Today marked day five of my door-to-door blitz in the Pennsylvania 108th district for State Representative candidate Tony Michetti. With only four days left, things are going to be non-stop until the polls close Tuesday night. It's been a great experience so far: tiring, anxious, educational, and most importantly, worthwhile. I'm going to share a few more of my stories from door-to-door canvassing, one of the most basic campaigning techniques, and also one of the most effective. I'd love to hear everyone else's anecdotes as well.
I came to one guy's door. I began my script, "Hi, I'm Eric, and I'm campaigning..." As soon as these words exited my mouth, he began shooing me away. "They're all full of shit," he spat. "You just better keep running along here."
Another man who answered listened to me give my introduction. "We all vote Republican here." I went into my spiel about how Tony's platform echoes many conservative values, such as term limits, limited government, and fiscal responsibility which the Republican Party has seemingly neglected in the past few years. I don't know if I changed his mind, or even got him thinking, but he took the information and seemed to at least consider checking the facts before making a decision. These straight-ticket voters can be some of the most frustrating people to try and reach, but we decided earlier in the campaign to not just limit ourselves to Democratic voters in our canvassing, as this election is showing the possibility of a large party shift away from the Republicans.
I know a lot of people who wish they could be more active when the election season comes around, and door-to-door canvassing is one of the most effective strategies for reaching the voters. Some people may feel uncomfortable doing it, and it does take some overcoming of fears to do, but let me tell you, I am one of the most socially awkward people I know, and even now, I realize I would make a horrible salesperson, but every little bit helps. You may even think that it's too close to the election to make a difference, but I know for a fact that campaigns such as mine are still taking volunteers, and these next few days will be our busiest ever, and even if someone shows up out of the blue on Monday morning to help out, they would most certainly be put to work. So if anyone is interested but hasn't got involved yet, try contacting your local Democratic party, or even the local candidates to offer your help, because nothing is set in stone until Tuesday night at 8pm.