Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Someone's Knocking At The Door!

By Jeff Simpson

A post I saw Facebook lately have had me thinking about how the times have changed in politics.  

Here it is(names have been changed):

1.(in the context of Joe Jakubowski walking free)  Jane Doe:  To add to this worry, I had a man ring my doorbell this morning- wearing a baseball cap, with longer shaggy hair.,driving a red Buick sedan- I've never seen this man before. And was not expecting anyone at my house. I'm ultra freaked.  Yes. Oak street. I'm calling Dane county non emergency   
 Jane Smith: I'm on woodview dr not too far from you! I will not be opening up my doors today that's for sure. 



The question is, how many people actually answer their doors these days?  How many people are going to drop what they are doing to answer the door, and if they do actually engage with you to get your message across?  How many times do politicians and their supporters, get the police called on them or threatened?   Would someone spending a minute or two at your door, actually get you to vote for them? 

When was the last time you read a piece of lit that was dropped off at your house?  Or mailed to you?   Can you name the last piece that came to you by candidate and issue?  

We can say that we need to get volunteers to do doors but does that make a difference?   I know Christine Welcher worked doors hard in the 32nd Assembly district, while her opponent Tyler August is not only incompetent but I would be surprised if he did a single door.     Unfortunately the 32nd district has decided to not be represented by Mr. August for another two years.   

Same with numerous politicians, heck Paul Ryan was invisible in his district for his re-election but won handily against a far superior opponent.   

The 2016 election was a turning point in political campaigns moving forward.  Everything that we knew on how to win elections, we know longer know.   We need to adapt and adapt quickly to the new way to do things and we need to figure out what exactly that was is and figure it out yesterday.  

Where would reaching out to YOU have the biggest impact on YOU?     

I have some ideas but want to hear from others first!  




2 comments:

  1. While social media and the internet does play a large role in elections now, I still think people in my district respond positively to old fashioned face to face, let's sit on the porch and chat politics.
    Y

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  2. From my experience doing doors as a volunteer, I've found that a lot of people are interested in hearing about what a candidate could do for them.

    I think it's even more important with issues. Talking with people is an effective way to get people thinking about an issue and possibly changing their minds. We need to be hitting doors year-round to change minds around issues.

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