Don't do it.

when I last canvassed in 2006 I used to ask the voter what the most important issue to them was & try to speak to that issue in terms of the candidate's position and experience.

Most voters are more interested in someone listening rather than get the campaign spiel.

Also, 90% of the American people are not at home, you will probably wind up just leaving a brochure at the door.

here, but be sure to read the comments (for policy, not the meta stuff that is there too).

The nice thing is that she didn't mention the Supreme Court (and the entire court system is a better talking point anyhow).

[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/06/c...

We chose serious symbolic change that has deep cultural meaning over serious ideological change that has deep political meaning. There's nothing inherently wrong with that --- the effects of such things are far reaching and incredibly important for the advancement of our society. You can't forget that Barack himself was born at a time when Jim Crow was still enshrined in the south. This is huge. But nothing comes free and having a politically moderate president at a time when a more explicit progressivism might have gotten a boost is the price we pay.

1) Find out what they want.

Tell them who you are, but not that you're drumming for votes; just that you're out talking to your neighbors about the election. Ask questions, what is most important to them, and try to draw out two or three issues.

2) Explain how your candidate will help them get it.

What ever it is, your candidate has the answer. Fold in visual cues. If the house is small and untended, then skew towards core economic issues whatever the they actually said. If the house is large and well-tended, skew towards tax cuts and ending the Iraq occupation to reduce the burden on the middle class. You know the Dem positions relative to Republican ones, and don't worry about McCain's actual positions - set up Obama relative to what Bush has already done and John McCain is just like Bush.

3) Ask for their vote.

Always close by asking for what you want, regardless of how the conversation went. Use words like "consider" and "give some more thought" with the conversations that didn't go well, but always always always ask for the vote.

as a great George Bush supporter because we had a bipartisan debate party in '04 and none of our Republican friends showed, so they asked me to represent the GOP side. New arrivals were fooled.

I know what I said four years ago about the Dems--a lot of times. I just don't believe it now.

Will the Dems really work this government better--or will they use it the way they did this week?

Start drinking heavily ;)

all we asking for is that they give Obama a look?

Never have campaigned that tamely but...

Can I just ask what they are thinking about the election and skip the "sell"?

How does it not fan racism to say it's important that he has a certain skin color?

I'm kidding. :o)

I'd wish you luck, but . . . I'll just send you my well wishes.

Isn't that the official ground game line anyway?

"Well Obama's on my list."
"The Dems used to be a good party."
"4 years ago the Dem policies were a lot better than the GOP policies."
"I don't object to the party platform as much."

When the vote is ignored...

I'm going to ask my beloved person why they are for Obama and then I am going to tell the people at the door, "I'm just campaigning with x, and x supports Obama because..." (after listening to the voter which is basic human decency although I expect I'll hear a lot about the Wall Street Follies.) This will also give x a chance to jump in. I'll say, if directly and persistently asked, that I haven't made up my mind who to vote for, but I support x.

Gotta run. Many, many thanks to all of you, especially for understanding and great advice.

Truth Partisan,

I'll be looking for your report on how it went. This is an intriguing exercise for you (or anyone), and will require an unusual amount of emotional intelligence. Whether you're already an EI genius or not, I'll bet it will be a real EI-building exercise.

Hmm, maybe I should try it.

Not yet. Not yet.

I so MISS campaigning! I MISS being an excited Dem. My disillusionment has kept me out of my state and local races. All I see now, something I NEVER saw before, was JUST A BUNCH OF MEN, and I find I can't be their loyal handmaiden anymore, because after all my help putting them in office, I got? Save yourself, TP. Don't become like me. I hope you get enthused, I honestly do.

I'm back, we both survived. It's a beautiful Saturday afternoon: almost no one was home and the few that were home were honestly busy. So the problem of trying to talk didn't have to be addressed!
Interesting observations:
-of the people who were honestly busy, like cooking dinner that smelled so good, several D's nicely said they didn't want to discuss politics this year.
-in that other town, people still have Hillary stickers on their cars--without being verbally attacked, car not scratched, etc.!
-the Dem office people, who were in their 20's, wore fashionable glasses, and skinny tight shirts and had more professional signs and literature--compared to 4 years ago when the staff were flannel-shirted, older, and had a number of hand-lettered signs (a change that will not be endearing here.) The director was the former professional campaign manager of a failed Representative run--a far more professional person than ever ran the office before and they must be paying him pretty well. The office is in the same place though.
BTW, he said a lot of their money was from the Democratic Senatorial Congressional Committee (or whatever that's called), which was keeping the office open--and seemingly, all the other local candidates and Obama were benefiting from it too, which you might want to keep in mind when "targeting" donations.
The staff was focused on the very young people in the place, to the extent of not greeting older voters that came in (cardinal sin in an HQ.) When I said that involving more youth was good for the future, the director waved his hand and said, "oh yeah if you want to be high-minded!"--in front of everyone. But I don't think the youth picked up on it. The director said their internal polling is showing much better than the national polling because the youth (18 through college age) isn't being counted enough. (In one of the cases, the difference they cited would be more than a 15 point spread.) The director was clearly not socially comfortable but the youth there really liked him.
-in the calls they took when I was there, the phone volunteer was laughing and said almost every time, "oh yeah I've heard a lot about the economy and Wall Street."
-the sign in the window (one of the few hand-lettered ones) said come in and sign up if you have worries about oil, the economy and Iraq.

Y'all are the best! Thanks for getting me through this.

BTW, he said a lot of their money was from the Democratic Senatorial Congressional Committee (or whatever that’s called), which was keeping the office open—and seemingly, all the other local candidates and Obama were benefiting from it too, which you might want to keep in mind when “targeting” donations.

Yeah, I got a mailing from these folks, and my conscience was momentarily pricked at the thought of all the downticket folks who were going to be cash-starved because it's BHO's party now, and he needs so much help to gain 1 polling point.

Glad I got over it. It's just another arm of his campaign cash operation.

And while I'm way too late to offer advice on your task today, I would have just stood behind your loved Obama-lover, making 'crazy/koo-koo' hand signs their back for the benefit of the canvassed.

He's railing against how John McCain and the GOP aren't talking about issues like health insurance, Iraq, roads, schools, etc...

Throughout the letter he underlines particular points he wants to emphasis. The very second underlined rip on McCain is this:

"What else would you expect from someone wou can't remember how many houses he owns (it's at least seven) ... and who defines "rich" as someone making $5 million a year?

He then goes on to thank me for "my past support and strong commitment to our 50 State Strategy", and ends with a P.S. that needless to say contains the phrase "That's not change. That's just more of the same." (BTW, maybe I'm wrong, but wasn't that one of Romney's lines way, way back near the beginning of this thing?)

Really, are we still pushing the number of homes talking point? (and, as we all know McCain was being snarky about the $5 million number, if even that's not smart to joke about in this economy).

Oh, Howie. Bless his heart. And, to think, he was the first people I ever got to vote for in a presidential primary.