I live in a red precinct in a blue town, and I walked some of my precinct

[struggle4progress]

this afternoon. As some of you may know, today is the day before the midterm elections, so I was knocking the doors of various folk who might or might not vote on our side, folk who might not vote at all

I think I may have knocked close to a thousand doors in the last months, but frankly I've lost track. My responses can border on pure reflex. Sometimes, habit is a good thing: when one woman smirked at me, We're not voting for Democrats this year, I pleasantly thanked her for her time and was halfway to the next house before any snappy retorts (like Oh, really? Are you brain-damaged?) even crossed my mind. Habit is not always a good thing: one woman told me she was volunteering at the polls for a major local progressive group, and before I could think twice I had reflexively asked her how she planned to vote, which instantly and naturally convinced her I was a complete idiot

Some people had already voted. Almost everyone with whom I spoke planned to vote. Most today wouldn't tell me how they voted or planned to vote, as of course is their right: we have a secret ballot for good reason. A surprising number said they didn't know yet how they would vote, seemed serious about thinking things through, and thanked me for appearing on their doorsteps with literature

It can be hard to know what some responses mean. I told one woman, I hope you'll consider voting Dem, and she said she'd think about, but as I began to take my leave she blurted out Of course I'm voting Dem! I can't see that I have any other choice!

The sun was down before I finished my list, and I won't ring strangers' doorbells at dusk, so the last few on my list just got my packet under the mat. But even in the dimming light, one woman came out of her house to find out what I wanted as I walked up her drive and seemed glad to have my handouts

I had dropped my lit at one of one of the very last houses and was walking away when a man came out of the garage to find out what I wanted. The person on my list had moved away. I told him what I'd left under his front mat. That's fine, he told me

[peace13]

1. Thank you for your dedication.

Yours is a true gift to all of us. I have been unable to volunteer this election due to family health issues. My best to you and thanks again for your efforts. Peace, Kim

[struggle4progress]

2. It sounds to me like you have the right priorities

I hope everything turns out well for you and yours

[salin]

4. like +10!

[BrklynLiberal]

3. It is folks like yourself that will keep this country safe....

[Whisp]

5. thats true. That is exactly what Obama was asking in 2008.

Thankfully some/lots are really working. thank you thank you thank you

[struggle4progress]

6. There are about 300 million folk in this country. I think many of them really care.

Different people are good at different things. America is and will always be a work in progress

[K8-EEE]

7. You're awesome!!!

I've been so inspired by your posts! If we do our bests we can be at peace (and ready for the next battles) no matter what the outcomes are...

[struggle4progress]

9. Mailing lists and phone-calls and door-knocking are basic tools for citizen action

We shouldn't only use them for elections: we should use them between elections for issues that concern us

I once met a person who had gotten elected to a state legislature in the following way: that person was very interested in a particular issue and worked hard on the issue, mailing and calling and knocking -- and realized one day that s/he had knocked every single door in a legislative district and really knew the district, so ran for office and won

[cliffordu]

8. You are a true activist, and those of us who HAVEN'T done what you

have at a minimum need to be ashamed of ourselves.


If we lose the house, you will NOT be to blame.

thanks.

:patriot:

[tigereye]

10. nice job! I've been phone banking the last few weeks and canvassing the

last few days. Thanks for your dedication! :yourock:


I think people are a lot more thoughtful about voting than they are given credit for. I hope people listen to their hearts and minds instead of to the doom-sayers, i.e. media.

[blue neen]

12. Hey tigereye...

thanks for the hard work here. It could be a real nailbiter tomorrow! I've been working really hard on one guy today who says he is not going to vote.

The dude is living on Social Security checks! I keep pounding it into his head that Pat Toomey wants to privatize Social Security.

I WILL get him to vote tomorrow.

Go Sestak...Go Onorato!

:dem:

[tigereye]

18. we really don't need another Santorum - I hope Sestak is true to form and

the polls are better than they seem to be. I need to go over to fivethirtyeight.com and have another look at his predictions, which are usually quite accurate.


How are ya, Neen? It saddens me to think that people think it's not worth it to vote. It's always worth it! :hi:

[struggle4progress]

22. I find the cold calls harder than door-knocking. Thanks for doing that!

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[tigereye]

25. I've been doing it on and off for, well, decades now, so it's not that big a deal

I don't mind the phone calls. If you are polite and upbeat, most folks are pleasant...

[karynnj]

11. I'm glad I read this - because I know think I understand my more limited experience this year

I opted to phone bank via the OFA website. The script they have is awful - not even giving the name of the Representative. (NJ has no Senate or Governor race). So, I found a site and found a site which mapped towns to districts. (They were all in Adler's district)

I was surprised at the number who would not say that who they would vote for. They were quite pleasant and very polite to me - especially considering that I was bothering them. One said he was unsure because he was disturbed by all the nasty campaigning. I commiserated, agreeing that it was nasty - but pointing out most of the ads were from front groups funded by extremely rich people and corporations - and the Republicans voted 100% against requiring them to even disclose who funded them. But, that was about the only person who said anything to generate a conversation.

It does seem that people are very serious, and not happy - not happy with anyone.

I don't have anything I can directly compare it to. I have phonebanked in my county (hopelessly Republican - which is why I went to OFA) including Corzine's two Governors races, Menendez, Lautenberg/Obama, Kerry. One HUGE difference was that the last time Corzine ran - I had many Democrats saying they really didn't like him. In earlier races (not Kerry or Lautenberg/Obama), I was constantly told that there was too much corruption - all volunteered - not solicited. Here, not one person said ONE thing about Adler. Nothing - nothing positive, nothing negative.

So, in some ways - this seemed more positive than the last Corzine race.

(The other phonebanking I did was in 2008 - calling in MA in the primary and in the general election for Kerry. That was by far the most pleasant experience. In the primary, we were calling just Democrats and the responses were almost uniformly that they were voting for "John". )

[struggle4progress]

17. The scripts are always dreadful: it's been years and years since I followed one.

I try to figure out what the point of the call or visit is, and then redo the script so it's natural in my voice

[karynnj]

19. Same here

Not to mention anything that lets THEM talk is good - and this really doesn't. I just thought this script was unusually bad - I did get the point that they wanted to nationalize the election and they might have wante to use the same script everywhere - though this really would not work - in say PA, where someone could have a combination of yes and no for Rep, Sen, and Gov.

[blue neen]

13. I have really enjoyed your posts!

Thank you so much for your dedication.

:yourock:

[David Zephyr]

14. K&R. And thank you!

:hi:

[spanone]

15. thanks for your work

[moondust]

16. You deserve a medal!

Thanks for sharing some of your interesting experiences and being an inspiration!

[struggle4progress]

23. Maybe the President will give me his Nobel Prize when he is done with it

:D

[TheKentuckian]

20. Your effort is appreciated. I hope your representation will be worthy of your citizenship

[struggle4progress]

21. Once more into the breach, dear friends!

We'll know results this time tomorrow

[cilla4progress]

24. Thank you for your posts

and your hard work.

[AllyCat]

26. I felt most of the people who said, "oh we'll vote...but not sure who for"

really don't plan to vote. Most had no clue who the candidates were. It was really strange talking to them. Whatever, I knocked on fewer doors than you, but did what I could. Thanks for your dedication!