Welcome back, Saturday Campaign D-I-Yers! For those who tune in, welcome to the Nuts & Bolts of a Democratic campaign. Each week, we discuss issues that help drive successful campaigns. If you’ve missed prior diaries, please visit our group or follow Nuts & Bolts Guide.
Over the years, one thing I have always stood in favor of is canvass: direct contact with voters at the door. Not only does good canvass help inform voters about your candidate, but it helps identify individuals who have moved and need to be re-registered. You can clean up your data, connect voters with vote by mail options, and register new voters who move into your district.
And those are just some of the benefits of good canvass. Despite all of these upsides, though, it is actually possible to have bad canvassing: a door-to-door effort that harms your campaign more than it helps. Do you want to avoid bad canvass? Let’s talk about the things you need to stay away from!
Many Democratic parties I come across want to brag to me about how fast they can train canvassers. “I can train a canvass in five minutes or less!” proclaimed one DCCC regional operative. It is easy to tell people: “Just go take this material and hand it to voters,” but rather than focusing on how fast you can train people to go knock on doors, more time needs to be spent on showing them how to be effective and fast as they work.
In some locations, we’ve done canvass party training—and admittedly, I take a lot longer than five minutes. Since you are just reading, though, I’m going to cover some of the highlights of things we notice canvassers doing that turn voters off—items you should avoid if you do not want your canvass to work against you.
NEVER argue with a voter
Voter data from the secretary of state and VoteBuilder or PDI isn’t always perfect. And you can almost guarantee a canvasser will run into at least one person who is going to be opposed to your candidate. Candidates may also run into this issue. Remember, making your canvass successful means contacting lots of voters, not getting bogged down, and leaving a good impression. What you cannot do is argue with a voter: if someone is opposed to your candidate, thank them for their time and QUICKLY MOVE ON. Do not, at the doorstep, spend time trying to dispute, argue, or debate a voter who is opposed to your candidate and has expressed their opposition. Every minute you spend on that door you are losing an opportunity to contact and turnout voters who could potentially vote for your campaign.
Arguing with voters who are opposed also helps harden their voting pattern: the more they think about your campaign and are opposed to it, the more likely they are to help support opposing campaigns.
Thank them. Move on.
Respect other people’s property
Too many people canvassing forget some pieces of basic etiquette. Respect people’s property. If they have sidewalks or a driveway, don’t walk across people’s grass. Carrying a water bottle or something to eat? Don’t put trash in someone’s yard. Part of getting voters’ support is showing them respect. When your canvassers don’t respect people’s property, it says something about your campaign and it generally isn’t good.
You automatically start “in the hole” with voters if your start your interaction by disrespecting them. Simple as that.
Cell phones: Vibrate or Silent
Canvassers, even those using phone-based canvassing tools like Minivan or Organizer, need to make sure their phone is set to silent or vibrate. Having your phone go off during a conversation with a voter distracts from the conversation. Even if it’s short, can be disrupted with a noisy cell phone ring.
In line with respecting an individual’s property, if you are canvassing, do NOT take a phone call in the middle of the street, a strange sidewalk, or in front of someone’s house. Pacing around in front of someone’s house on a phone call is disruptive, and in some areas can get neighbors to call police on a strange person walking up and down not going to houses, but talking on a phone.
Wait and take phone calls in a car or away from other people’s property.
Final Thoughts: It’s true — many of us could write books on canvassing methods do’s and don’ts, and for organizations that know, I continue to travel the country helping to put on campaign training functions. If you have specific questions about a policy or plan in your canvassing efforts, feel free to ask in our comments below, send me a PM, or reach out by email: creeves at dailykos. Now, let’s go get out there and have a successful canvass!
Next week on Nuts & Bolts: Don’t Panic!