Posted on 09/28/2010 5:03:50 AM PDT by Haiku Guy
Anna C. Little, the Republican candidate for Congress in the 6th District, can't afford big media ad buys and doesn't have the franking privilege. So she has elevated the one thing remaining to her--going door-to-door--to a high art.
Because one woman alone can scarcely knock on thousands of doors in a modern US congressional district, Little has created an "army" of volunteers. They will go to a town, fan out in pairs or small clusters, make hundreds of telephone calls, and knock on a thousand or more doors. This is how Little won the June 8 primary, despite being out-fundraised twenty-to-one. And against a much-better funded opponent (Frank Pallone), this is her best option, and she knows it.
Their first target, on July 24, was Dunellen, where, according to Little, about 25 voluntters made just under 5,000 calls and 1,000 home visits, this during one of the worst heat waves that New Jersey has ever seen. On July 31, "Anna's Army" struck again, this time in Matawan with 50 volunteers, for 3,000 telephone calls and 1,700 direct visits. (Actually, a commenter at this poll claimed 2,700 visits, though that might be a typographical error.)
The third target was South Amboy, where Little claimed 700 telephone calls and 1,800 direct home visits. These numbers form a pattern showing that "Anna's Army" much prefers to knock on someone's door rather than make a telephone call. A voice on the telephone is a voice on the telephone, and as far as the one receiving the call is concerned, that voice could be ten miles away, or a hundred, or a thousand. But a knock on the door means a face-to-face visit, carrying far more immediate impact, if only by replacing a disembodied voice with one with flesh and blood behind it.
Little's next target is Aberdeen, her largest target thus far, with 3,900 households. Little called Aberdeen her "first real test" and invited the press to, as it were, embed with "Anna's Army" this Saturday, beginning at 8:30 a.m. at the Town and Country Diner, Route 35N at Broadway, Keyport, NJ. 10:30 is her "H-hour." The Dunellen canvass took six hours; the Matawan canvass, four.
Going back to basics, boots on the ground activism is what brought people out in November 2008 to vote for Obama (I am purposefully omitting ACORN because I am strictly addressing on ground activism). It is an old yet most effective way of winning elections, reaching out to people face to face. The internet and phone and mailings only go so far...
Your points are well taken.
I have always been one of those people who believes that many races (including Governor and US Senate) can be won on the ground.
Literature drops are sometimes hard to organize - but they definitely work. Even if the people at the doors don’t entirely read the literature, in most cases they’ll glance it over and at least will become familiar with the candidates name.
There seems to be the assumption that doing primarily phone calls and direct mail will win you the election. Sometimes it does, most of the time it doesn’t. You need a ground effort.
I’ve also been one of those activists who’d rather be out dropping campaign literature than sitting around a table discussing strategy.
How is her GOTV machine? she needs those volunteers to take voters to the polls. With early voting starting soon, it is time to lock in your votes.
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