I've thought about this too given my limited time canvassing.
There are metasocietal issues here obviously, in that people are more likely to listen to the tv or the internet then people from within their own community, but I don't know that simply ignoring that will really change it.
In my anecdotal experience with this sort of thing, people (for whatever reason, good or bad) have become very shrewd when filtering things out. Junk mail is junk, junk calls are hung up on, random people at the door are dismissed.
As to the specific point of canvassing, there are probably two roads to go. One option is to stop canvassing- it's a lot of manhours for questionable gain. The other is to amp it up tremendously. Get people used to their community being a part of things. This is obviously much more difficult because you need, you know, people to do it. The biggest problem I find with canvassing is that, in the large scale it's kinda done half-assed. I'm not nearly as cynical as I once was, but it's still gonna be tough to convince me that this is a big community thing if it's someone I've never met and won't see again for two years. If it were people who also were naturally integrated into things outside of electiontime, political or not, that'd be a nice start.
I think your comments bring up a question about what canvassing is. Since I live in a "safe" district, my efforts have usually been where I parachute in to canvass strangers (often in low-income neighborhoods) and then come back to base. If the person at their door were a neighbor, the reception would be totally different. But, then, a neighbor in a contemporary suburb probably wouldn't canvass in that traditional way. Campaigning within a social network would be more subtle and move away from the front door and into the few remaining shared physical areas where neighbors cross paths - the day care center, a kids' soccer game, the pantry at work. And in those scenarios, a small campaign button or bumper sticker might be a more effective conversation starter than a hard-sell, evangelical pitch.
Yeah, I think "half-assed" is a good description of the well-meaning but, probably, ineffective efforts I've been a part of.
Campaigning within a social network would be more subtle and move away from the front door and into the few remaining shared physical areas where neighbors cross paths
That might actually be a better way to focus canvassing efforts- at natural gatherings. This already goes on to some extent I realize (and maybe I don't know how much), but one thing that seems lacking in all of the effort from the party infrastructure is training people to naturally evangelize day-to-day.
This is actually what I think is the best part about the blogosphere, it teaches people the talking points, but also how to relate them into everyday language, everyday happenings- it teaches them how to fold political issues into everyday life. Canvassing may or may not be dead, but a refocusing of canvassing as a mindset rather than an event could do wonders.
"Canvassing as a mindset rather than an event"
Very well put!
Having done way more than my share of canvassing in 2004 (Kerry in NH & OH) and 2006 (Lamont), I too question its effectiveness--especially in the week right before the election.
I can name a few cases where we made a difference, but these were less persuasion than mainly getting voter reg. forms into the hands of supportive people who hadn't registered to vote yet (mainly because they moved). Still, given the number of hours per success, canvassing doesn't feel very efficient.
I agree that campaigns need to do way more outreach at events such as music concerts/festivals, etc. Setting up a table with free condoms and voter registration forms on a Saturday night in a nightclub district would probably work wonders.
And speaking as one who lives in blue neighborhood in a blue state (MA), folks in red/purple states have an opportunity to be genuinely effective that the rest of us don't by being locally active, which is much more effective.
LOL - campaign condoms - Great idea!!! Probably not in rural Tennessee, but maybe in urban areas.
While you can persaude people (to support you) at the door via canvasing and such, it's better and more typically used to focus on actually getting infrequent voters to actually go and vote.
GOTV efforts should only be about getting people that support you to the polls to vote. Ideally unless it's a special circumstance (special election, etc) you'd be able to mostly leave the super-voters (those that always vote no matter what) alone and focus on getting those that only vote occassionally to the polls.
I wholeheartedly disagree with those that have said that canvasing and phone banking is of no use and that it shouldn't be done. I do agree with the feeling behind that (and also expressed within this thread) that it doesn't seem to be being done in the most effective way possible.
At it's most effective contact should be on an ongoing basis by people who live in your community that you already know. That's friends, neighours, and those you work with along with the democratic committee people in your area. Microtargeting and tracking would take place so you could talk to people about issues that are of specific interest to them and you could track their responses over time.
Lists would be updated so no wrong or disconnected/moved numbers/addresses or and the personal issue data for each person you're calling would be available for tailored messages. You'd able to update the database on the fly with comments including not to knock or call them again or if they need an absentee ballot or ride to the poll. Election day you'd be able to track who has voted and who has not voted so you can only focus on those that haven't, etc.
These things are done to differing degrees with differing levels of success depending on the particular campaign. I think the better information you have and the more effectively you use it the better off you are. The more organic you can make the canvasing/phone banking effort the more successful it will be too. By organic I mean natural... people knocking doors in their own neighourhood talking to people they may even know about issues that they know in advance are relevant to them.
