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Edited on Thu Aug-11-11 10:43 AM by MineralMan
one nobody talks about much. That group is the group that has to be convinced to even go to the polls and vote. Typically, they're jaded, think their vote doesn't matter, are busy, bored, apathetic, and more. This group, when it can be convinced to turn out and vote, often makes an enormous difference in elections, as we saw in 2008. The problem is how to get them to show up and vote and to vote for candidates you support.
What I found, in 2010, was that physically walking my precinct for two months prior to the election and talking to everyone I could contact discovered many of these people. When I talked to them, the first thing I did was asked how they felt about the election and the candidates. The ones who told me that they had already decided who to vote for and who said they'd be voting for them got some candidate literature and I answered any questions they had about issues and candidates. For the most part, nothing I said would really change their vote.
However, the ones who told me that they weren't going to vote, for whatever reason, got another approach. I asked them why they didn't plan to vote, and then talked to them about that. I asked them what the things were they felt were truly important to them, individually. Almost always, the answers they gave me could be linked to positions held by the Democratic candidates for whom I was campaigning. I focused only on the particular issues each individual brought up, and explained how the positions of a candidate addressed those issues.
All of that required that I actually study this stuff in advance, so I knew those positions and could articulate them. Each of these voters got whatever amount of time required to deal with their issues. In most cases, it all came down to a single issue, which varied from person to person.
The result of that activity was dramatic. In my precinct in St. Paul, MN, the turnout in 2010 was almost exactly 60%. That was between 5-10% higher than statewide turnout. Even more encouraging, every Democratic candidate on the ballot in the precinct won with a majority vote in the high 50% to low 60% range. All of this is a matter of record in the 2010 election.
So, there is an untapped group of voters who WILL respond to a personal, informative contact and WILL change their mind about voting at all. They WILL turn out and, if you've helped them see why your candidate best addresses their issues, they WILL vote for that candidate.
I highly recommend this method of election activism to anyone who has the time and energy to commit to it. It works. It can counteract a lot of money spent on advertising and make a distinct difference in the outcome of the election.
You can see the website for my precinct, of which I'm the DFL chair, at the link in my signature line.
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