On the Campaign Trail

I don't know that I have a lot to report—most of the campaign trail right now consists of going door to door. Then I hand them some information on me and hope that either the handshake and card are convincing enough to vote for me or that they'll visit my website to learn more. Even though 80% of first time visitors leave after viewing the main page, this allows Google and Facebook to record that they visited and then deliver ads to them. Since the best way to guarantee a win come August is with more people voting than last time, "capturing" voters like this is crucial.

I've only done 77 doors in the past week, which includes houses where no one answered. I'll keep going back though and am planning phone calls later in the season to try and capture houses I've already visited.

Although going door to door can be a real pain, I've come to think of it as important. Even if the resident and I don't have a substantive talk (and few of them want to), it's a part of the job to know the people you're supposed to be representing. It's also important because I've come to view the idea that people are active in politics because they care as inadequate—the barriers to participating in politics are many, from a sense of helplessness or futility about voting or contacting your representative, ignorance of the mechanics of how to vote or how to contact your representative, and so on. Given the reach of modern technology, I think the burden has shifted to representatives to know their constituents, not vice verse. And for those who aren't participating in tech like social media, the best way to reach them is through personal appeals, which is where going door to door plays a vital role.

Fundraising is probably my weakest point. I'm uncomfortable asking for money and bad at planning events that generate funds. The good news is that in a race of this size, where everything can be done on the personal level, money is a force multiplier. So while Brian and Jan have more money to spend, I can invest more time and effort to equalize the field.

And a BIG thanks to the family for visiting me at one of my events—my sand castle building competition only resulted in one new family participating, but the exposure on Facebook can't be underrated.

Post by Chris Givan for Hutch.