Generally, I'm an advocate of persuasion as a campaign tool. October, however is the time for getting out the vote, and September is the time for planning and preparing for that.
In an off-year election, the party that wins is the party that turns out. Historically, Republicans have been better at that than we have, and they have an advantage among the geezers who turn out better than the whippersnappers.
We, however, have a weapon that they can't match. Obama has a more devoted following than any president since Reagan. He has high negatives, too, but not with our voters. So we need him to speak to our voters.
First, I would suggest that somebody at OFA or DCCC look at congressional races in states where people declare their parties. (In IL, we only have records of which party they vote in primaries. That's no use for GOTV; if you vote in primaries, you vote in general elections.) They choose the 35 closest House races with a Republican incumbent and the 15 closest with a Democratic incumbent.
Then, in the chosen races with a Republican incumbent, every voter who cast a ballot in '12 but not in '10 will get a robocall:
"This is Barrack Obama. I want to thank you for your support for me in my election. You know, however, that the president does not make the laws. Congress does, and many in Congress have been dragging their feet. Your congressman, Joe Smith, voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act scores of times. He even voted to shut down the government. He never voted for the many proposals that I have sent to Congress to put the country back to work and protect the environment.
"Fred Jones, who is running against him, would be a much more productive member of Congress. Please, as you care about this country and its future, vote in the coming election and vote for Fred Jones.
"Now, here is my friend Pete, to tell you where and when you can vote."
"This is Pete Brown from Organizing for America. Our records have you in the first precinct of the 48th ward. If you have moved since the last election, please change your registration. You can do this at the Board of Elections in the County building across the street from the Picasso statue. You can vote Monday through Saturday from October 20th until September 1st at the Broadway Armory. That's at ZZZ North Broadway. The hours are 9 to 7 Monday through Friday, and 9 to 5 on Saturday. Usually there are no lines at all before the last week.
"On election day, November fourth, you vote at Senn High school, 5900 North Glenwood. The hours are six a.m. to 7 p.m. only that Tuesday.
"Please vote. Your country needs you to do so."
Note that this pushes early voting first. If you vote every time, then your fondness for the ritual of election day can be excused. If you miss, then you need to be prodded to vote early. Indeed, if we have the manpower, we could get to everyone who doesn't vote early.
The words for the re-election of the endangered Democrats after the jump.
For the incumbent Democrats, the calls would sound something like this:
"This is Barrack Obama. I want to thank you for your support for me in my elections. You know, however, that the president does not make the laws. Congress does, and many in Congress have been dragging their feet. Your congressman, Fred Jones, has been making a valiant fight for your interests against the reactionary Republicans in the House of Representatives. We need more like him, but we need him there, too. Please, as you care about this country and its future, vote in the coming election and vote for Fred Jones.
"Now, here is my friend Linc, to tell you where and when you can vote."
"This is Lincoln Greene from Organizing for America. Our records have you in the first precinct of the 48th ward. If you have moved since the last election, please change your registration. You can do this at the Board of Elections in the County building across the street from the Picasso statue. You can vote from October 20 until November 1st at the Broadway Armory. That's at ZZZ North Broadway. The hours are 9 to 7 Monday through Friday and 9 to 5 on Saturday. Usually there are no lines at all before the last week.
"On election day, November fourth, you vote at Senn High school, 5900 North Glenwood. The hours are 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. only that Tuesday.
"Please vote. Your country needs you to do so."
All the names but one are my made-up examples. The precinct is my own, and won't be selected. Not only is registration not by party, Schakowsky is a shoo-in.
This would require the President to make 50 recordings, although the variations aren't great. It would require every organizer to make many more recordings -- 500 each at a guess. Still, the organizer could take weeks making them.
(I would have the organizers use their real names and have their recordings made before the President makes his. That way, he doesn't have to rerecord a message if an organizer catches laryngitis half way through his job.)
I would be happy if they decided that fewer than 15 Democratic incumbents were in real danger or that the President could handle more than 50 recordings. (If the other resources are available, Michelle could make recordings for more districts.) We need more than 35 Republican incumbents to threaten if we are going to regain the House.
If this is done and is effective, the voters turned out would favor Democratic candidates up and down the ballot. The group selecting the CDs might well choose ones where there were close races for the Senate or for Governor.
Some who get this message will ignore it, of course. But politics is a game of percentages.
There has been some talk of OFA "keeping its powder dry" until '16. That is ridiculous.
1) What powder is it keeping dry? An organization consists of its active members, and no activity means no active members, which means no organization.
2) A victory in '14 would leave the Republican Party shattered. Gridlock is unpopular, and a Congress that did something would show that the previous eight years of gridlock is the fault of the Republicans.
3) Voting is a habit. That's one of the reasons that we Geezers are more dependable voters than the millennials are. Any Democratic candidate wants Democratic voters to be in the habit of voting.
4) President Hillary Clinton will need some progress in the next two years to start her administration off with a bang.