Notes from the Field #6 (Northwest Congressional Battlegrounds)

Dear Friends,

Here is my 6th edition of my journal volunteering for multiple campaigns. I have been particularly interested in the state of field campaigns in important congressional races.

Also, if anyone is knocking on doors the last 3 days, here are some tips in a video I put together yesterday:

This email includes:

1. Learning to organize moderates at the doors

2. Organizing my first republican volunteer

3. Training first time door knockers- it is easier than you think

4. An interesting perspective on the campaign staffing/training problem

5. What is going to happen on Election Day in the country and WA-3?

1. Learning to organize moderates at the door

Most of my organizing life I have thought that if we just turn out enough “base” democratic voters we will win. So it was confusing to me at first why when volunteering in OR-5 or WA-3 congressional races, I was always knocking on swing voters doors. I would soon learn that in at least in these two races, you need BOTH to turn out your base AND to move some moderate Republicans to support the Democrat to win. Since I want to win, I have embraced the challenge of talking with people very different then me- trying moderate republicans, conservative democrats, and independents at their door step.

I have found my own way to move centrists at the door, at least in swing districts in OR and WA, although I’ve heard anecdotally this works in Nevada too. Although no campaign has included this in their rap, I have found the best way to start a conversation with swing voters is to talk about Trump. I’ll say something honest like, “I really like my candidate, they are an auto mechanic young mother, etc, but the REAL reason I’m volunteering is I don’t want to give Trump more power in this country.” 90% of the time there is a visceral response, which is an opening to talk about how extreme the Trump/Republican Party/Joe Kent is, and why they should vote for the independent Democrat who represents their moderate views more.

2. Organizing my first republican volunteer

While it’s been a positive experience for me to learn how to move moderates at the door, what would be better? Recruiting moderate volunteers to speak to their friends. I have been focused on recruiting volunteers wherever I can- with the theory that democrats can recruit volunteers if campaigns would just ASK them. I recruited a volunteer standing in line at a congressional debate. I recruited anyone I could in my friend network. I recruited 3 volunteers at their doorstep. But the volunteer I recruited that might make the biggest difference is Mel.

Mel was sitting one row in front of me at the Marie Perez/Joe Kent debate in Longview WA. I could feel the passion and emotion she felt for Marie and against Kent throughout the chaotic debate. After the debate, I stood outside the hall with a binder and a Marie Perez shirt (a volunteer, but posing as a staffer), hoping to catch people who were feeling the emotions I felt at the first debate I went to, which motivated me to get involved. Mel came up to me, we had a brief conversation, and I asked her to volunteer and got her number.

She told me later that she was not expecting to hear from me, but over the next two weeks we talked on the phone and texted. I had a really good feeling that she would be a good volunteer, so I kept following up. She told me she was terrified of knocking on doors, and had never done it before, and lived in the small conservative community of Kalama WA.

I finally got her to meet me at the office. To get to our area to knock on doors, I asked if she wanted to take my car or hers, and she said, “I don’t know if you are an ax murderer yet, so if its ok, I’ll take my own car. Also, if my kids call, I may have to go.”

We started knocking on doors together on a particularly nasty flash flood warning day, and I realized she was EXACTLY the kind of volunteer we needed. She voted for Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler (who voted to impeach Trump) in the primary, and was repelled by MAGA extremism. She is a stay at home mom in a small southern Washington rural community. When we knocked on a door of a woman who said with kids running around, “I have 3 kids, I don’t have time to think about politics,” Mel shot back “I also have 3 kids, and I’m her volunteering to day because this is so important for our families…”. She was a natural, very relatable, and with credentials that I don’t have. Over the 2 hours she started to realize her power to make a difference, and next time said she would walk on her own in her community. Later she posted on her facebook:

Out with my new BFF Harley Augustino,

door knocking for Marie Gluesenkamp Perez for Congress. It was rainy and windy but worth it for a candidate who supports and fights for

2 amendment rights

Fully fund the police

Pro reproductive rights

Has a plan for the homeless crisis

Will fight for logging smart

For small business owners

For working class

Invest and expand apprenticeship and skills training programs

to bring down healthcare and prescription drug cost

Democracy

To my once Republican voter friends / Jamie Herrera Butler voters : Dont be afraid of that " Democrat" title. Marie is more middle of the road & reach across the aisle candidate . Marie's willing to fight and represent the middle class and all citizens of SW Washington. Kent on the other hand....well ...he's wanting. Marie is the right candidate for Congress WA-03

The race is going to be close .

Vote Marie on Tues Nov. 8th !!

*****

This experience opened up in me the idea of organizing more republican volunteers like Mel. I have met so many of them on the doors, what if they got active, and started organizing each other? And where can I find more of them? Until the left base is big enough, and organized enough, we will need people like Mel to stop the right wing take-over of the country. I’m sure we have many political differences, but we both agree we need to stop MAGA extremism.

3. Training first time door knockers- it is easier than I thought

It’s not a complicated idea. The more door knockers we have, and the better trained they are, the more people will be motivated at the doors. Getting first time door knockers to come, have a good time, and become a regular volunteer going forward, helps us continually grow our movements, along with keeping your regular volunteers happy.

I have had many conversations with friends and people who care deeply about the future of the direction country but are very nervous knocking on doors. The problem is that the most EFFECTIVE thing most of us can do for the issues we care deeply about (unless we have a million dollars)- knocking on strangers doors- will require us to try and push ourselves out of our comfort zones.

I love taking out and training first time door knockers. The anxiety of knocking on doors of strangers is completely normal. But if someone is willing to give it a try, I love showing that it is not rocket science. Even for introverts, door knocking is a controlled environment, where your genuine care for humanity is the most important. A lot of people connect with that. And if they don’t, you get to practice dealing with rejection, which only stings less over time. You can always walk away and end the conversation if it’s not going well.

A week ago, I was door knocking in my neighborhood, and I recruited Susan, who lives up the block from me in Portland. A progressive in her 50’s, she never knocked on doors for a political campaign. But she took the leap, and after an hour of watching me do it, she was ready to venture on her own. At the end she said, “I wish you would have talked with me sooner, I think I could have gotten a couple other people to door knock with us.”

4. One reason for the training problem (article)

This article provided me with some good answers (from previous posts) about why ground campaign training in swing congressional districts has been so elementary.

5. What is going to happen on Election Day in the country and WA-3?

This is my last email until election day. It is widely documented that the winds are going in the republicans favor. 538 is predicting a slight edge (53%) for Republicans to take the Senate, and strongly expecting (82%) them to take the house.

For Washington 3 Marie Perez district, they predict that she has 2% chance of winning (their model suggests 56.5% for Kent and 43.5% for Perez), not good odds. OR-5 is currently 42% chance winning the seat for McCloud Skinner.

While one can get a warped view when you are in an exciting campaign, you also notice things that are not part of national predictions. There has been little polling in the district, but I am hoping that the tremendous volunteer energy that the campaign lazer focused on door knocking, combined with our ability to convince moderates at the door, could out perform these predictions. Needless to say, a Marie victory would be a HUGE upset, but I think it’s definitely a possibility.

Thanks for reading, send me any reactions you have. I’m heading back out to rural Kalama WA today to knock on some doors with Mel!

Cheers,

Harley