sco and Below Boston both say this is must-see video; therefore it is must-see video. Full stop.
sco’s partial transcript:
I wish I could tell you that Democrats around the country understand precinct based organizing, but you know they don’t. They don’t. We’ve got all these consultants, some of them my dear friends, who never rang a doorbell in their life, and they have no idea what happens when a real human being who lives in the precinct, is part of the precinct, talks like the precinct and looks like the precinct goes out and knocks on doors. You’ve done it. Deval did it; we all did it for him. Yeah, you raised some bucks in the end, John [Walsh], but I don’t know what he was outspent by, overall. It was huge, and he won by twenty-one percentage points. And it had everything to do with that grassroots precinct-based organization.
And folks, we have got to do precisely that nationally beginning now in every one of the 185,000 precincts in the United States of America. All fifty states, 185,000 precincts. No one’s going to tell me we can’t do it. And I’m depending, Phil, on you and John to go out there and deliver that message nationally. I wish I could tell you the state chairs get it. They don’t! I’ve talked to them and they don’t understand. They belittle it. You know “that’s yesterday.” That’s baloney. We have the most dramatic example of the effectiveness of this right hear in the Commonwealth because of what happened last fall.
Truthfully, we don’t have to do it in 185,000 precincts. We can actually do it in less than that.
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My precinct has Democratic: * State Rep * State Sen * US Rep * 2 US Sens * is in a state that will vote Dem for prez in overwhelming numbers
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So, to be honest… no canvassing has to be done in my precinct to make any gains in this election. Now, it’s nice to canvas anyway, because you maintain your skill and structure. It’s good practice for when you do need it.
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How many precincts are like mine, where every single state official on the ballot will be an easy Dem win and the state will vote D for POTUS? I have no idea. I can tell you that Brookline’s got 16 though.
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The question is: for the long term benefit of the Democratic party, am I better off canvassing (a) in my overwhelmingly D neighborhood of MA (b) in a not-overwhelmingly D neighborhood of MA (c) in a neighborhood of NH
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your particular neighborhood may not benefit from your canvassing it (and I think that’s debatable), the party definately benefits from having a dedidcated local or group of locals in every neighborhood already.
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The ideal is not to have you parachute into New Hampshire. The ideal is to have someone in New Hampshire already who knows the locals, who knows the area, and is part of the community even between election cycles.
local and NH door knocking. Many active people in MA have canvassed the same neighborhoods over and over again up in NH. It is important not to discourage people from going up there as well. The Amherst NH fourth of July parade is the place to be to hear the candidates early on. It’s part of the fun of being involved, and those in MA have a unique ability to be part of it.
Certainly true that we need to have folks from the Granite State doing their own canvassing — but we also want to win a bigger Senate majority. (Nice to have 60 Democrats, but also good not to have to always depend on every Lieberdem and “moderate” Republican.)
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Given that goal and the way things stand today, I am much more worried about missing an opportunity in Maine than New Hampshire. Former Sen. Margaret Chase Smith has an excellent reputation in Maine which is possibly under the misimpression that it has two Senator Smiths now. The case against Sen Sununu in NH is straightforward; the case against Sen Collins needs to be made.
The transcript quotes Dukakis:
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That human being also has to listen to the human being who opens the door. An essential part of the value of this door-to-door campaign is what you learn from meeting people on their own turf, and the tiny relationship you establish. A lot of political leaders and operatives don’t respect voters and constituents, and the voters and constituents know it. They feel alienated and angry. Even if they don’t have something to say that day, they want to know that someone took the time to ask their opinion and solicit their good will.
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The modest outreach effort we made out here for the Dem. Party and for Deval’s campaign in 2006 brought in people who wanted to know how to get a foot in the door of the political process. Now we have a fresh group of active caucus participants and convention goers who are going to talk to their neighbors, bring their kids into the system, maybe even run for City Council some day.
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You can’t take even the bluest precincts for granted, if you want them to stay blue. Tip O’Neill’s book has the anecdote about how he asked his wife to vote for him on election day morning every year, because he had learned a lesson about not taking anyone’s vote for granted. Dukakis and Jack Corrigan are so right on this.
Back in 2003, we ran a campaign called “All Hands on Deck” in Gloucester. We canvassed unenrolled voters with the goal of increasing Democratic party enrollment in the city.
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Prior to starting the campaign we spent time practicing listening (along with keeping the conversation focused on values), as opposed to practicing sales pitches. Our enrollment rate was about 25% for voters whom we contacted in person.
Lots of people avoid doing things they don’t think they can do well or right. Sometimes that’s stupid perfectionism. Sometimes it’s prudence. (Think of amateur electricians and plumbers.) Canvassing is not an innate skill or a unit in Social Studies at the local High.
but having a conversation with someone about our common values IS something that most people can do regardless of innate skills or high school social studies. Certainly not everyone is cut out for canvassing, but like lobbying your legislator, all it really takes is sincerity.
As we’ve tried to tell him, we do, we totally do. There’s nothing to worry about, everything is under control.