A genuine smile. A firm handshake. A good conversation.
These social gestures are contagious and initiate a cycle of community building. Successful national, state, or local political campaigns are rooted in the simple assertion that personal, one-on-one face-time with constituents and potential voters really matters.
Ultimately, your campaign is about power of collaborative leadership, which means meeting people where they are — literally and figuratively. And you’ll meet many people from all walks of life at parks, businesses, and at front doors of their homes.
When you make a point to go out and meet people, you’ll hear things you didn’t know. You’ll learn about different perspectives. You’ll find people who disagree with you and your positions, and be a better candidate for it.
A big part of being a good representative means being a good listener. Going out and meeting people where they are will make you better at it.
It’s important to meet voters where they are. And good for your campaign.
George Mason University conducted a research study that shows voters who were visited by a candidate at their home were indeed 20% more likely to vote for that candidate.
Door knocking is a strategy used to get the votes necessary to win an election, but it is about more than that. These are not just conversations with the hope of winning support. It is a process about setting a foundation of transparency and accessibility for you as a candidate and later, as an elected representative. You may find that your best policy ideas sprout from expansive community engagement, robust coalitions, and inclusive conversations.
If you just announced your candidacy for office, get a list of eligible voters in your district. (There are a number of places where this information is available. We can help you at ElectionContender.com.) Although many people on this list will close the door on you (especially in the age of the pandemic), or simply decline to participate, the ones that you do speak with are vitally important and could determine the outcome of the election, as they are hearing information that they haven’t heard before and developing a friendly rapport with the candidate, which affects their voting decision.
Successful campaigns often turn on the how visible and accessible the candidate is.
Door knocking is not the easy way to move your campaign forward, but it’s the right way. You will probably find that many times you’ll knock on someone’s door, expecting to be turned away, and end up having a conversation with those who didn’t even know that there was an upcoming election or did not know who the candidates were for an election that they had heard about.
If you are the only candidate to visit, and make a connection – you’re the candidate likely to secure that person’s vote.
When we work together and have meaningful conversations, we can transcend partisanship. We can break down biases. We can do the right things.
A politician’s job is to connect with our neighbors across the community and help to empower all of us. Door knocking is a tool that helps achieve this and, even during the pandemic, is not a lost art, but a campaign strategy for success.