I have never done canvassing or phone banking, ever. In fact, I have to say the past few weeks have been harrowing, but I wanted to do something that would force me to do things I am not comfortable doing. I wanted to stretch myself a bit, so when I was contacted to possibly volunteer for the Elizabeth Warren for President campaign, I said yes. I was terrified honestly. I’m not good at talking to people and horrible at marketing. I fundamentally do not understand other human beings, but I have loved Elizabeth Warren since 2009 and I would go to bat for her over any other Dem on the stage.
First off, the ground game is actually really organized. I met the local organizer, and she invited me to a canvassing event. When I arrived, we talked about why we like Elizabeth Warren and what first made us want to support her. For me, it was the showdown with Timmy Geithner that sold me on her. I then downloaded an app which told me what doors to knock on, and I learned how to canvass with the other volunteers. Then we hit the streets. The whole process took an hour.
Talking to random strangers about politics is difficult and harrowing. I was imagining I’d get some fire breathing Trump supporter as my first door, but a lot of people didn’t answer. When I did talk to someone, they were either undecided or a big Liz supporter. Of course I could bond with the Warren supporters, but for the undecideds, I heard a ton of things:
“I...just don’t know, I want someone that can beat Trump.”
“I want people to be unified.”
“We haven’t picked anyone to support.”
I noticed that politics really put people in a strange emotional space. They were visibly disturbed at the thought they would have to think about politics. They were all upset at Trump. They didn’t like discussing it. For me, I was raised that you could talk about anything.
I could empathize in general, but at the same time, I wanted to have an actual connection with these people. Canvassing helped me learn a truth about myself: I hate bullshit. I hate when people are fake or they’re just pretending to be nice in order to gain something from someone else. The reason I am bad at advertising or selling myself is because I feel like doing so automatically makes me “fake” and that presenting an unauthentic version of myself has to be offensive to the other person. So, I just talked to them straight. When one woman said she wanted people to just come together again, I said “Do you want someone that has a track record of working with different groups of people? Warren has worked with people from all walks of life and across the aisle not just as a legislator but as a private citizen.” She wrote books to teach Americans how to handle their finances. She sat in on bankruptcy court proceedings. She’s seen the dark side of American capitalism. The woman looked at me and seem persuaded.
Today, we did phone banking. I got to talk to a lot of lovely older people. One was a woman who thought that Warren was smart and put together. Most wanted someone they could trust to beat Trump. I think that Trump has an aura of invincibility around him, which makes people fear that he cannot be beaten except by an overwhelming force. Most people want someone who they think CAN beat him, but they have NO idea who that person is. We feel polls can’t be trusted. After all, they put Hillary ahead for months. We can’t put faith in our neighbors. They’re silent Trump supporters. We don’t know if a centrist, progressive, liberal or social democrat is going to appeal to most Americans. The mood among a lot of people is terrible despite low unemployment and a booming stock market.
For me, the best strategy is to appeal to the legions of non-voters who feel the system is corrupt and no one can do anything about it. Appeal to them, get them to believe in something beyond their pessimism, and we can win.
Let me be VERY clear here. I will vote for the Democratic candidate for president, be it Biden, Sanders, Buttigieg, or whoever. I like ALL of them for different reason, but Warren is the one that spoke to me and who I think is positioned to help tackle the rot that has taken over the American government. I spent my Saturday reaching out to voters, and I think I learned a lot about other humans in the process.