(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Reaching Swing Voters before they decide means Knocking on Doors Early and Often [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-20 One of the things that you learn by working campaigns for *so* long is that voters make their decision of who they will vote for at different times in the electoral cycle. Some of us (like me) are locked in early. Presidential and senate campaigns that spend money on someone like me, who are locked in early, are really wasting their scarce resources (except for the purpose of raising money). But they still do it, generally because they don’t know better. But i am unusual. And a very small bit of the electorate. At the other end of the decision spectrum are those voters who don’t make up their minds until the last minute. The last day, the last minute, until they get their ballot. In an ideal world, all the money spent on the locked in voter (like me) would be diverted towards the last minute voter, but that’s not how it works. Because i (almost) always vote, i’m a safe bet for campaign decision makers. And because last minute decision makers are not dependable voters, they are less so. Because last minute decision makers have an out — they don’t have to vote. No one is making them, and one of the things we have found is that people who do not always vote have a plethora of excuses that can deter them, especially if they wait until the last minute (election day). But i don’t want to get side-tracked here (dwelling into the area of researching campaigns, voters, timing etc) — as interesting as i find it. That’s not my point. I premise this diary with that fact (that voters decide who they will cast their ballots for at different points in the electoral cycle) because it is important to understand that voters need information, they need contact, at the point they are making that decision, no matter what point of the election cycle they are doing so. Meeting voters where they are is key to the Hope Springs from Field PAC [website] philosophy. Even if Hope Springs volunteers don’t knock on their door when voters are deciding, our system is designed to leave a positive, and — apparently — lasting impression on voters. Every once in awhile, i note a decades-old habit of mine calling 10 volunteers, 10 organizers and 10 voters a week from the prior Saturday’s canvass. These are kind of check-in calls, and one reason why i call voters is to make sure that they have actually talked to one of our canvassers. This diary grew out of one of those calls. Most of the voters i talk to wonder why i am calling. We knocked on your door, and i wanted to talk about your experience. Some people think i am looking for a rating (which we are not), but one of the things i takeaway from these calls is that voters remember us. Sometimes i learn that spouses of voters we talk to remember us. And almost everyone that mentions it associates us with their local Democratic party (even though i and they note that we represent Hope Springs from Field)! Some have told me that their experience makes them feel empowered, which is interesting (to me — we don’t think a lot about impressions people have outside of data gathering; feelings aren’t exactly quantifiable afaik). This is one of the reasons why we send canvassers out with clipboards and train them to show voters the paperwork, whether it is the Issues Survey, the Constituent Service Request form, an Incident Report or even the Observation sheet, if a volunteer has observed something about the voter or their family (eg, they have children) they think they can write in front of them. Some of our volunteers have referred to this as transparency (that’s how they think about it) but it’s not really transparency. It’s more like voter confidence-building. The way *i* think about it is that data is valuable, incredibly valuable, and that’s what voters are giving us at their doors. Hope Springs from Field PAC began knocking on doors again on March 2nd. We target 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/hopemobilization2024 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. Most of our organizers use the same terminology about this when training our volunteers. This is show and tell, we tell them when asking voters to participate in our Issues Survey or ask if they have anything they want to request from their government officials or have experienced something negative at the polls. Some voters will even take the clipboard to look at it — something we do not discourage. Many of us (including me) walk with the clipboard inside a ziplock bag, mostly to hold the lit and other papers, and every once in awhile someone asks if they can take the clipboard out of the baggie to see it better. It was that process that we think the TPA canvasser wanted to understand when he asked for the other paperwork one of our volunteers was carrying last week. And it is important to understand that we are not knocking on doors in a vacuum; especially with unaffiliated voters, but sometimes with Democrats, as well — there are MAGA groups out there who want to lock in voters that we are talking to. The voter who prompted this diary told me that, even though she thought she had “looked at the survey” carefully, she said she didn’t answer everything and was left wondering why after the Hope Springs volunteer left. “No one ever asked me before,” which is not an unusual response. Because i do this, make 30 calls every week, i have talked to a couple of people who could be defined as “double haters.” And what is interesting to me is that even double haters, who (when i call them afterward) are perhaps more suspicious (how did i know that they were not fond of either candidate (i have no idea, that’s not why they were called) in advance?), but seem equally appreciative “of being able to take part in your survey.” Anywhere between 20 percent to “A quarter of Americans hold unfavorable views of both President Biden and former President Trump — the highest share of "double haters" at this stage in any of the last 10 elections, according to new Pew Research data.” Most importantly, double haters are a volatile group of people, willing to change their minds up until the last minute, pollsters say. In an era of staunch party loyalty, they are outliers who are capable of switching up their allegiance with every news cycle. Such volatility can present a golden opportunity — and also a real challenge. [...] Biden will need to give people a reason to head out to the polls, and this group of voters is zeroed in on the economy, according to Lake. Many double haters are concerned about the cost of living and health care in particular. But here’s the thing: voters don’t make decisions on who to vote for solely based on their impressions of the candidate. And that’s one of my takeaways from talking to a handful or so of “double haters” after a Hope Springs volunteer has knocked on their door. That’s why it’s not important that voters don’t differentiate between Hope Springs from Field and their local Democratic party org. What matters is that voters have positive takeaways from the experience. Everyone focuses on the belief that Fear does motivate voters on the fence, though maybe not young voters. I am less concerned about that than maybe others because we are finding at the doors evidence that they are offset by older voters. It’s not the same electorate and we need to remember that the reason why registering new voters is the key to Democratic success in statewide and national elections is that our electorate is always changing, evolving, and not in ways that traditionally benefit Democrats. Senior citizens, long a reliable voting bloc for Republicans, are showing signs of turning into an election-year swing group, potentially giving President Biden an unlikely boost in his tough rematch against Donald Trump. Americans ages 65 and older turn out at significantly higher rates than younger voters do, giving them outsize clout as they choose this year between the Democrat Biden, 81, and the Republican Trump, who turned 78 on Friday. [...] Republican presidential candidates have carried seniors in every election since 2000, and Trump won a majority of voters ages 65 and older in 2016 and 2020. But recent polling has shown Biden in a stronger position this time. Biden has notched about 48% of seniors in The Wall Street Journal’s national and swing-state polls this year, a number that puts him in line with his 2020 performance. The polls have shown Trump getting about 46% of that age group, down from 51% in 2020. Because we don’t think Biden is actually a “lesser-of-the-two-evils” candidate (even if that favors him a little) and because we want to be able to persuade by presence and opportunity, reminding voters that Democrats want to make government work for them, Hope Springs volunteers continue to knock on doors even in the midst of a heatwave. We understand there is a purpose here. Meeting voters where they are, leaving them with more positive vibes about the president and Democrats and helping them factor in the benefits of Democracy and good governance. We have a system and it works. 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/hopemobilization2024 If you would rather send a check, you can follow that link for our mailing address at the bottom of the ActBlue page. Thank you for your support. This work depends upon you! 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