted message discipline. But it is how we win. Anyway, the November election in Pennsylvania is important! Voters will select the newest state Supreme Court justice there. This year’s race will not change partisan control of the court, which currently has a 4-2 majority of judges elected as Democrats, with one vacancy after the September 2022 death of former Chief Justice Max Baer. But that majority could fade quickly, said Democratic political operative J.J. Abbott, as all four incumbent Democratic justices will either face retention or reach their mandatory retirement age by 2027. And, believe me, Republicans understand the need to play the long game. So we have to, as well. Our Pennsylvania volunteers have learned from their helping in Ohio this Summer about the “homework solution.” That’s what one Pittsburgh volunteer called it, who said she was frustrated by how few people she could talk to if she did phone banking or canvassing. “But if I take the (walk) list home, I find a lot more voters I can talk to!” By last Saturday, Pennsylvania volunteers found another 732 voters who answered at least some of the questions on our Issues Survey (we use a truncated version for phone calls) which more than doubled the number of voters we contacted the previous week. 527 volunteers came out to knock on doors in Philadelphia and the Pittsburgh suburbs last Saturday (despite the fact it never got above 65°). The grey Congressional Districts (PA-01, PA-07 & PA-17) represent most of where we are targeting, but we also walking on the Mainline and in minority neighborhoods in Philadelphia as well. Hope Springs volunteers knocked on 38,681 doors last Saturday and talked to 3009 voters. 1,947 of those voters answered questions to at least part of the Issues Survey. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/26/2201710/-Groundgame-GOTV-for-Pennsylvania-Georgia-Canvasses-because-the-Grassroots-just-don-t-stop?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_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/