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People who already agree with you:
It's kind of like having a coversation with a relative you don't know that well. You have some things in common, you make idle chit chat, but really, you want to be somewhere else talking to someone you actually NEED to talk to. But you can't just leave, since you represent the person you are campaigning for.
People who already disagree with you:
This is kind of like walking into work on Monday morning and finding out that the girl you slept with over the weekend is your boss's daughter. It's painful, it's ALSO a waste of your time (assuming they are set in their opininos), and you know you SHOULDN'T just leave, but it is better than the alternative of using gasoline and a cigarette lighter to emblazen their lawn with "MORAN".
People who aren't sure, and can be persuaded either way:
These sorts of folks run the gamut, and someone of them have a preference, but are not a dead lock. They're your target audience, obviously, but that doesn't make talking to them any easier. It's a lot of person-reading, I think. You have to look them over, make gross generalizations about the kinds of issues they will be concerned with, and hope you guessed right. However, if you can persuade enough of these people (even the ones that are "soft" supporters of the other side) to think about what you've said, you CAN make a difference in the local voting results.
It ain't pretty, but there's a reason people still do it. It works.
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