I’ve never done this before, but volunteered for Diane Harkey in CA-49 (Darrell Issa’s old district) because it seemed to be more competitive than our own very Dem-predominant district.
Mrs. Till and I did precinct walking a couple of weeks ago, then phone banking Thursday night.
Saturday we walked a precinct in a pretty mixed area of Encinitas, an upscale suburb of San Diego. Today (Sunday) I returned and finished up the 100+ houses.
This particular precinct is, however, not the most upscale in Encinitas. Lots of cars in driveways and on the street; guys working on their own cars; lots of American flags up.
The campaign for Harkey had us use special canvassing software, so I could look at a street map with “target” homes indicated; click on the pin and the name of the primary registered voter comes up, click on that and all the registered voters’ names, party affiliation, age and other info show up.
Procedure is we ring a doorbell, if no one answers we leave a door hanger and mark “no answer”. If someone answers we ask if they have voted or will be voting, and record that in the software.
Well both Saturday and Sunday, most people weren’t home, but a lot were.
What I observed I would summarize as follows:
1. Republicans are VERY enthusiastic about voting; most have voted by mail; the others say they will vote Tuesday. No one said they were not voting.
2. A small number of registered Republicans are not voting GOP per their volunteered responses (I’d say 2-3 out of 100).
3. Many voters thanked me for walking the precincts.
4. Whenever I offered the statement that this is an extremely important election, they agreed vociferously.
5. I saw no real hostility, only civility, even when there was a “mixed” household with the Dem spouse answering the door.
6. The GOP seems to be using cutting-edge technology both in phone banks and canvassing software. They know how many mail-in votes are from GOP vs Dems (GOP had an early lead, now decreasing; however traditionally more Republicans vote on Election Day).

The latest poll has the Dem candidate 10 points ahead; he has several times the amount of money Diane Harkey has (don’t remember the numbers); most from out of state.

In debates, Harkey has run rings around Mike Levin, her opponent. Don’t know if that has affected many voters, however.

Obviously a small sample of GOP voters, not Dems, in a mixed precinct. But I found it very encouraging (although exhausting).
I’m glad I don’t have to do this for a living.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: sjtill,

That is interesting, the idea of doing what you did sounds entertaining.

There’s a lot riding on this. I’ve got my fingers crossed. Voted last week. NC is a finicky state...we’ll see.