It’s always tough to get people re-engaged after a holiday. People who actually get away from where they live can need extra time to make up for all the work, at home and professionally, they missed on their vacation. In both Pennsylvania and Maryland (where we are knocking on doors because of the Senate race), things seemed to return to normal, volunteer turn-out wise. We will see.
2024 Electoral College Battleground Map
Hope Springs from Field PAC [website] volunteers from those two states braved weather we could all do without. Voters in Maryland actually responded to our Top Issues question with Climate Change as one of the top three responses. We watch the HeatRisk map closely, and we are having to cancel canvassing for Jacksonville, Georgia and lower North Carolina this weekend because of the NWS predictions.
We still have volunteers who are troubled by the crisis in the Democratic party, but responses to that differ widely. For some volunteers, they tell us it made them more committed to coming out now. For others, they are more afraid, given what they perceive as increased confidence and aggression from the MAGA element. I’d bet some are depressed by the division, as well. Still, the numbers suggest a return to normalcy. (I had one person suggest to me last night that this is exactly what it is, a return to SOP for Democrats.)
Although we targeted Democrats in Pennsylvania (and Michigan, Wisconsin and Nevada), elsewhere we knocked on our normal set of doors (Democrats and unaffiliated voters), we had no reports of anything other than normal voter behavior and interactions. I’m sure voters shared the same range of feelings that our volunteers did. But one of the fears some volunteers had was that they’d be screamed at at the doors “like we are screamed at in social media.”
It’s weird to think that people respond in the same way that the crazies do in a faceless digital world.
Which doesn’t mean that their fears are unfounded.
But one of our responses if that did happen would be to involved law enforcement at various levels. It’s just different than people imagine. For example, canvassers have had law enforcement come out and talk to us when we’ve knocked on doors in neighborhoods that have “No Soliciting” signs posted; that’s always a fun discussion because not every police officer out there understands the First Amendment. But we wouldn’t be afraid to engage them to protect our volunteers.
352 volunteers came out to knock on doors in Philadelphia and it’s metro area, and in the western and northern suburbs of Pittsburgh. They knocked on 23,865 doors and talked to 1,797 voters. 1,114 voters answered questions from at least part of the Issues Survey.
(Rising) Prices and/or Inflation was the Number 1 issue for the voters we talked to on Saturday in Pennsylvania. Housing and Insurance Issues (ie, Rent, Single Home Availability and affordability of both Housing and Insurance) were the #2 issue voters raised. Economic Uncertainty was third. One voter told us they were tired of this “slow recovery.”
Among the voters we talked to, Biden’s Job Approval was at 45%; 13% expressed some measure of Disapproval. 58% of the voters who responded Approved of the job Sen. Casey was doing while 9% expressed disapproval. 57% approved of the job Gov. Shapiro was doing. 6% expressed disapproval.
We registered 14 new voters and re-registered 33 voters who updated their addresses for the voter file. We differentiate between the new voters and re-registering voters because brand new voters are often ignored by campaigns and we hope to compensate for that somewhat by having volunteers send them post cards before the election and they will also receive robocalls thanking them for registering.
[If you are interested in participating in our Postcards to NEW Voters initiative, you can sign up here.]
163 voters filled out Constituent Service Request forms. We send completed CSRs to Democratic elected officials responsible for the requested functions, but if the appropriate office is held by a Republican, we still send it along. For Democrats, though, we encourage them to reach out immediately to the voter who filled out the Constituent Service Request forms and let them know they are working on the issue. This credit-taking is enormously valuable to the Democratic office-holder.
2 voters in Pennsylvania completed an Incident Reports. Incident Reports are used to plan Election Protection activities, and will be combined with other, historical incidents and handed over to District and State Attorneys, Attorney Generals and the DoJ Civil Rights Division right before Election Day as a precaution against Election Day Incidents in November. Past polling place activity is a predictor of future voter intimidation or suppression activity.
Hope Springs from Field PAC began knocking on doors again on March 2nd to set up a favorable “battle space” or foundation for Democrats in 2024. We target Democrats and unaffiliated voters with a systematic approach that reminds them not only that Democrats care, but Democrats are determined to deliver the best government possible to all Americans. The voters we talk to in these 12 Swing States tell us they come away more invested in governance and feel more favorably towards Democrats in general because of our approach.
Obviously, we rely on grassroots support, so if you support field/grassroots organizing, voter registration (and follow-up) and our efforts to protect our voters, we would certainly appreciate your support:
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/hopemobilization2024
Hope Springs from Field understands that volunteer to voter personal interactions are critical. Knocking on doors has repeatedly been found to be the most successful tactic to get voters to cast a ballot and that is the goal of what we do.
276 volunteers came out last Saturday in the Maryland. Our efforts here are a pure Senate play: Larry Hogan’s late (and surprising) entrance into the race has made this potentially a competitive race. We are focused particularly in the swingy (and open) MD-06 seat, which is open because David Trone choose to run for Senate.
Volunteers knocked on 20,065 doors and talked to 1,583 voters. 976 answered questions on our Issues Survey.
The Economy was the Number 1 Issue with the voters we talked to. Concerns about the viability and stability of the Political System was second. Climate Issues was third. Yeah, those results surprised me, too.
Biden Approval among the voters we talked to was 53% last Saturday in Maryland. 9% of the voters we talked to disapproved of the president. 51% approved of Democratic Senate nominee Angela Alsobrooks. 58% approved of the Governor Moore. 5% disapproved.
We registered 1 new voter and re-registered 8 voters who updated their addresses for the voter file. We differentiate between the new voters and re-registering voters because brand new voters are often ignored by campaigns and we hope to compensate for that somewhat by having volunteers send them post cards before the election and they will also receive robocalls thanking them for registering.
89 voters filled out Constituent Service Request forms. We send completed CSRs to Democratic elected officials responsible for the requested functions, but if the appropriate office is held by a Republican, we still send it along. For Democrats, though, we encourage them to reach out immediately to the voter who filled out the Constituent Service Request forms and let them know they are working on the issue. This credit-taking is enormously valuable to the Democratic office-holder.
Hope Springs has targeted states that have competitive Senate races and/or the Electoral College in 2024, as well as Congressional Districts that are remapped in ways that offer opportunities or vulnerabilities for Democrats next year (specifically those where a Republican won a Congressional District that voted for Biden in 2022). There is a lot of work to be done! Especially since we have had to expand the map this year.
By starting early, and aiming towards super-compliance with some really, really onerous new voter regulations, Hope Springs from Field seeks to undermine that strategy, while informing voters about the new laws and regulations aimed at them.
Our biggest expense is the Voter File. But it is also a fixed cost. That won’t change as we raise and spend more money. Printing literature is our second largest cost. Printing and mailing our our Post Cards to New Voters is our third cost and paying the fees for ActBlue is the smallest of our monthly costs.
2023 Hope Springs expenses
Hope Springs is a seat-of-the-pants grassroots-driven operation. We don’t have employees but we realize that to formalize and professionalize this effort that will have to change.
But here’s the reality: Identifying Single Issue Voters and Constitutional Amendment supporters and doing GOTV (Get-Out-the-Vote) costs more money than our regular canvassing because this issue drives volunteer turnout higher and higher. Which means we have to buy more lit to distribute and other minor expenses (like water for volunteers). So please:
If you are able to support our efforts to protect Democratic voters, especially in minority communities, expand the electorate, and believe in grassroots efforts to increase voter participation and election protection, please help:
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/hopemobilization2024
If you would rather send a check, you can follow that link for our mailing address at the bottom of the page. Thank you for your support. This work depends upon you!