Canvassing – R&R – Reachout and Rebuild

“Deep Canvassing” and the Lessons Political Campaigns Can Learn From It

David Posnett — Thu, 05 Dec 2019 04:55:29 +0000

Submitted to this blog by Arthur Schiff.

By Gabby Weiss, November 22, 2019

Deep Canvassing has grown in popularity as an organizing tool in the past few years, but while most people have heard of it, many are still unsure exactly what it is. The fundamentals behind deep canvassing are not new, in fact, organizing has always been based on the simple underlying belief that human conversations have the power to change minds and spur action.

The modern form of deep canvassing was developed by the Leadership LAB of the Los Angeles LGBT Center. Their Project Director, Dave Fleisher,

“In a conventional canvass, campaigns try to control the message by sending volunteers out with a script to recite exactly as written. There’s this belief that if we just say the right words, the voter’s going to change their mind. With a deep canvass, we want to figure out what’s relevant to voters. There’s still a script, but it’s designed to help the canvasser build a good rapport with a voter. The distinguishing feature of a deep canvass is you take a lot more time to talk to voters and have a bona fide two-way conversation about real experiences that shape their thinking about the issues. Instead of a script that lasts 60 seconds, volunteers spend 10 or 20 minutes talking with each voter.”
While deep canvassing has primarily been used on issue-based campaigns, such as ballot measures for LGBT issues like gay marriage and transgender equality, many of the techniques and principles can be adopted to deepen the organizing practice of electoral campaigns as well.

1. Build connections on the doors

Every good organizer knows that building connections is the secret to developing an energized volunteer base for a campaign, and it’s important to remember that this principle can apply to everyone that a campaign interacts with. Deep canvassing encourages canvassers to prioritize building a connection with each voter they engage with, going deeper than a simple candidate or issue ID. Creating real connections makes voters more likely to remember the conversations they have with canvassers or phone bankers and take action based on them.

2. Spend time listening

Part of building a connection with voters means practicing active listening. Fully concentrating on what a voter is saying, leaving space for a voter to pause and think before responding (without immediately jumping in to fill the silence), asking follow-up questions, and displaying engaged body language are all important listening techniques that create more meaningful conversations on the doors. If a voter spends more time talking during a conversation than a canvasser does, you’re doing it right!

3. Ask open-ended questions

No one likes being treated as a checkbox on a list, and when a voter takes the time to talk to a canvasser at their door it’s because they care about the political issues at hand. Moving beyond simple yes or no questions and prompting voters to share the things that they care about and the reasons behind their positions shows that your campaign is invested in their wellbeing, not just their vote. Asking follow-up questions assures voters that you are actually interested in what they have to say, and can give organizers insight into effective ways to motivate and activate them.

4. Find common values

The goal of a canvass is to prompt voters to take action, whether it be voting, volunteering, becoming a caucus leader, or talking to their other household members about voting. People take action because they care about something, so use canvass conversations to find out what is important to individual voters. Knowing the values that a voter holds, such as safety, community, justice, or fairness, can help you communicate your candidate’s positions in a way that is relevant and impactful to them.

5. Don’t be afraid of the hard questions

Having real conversations about politics means that sometimes tough issues will come up. Many communities in the country today are facing sharply divided political landscapes and evaluating hard questions about the future. Canvass conversations are effective when, rather than shying away from these issues, they are addressed head on, through the lens of shared values. What are the issues that a voter is considering when making a candidate decision, and which decision is ultimately more aligned with their values?

6. Let voters persuade themselves

Most people don’t like being told what to do or what to think, and so rather than telling someone what the right answer is, asking voters to consider these questions for themselves can be a powerful tool for persuasion. The goal of deep canvass conversations is not to directly tell people how to vote, but rather to help walk them through the reasoning process of determining which candidate’s positions align best with their values. Using this process can help a voter truly connect with their motivation for political involvement, something that ideally will stay with them through election day.

Trick or Treat with this Sign:

David Posnett — Wed, 31 Oct 2018 17:56:35 +0000

I am canvassing this evening AND handing out this s-c-a–r-y sign! (Courtesy of Nigel Noble)

Let’s have some fun.

Talking with the Cashier at Stop and Shop

David Posnett — Sun, 03 Jun 2018 18:07:13 +0000

By David Mayer (as posted on FB – LVLZ)

Supermarket politics. I just ran into an older gentleman on the check out line at Stop and Shop in Hampton Bays, Long Island. He couldn’t read the label on a can, and asked me for help.

While waiting on line we got to talking about the rising cost of goods (cogs). As we approached the cashier who is an older woman, she opined and said, “Trump will bring the cogs down.”

The older gentleman quickly spoke up, “he’s going to make it worse, not better! See the gas prices creeping up? That’s just the beginning!”

He kindly explained to her that the recent tax bill does nothing for working class folks like herself and that personally, he couldn’t weather another stock market crash like we had with Bush Jr because he’s 77 years old and time is not on his side.

The man explained how Obama more than doubled the stock market after being handed a major recession and was able to lower the unemployment rate, as he walked away, he said, “oh and btw, he kept us out of war.”

She looked at me and said, “well he has a point, and honestly the latest tax bill hardly did a thing for me, I’m embarrassed to say this, but I’m not sure if I’d vote for Trump again, I think I made a mistake, so did others.”

This November, we must change the narrative, not simply scream “impeachment” and “Russia”. We must talk about the economy at a local level, national numbers won’t help defeat Republican incumbents in congressional races.

Here on Long Island, our unemployment rate is above the national average and growth is almost non existent. Talk about what matters to the average person, don’t use extreme rhetoric. We can do this, we can win! #bluewavedems

David P: Just FYI, you can search this site with words like “jobs”, “economy” , etc. There are over 500 blog posts here!

The Issues that Matter in NY CD-1

David Posnett — Mon, 21 May 2018 01:45:42 +0000

From: Steven Lupo as posted on FaceBook:

I was knocking on doors for Kate Maguire Browning today. At one of the first homes I went to, a young woman answered the door. She looked exhausted. I apologized for disturbing her and explained why I was there. She asked me for Kate’s position on healthcare and I gave her the best answer I could. I then asked why it was important to her.

She responded her daughter was terminally ill. She been up most of the night and that’s why she looked exhausted. My heart broke. She said life has been a struggle, not only because of her daughters illness but also the constant battle with insurance and pharmaceutical companies, who try to deny her daughter coverage.

I brought up the fact that my daughter was born premature and spent 14 days in NICU. But I was lucky. I could concentrate on my daughter’s recovery. I didn’t have to worry about going broke or fighting insurance companies. I stated no American should have to go through what she is going through.

At this point I reminded her of Zeldin‘s position on healthcare. I reminded her how he voted to take healthcare away from millions of Americans. He has voted on the side of the insurance and pharmaceutical companies, to charge us more money, while offering inferior coverage.

Later in the day I met a widow on a pension. She is living on her deceased husband‘s federal pension. She is very worried that the Trump administration will reduce her benefits. She’s worried if Social Security and Medicare will be there for her children. She’s worried the inflation we are starting to see will eat away at her fixed income.

Many live in the echo chamber of #RussiaGate, but most Americans are looking much closer to home. They are concerned about their jobs, affordable healthcare, affordable homes, lower taxes, educating their children, environmental issues, the opioid epidemic, etc.

That’s what I focus on as I speak to folks. That is the message we need to focus on to unseat Zeldin.

And we must never, NEVER, bash the other Democratic candidates. NEVER!

We must unite and rally around the primary winner. We have a tough battle ahead. Please stay positive!

Working-Class Trump Voters Open to Appeals

David Posnett — Fri, 12 May 2017 20:27:57 +0000

Working America: Front Porch Focus Group Report. AFL-CIO

100 Days into the Trump Era, Working-Class ‘Searchers’ Who Voted for Him Are Having Doubts, Open to Appeals.

Everyone who is canvassing this year (2017) should read this report! Here is the summary:

Face-to-face conversations with 976 working-class swing voters in Ohio reveal half of Trump swing voters differ with him on one or more issues, shows the importance of direct outreach

We have come away with evidence that many of Donald Trump’s swing voters can be moved with a progressive message. This conclusion summarizes the lessons we learned during our 100 Days canvass, and offers some thoughts on how progressives can reach out to working-class voters.

Working-class swing voters are open to progressive ideas — if they hear them. Our canvassers found that with door-to-door contact and a persuasive message, we can cut through the rightwing megaphone that has all but drowned out progressive voices in so many working-class homes.

When talking to voters, tell them something they don’t know. Don’t tell them that what they know is wrong. This classic insight helped shape our outreach efforts. Our canvassers found that it didn’t work to dispute Fox News’ talking points on well-worn issues such as the ACA.Rather, offering new information about Trump’s policies broke through and showed just how out of step they are with the needs of working people.

We can’t assume that the 2012 Obama voters who swung to Trump in 2016 will automatically swing back if he disappoints them. Trump’s working-class base may already be eroding in his first 100 days, but their declining support for Trump won’t inevitably lead to growing support for progressives. We saw in our canvass that many Trump swing voters are deeply disenchanted with politics. That’s why they cast a ballot for him in the first place. If Trump fails them — and progressives don’t offer an authentic alternative — they are very likely to give up on politics in upcoming election cycles.

This canvass focused on swing voters, but to win in 2018, Democrats will need to do better with both swing and base voters. A perfect storm hit Ohio Democrats in 2016. Base turnout dropped at the same time that swing voters abandoned them. In Ohio’s urban counties, where the base is strongest, Hillary Clinton received 162,000 fewer votes than Barack Obama did in 2012. And in the nonurban counties, where so many swing voters live, Clinton got 272,000 fewer votes than Obama. Given those numbers, progressives can’t afford to ignore either base or swing voters.

Ultimately, to win in Ohio and elsewhere, progressives need to reach out at all times to our base — to communities of color, millennials and women — as well as the white working-class voters open to a progressive agenda. That is how we’ll take back vital battleground states and elect a Congress and a president who truly represent the interests of all working families.