| Marc G and I loaded up the little G's- age 3 and 1- and participated in our neighborhood canvas. We weren't sure what to expect. The last time Marc G. participated in a neighborhood canvas was when Mondale ran for president. The last time I did, I was in college, drunk and on a dare for a self-serving cause- toilet paper donations.
Now, when you have little G's, a neighborhood canvas involves gear. We had a jogging stroller, 5 rain slickers- two for the kiddos, two for the grown ups, and one for the jogging stroller, a set of rain boots, snacks and sippy cups.
We were given a well organized folder with our scripts, a map of our locations and our 56-hit list and off we went. I have to give kudos to the Southwest Democrats of Tarrant County- they did a good job of organizing the event.
Here is some background on the neighborhood we canvased- largely blue collar, home values between 85-120, mixed demographics.
Here are my impressions:
- People in these neighborhoods sleep late on Saturday mornings and don't want to answer the door.
- Those that do answer the door either a) proudly vote democrat or b) thought we were the pizza delivery people
- White people are least likely to come to the door.
- Hispanic families answer the door- but let their children do it.
- Like in the movie Door to Door, the days of the neighborhood canvas are numbered. If this is how we reach people, we aren't reaching people.
I'm not sure what the answer for reaching folks is, but I think for anyone under 50, it involves the web, e-mail, text messaging, a call to action.
Maybe we sponsor block parties/voter registration drives and get people out of their homes. Maybe we target one person who can engage his or her neighborhood. But in the areas we visited, there was a serious lack of neighborhood unity... Home was inside the door and not one foot outside of it. No kids on the street. No one out for a walk. No friendly waves or smiles from people driving by.
We finished our canvas about 3 hours later. Despite our dismal results, we were proud of our effort. The rest of the weekend my thoughts centered around one question: we have good volunteers, we have energy, and dedication. How do we reach the people? I'm open to ideas.
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