(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Countdown to 10 Million Doors Knocked before Labor Day: Where Hope Springs is at the End of June [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-07-01 Hope Springs from Field ’s goal for May was to double that in May , or 1.5 Million doors. But we didn’t make our May goal, in fact we didn’t even make 1 Million doors for the month. We ended April with 954,490 doors knocked for the month. Our goal for June was 2.5 Million Doors Knocked, with the same in July and August. But we have a plan. As the graphic to the right shows, our efforts in 2022 and 2023 exhibited exponential growth until the Summer Heat started to play fits with volunteer turnout. So we started earlier and are going to fight harder this Summer to withstand the heat (remember, we use cooling vehicles when it gets over 92°), raising our temperature cut-off point because our cooling vehicle drivers felt like that could be done safely. My initial goal for March was 250,000 Doors Knocked — but we actually had 309,301 Doors Knocked for the month. The expected (substantial) decline in volunteer turnout for the Saturdays before Palm Sunday and Easter didn’t really happen like they had in 2022 and 2023. The goal for April was to triple the March goal — 750,000 doors knocked and what we really did was 724,867 doors knocked. A little more than 25,000 doors short. I know that our volunteers didn’t think about the logistics. Knocking on 10 Million Doors means cutting more (a lot more) turf. It means printing more lit. It means worrying about volunteer retention and ensuring volunteer safety (especially given the threats of climate change). But we have volunteers in these 12 states who are really committed to reaching it. No matter how much i repeat that it’s a really ambitious goal, especially without full-time organizers, they are like, “we can do it.” Or, “yes, we can,” when they don’t think i am as motivated as they are. Nothing like throwing that back. Oh, yes. And Labor Day is a deadline. We assumed that the senate and presidential campaigns in these 12 states (Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin) will begin their own canvassing efforts after Labor Day, if not before. We won’t be competing with volunteers with the campaigns; just the opposite, every volunteer already knows about mobilize.us so even if the campaigns don’t contact them then directly to find canvasses around them. We had a plan. Hope Springs from Field PAC [ website ] volunteers set the goal ( 10 Million doors knocked before Labor Day ) over the winter break, when it was too cold to knock on doors. But these were excited, determined and committed. And it was a goal that they set for themselves. Reaching that volunteer goal would be triple the number of doors we had done through the summer in 2023. It would more than equal the number of doors Hope Springs volunteers had knocked over the last three years. Did we get there in June? Well, we were luckier in June than we’d been in May. In June, only the first and fourth week did we have to cancel canvassing (and, unlike May, only in one state rather than two states) because of weather. That really threw off our numbers. Wisconsin and Arizona were states we couldn’t really afford to lose. But we did have a reduced turnout in Arizona this week and Nevada (two weeks because of extreme heat in Las Vegas) we needed to stay on track. On the plus side, we’ve cracked 600 volunteers in a slew of states and that feels good. But, all in all, we knocked on 1,689,851 doors last month. Not the hoped-for 2.5 Million doors, but at least we corrected the curve (you can really tell what losing two states a week does to you). I’m not much for moral victories, I said from the beginning that 10 Million doors knocked before Labor Day was extremely ambitious. With that cushion from New York, Hope Springs volunteers have now knocked on 3,976,669 doors this year. So far. So not 5 Million doors, but almost 4 Million. So we are still behind the curve. We need to be knocking on more than a half a million doors each week now, here on out. But 3,976,669 doors this summer. We only knocked on 2,964,410 last Summer. All Summer; that’s our pre-Labor Day total last year. If the math doesn’t jump out at you, that’s more than a million doors than we did up to all of last Summer last year. Hope Springs from Field PAC began knocking on doors again on March 2nd to set up a favorable “battle space” or foundation for Democrats in 2024. 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. The voters we talk to in these 12 Swing States tell us they come away more invested in governance and feel more favorably towards Democrats in general because of our approach. Obviously, we rely on grassroots support, so if you support field/grassroots organizing, voter registration (and follow-up), GOTV 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. [Reminder: If you are interested in participating in our Postcards to New Voters Project, you can sign up here. (The diary on this can be found here.) We especially need help this year since we are not limiting our Postcards to New Voters effort to those new voters that Hope Springs or its partners registered to vote.] You can see by the curves in the graphic how we have gotten a little behind. But this is exactly why i gasped when they told me, let’s go for 10 Million. But here’s the thing: 10 Million Doors is a big goal but it’s a big task. Hell, it’s a critical task. 2024 won’t be like 2020. We aren’t holding anything back this year. We are all in. And our volunteer “retention” rate (by which i mean, coming out week after week) is around 40% now. Some states are above that (Arizona and Florida, specifically) and some are just below it. Republicans have at least six different groups (eg, the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity, Libre Initiative, Concerned Women for America and Citizens United, as well as Club for Growth and MAGA Turning Point Action) doing field and voter contact in swing states while Democratic efforts are more diffused and state-based (meaning, they tend to focus on a single state). Hope Springs from Field is focused on Swing States, swing states in the Electoral College and in Senate elections. Because our primary form of voter contact is knocking on doors with an Issues Survey, engaging voters early through a voter-led conversation and getting their responses entered into the database of the Democratic-based VAN (officially, NGP-VAN now) in the swingy suburbs of these super-competitive states. We seem to be alone in taking this national approach and allowing the data to be used by all Democrats who use VAN in these areas. Libre just announced a multi-million dollar initiative aimed at Spanish-speaking voters, including key 2024 battlegrounds like Arizona, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. We expect to see a lot more of these conservative orgs out in the field this year. Here’s the thing. Voters are increasingly partisan, far less independent than they used to be. How they vote for president is much more likely to decide how they vote for Senate, Congress or even for state and local candidates. So while we are out there knocking on doors with positive messages about Democrats, the president or a specific Senator, the effect of the impressions we are leaving helps Democrats at all levels. (This is magnified by the fact that we insert the data into VAN and make the data public, available to any Democrat using VAN in the Fall in those areas where we canvassed.) Our approach is what makes us different, and what makes volunteers want to push themselves and their community of volunteers. Even those volunteers who wish we had a different candidate for president still come out because our systemic approach is not to focus on Biden but to focus on our voters. Sure, the Issues Survey helps — and it especially helps when we identify voter’s individual Single Issue that is driving them this year to vote. I’ve seen volunteers high-five over finding Single Issue voters on Reproductive Freedom, the Climate or Minority Rights. But this year is even more important than ever. And we would appreciate your support. Hell, we need your support. The printing bill for 10 Million doors is a bit much to think about. Like i said, we need your support. 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 You can follow that link for our mailing address, as well (for those who would rather send us a check). Thank you for your support! This work depends on you! [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/7/1/2250003/-Countdown-to-10-Million-Doors-Knocked-before-Labor-Day-Where-Hope-Springs-is-at-the-End-of-June?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/