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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"Do you need a drink of water or anything?" she asks
It's a hot day. Halfway through my walklist, I take a break to change into a cooler shirt; the one I'm wearing is soaked with sweat. After recovering, I start knocking again
Here's a small notice, penciled on weather-worn paper and scotch-taped sideways above the bell: No soliciting
Folk regularly post notices like that, and I actually have no idea what the sign means. I guess it's a safe bet the inhabitants wouldn't want to meet me if I were selling Big Sucker vacuums or a lifetime subscription to Modern Scams; but beyond that, I just don't have a clue. Some folk, though obviously home, don't answer; many come chat with me, making no mention of their sign; every now and then, somebody's mightily offended I didn't know their personal definition of soliciting, so I apologize quickly and sweetly as I move along
I ring the bell
Like many other people, she comes out the back door and up the drive. Can I help you?
I offer her our primary endorsements
Well, she says, we usually don't allow soliciting, but I'll make an exception for this
I'm not really soliciting, I shrug
Exactly! she says
So I run through the high points of my short spiel, telling her what races concern us and where she can vote early
She tells me this is very helpful. Do you need a drink of water or anything? she asks
I thank her but decline: I live nearby
Kali
(55,013 posts)sheshe2
(83,786 posts)Thank you for helping to GOTV2014.
struggle4progress
(118,290 posts)I spent part of the afternoon on door-hangers for one candidate
Later I dropped off my walklists from Saturday and Sunday somewhere else
Then I spent part of the evening knocking doors to pass out endorsement cards
I'm looking at another week of this
We better win!
sheshe2
(83,786 posts)NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)mopinko
(70,120 posts)bam
u da man.
struggle4progress
(118,290 posts)Last edited Tue Apr 29, 2014, 01:20 AM - Edit history (1)
I'll have changed some of what I do. And somebody else will want to do it differently than I do, I'm sure
There's some strange trade-off here: you need to be yourself enough, so you won't be phony -- and you need to respect the person whose turf you've invaded, by getting to the point ASAP and by skeedaddling before you're asked to skeedaddle whenever possible
Cha
(297,283 posts)struggle4progress
(118,290 posts)but you constantly bump into some you know
Saturday, I knocked a door and asked for somebody, and her reaction was: You want to talk to me? She was so surprised! I myself found it charming
Yesterday, I caught a woman as she was getting ready to drive off, and she insisted on getting her husband. I couldn't figure out this it was so important, but after a spell of calling into the house and looking around the side of the house, she finally told me they seen me on the street, and he'd said he knew me. She finally found him, and we chatted a bit
The local ballot's not too big, and I get some conversation with local candidates when I volunteer: They might drop literature at my house before an election if I ask, and I might drop (say) yard signs at their houses when the election's over. There are some smart, informed, caring politicians -- and since by temperament I'm not at all politician, I learn a lot from these little interactions
Cha
(297,283 posts)herding cats
(19,565 posts)Thank you for doing the work to help them win. If we all were as dedicated as you are, we'd have no need to be worried. GOTV works only if we actually do the work to make it happen.
Your a superhero, and your superpower is believing in the process.
struggle4progress
(118,290 posts)yes and maybe it's the time of man
and I don't know who I am
but life is for learning ...
we are stardust
we are golden
we are caught in the devil's bargain
and we've got to get ourselves
back to the garden
Tuesday Afternoon
(56,912 posts)struggle4progress
(118,290 posts)Whether we done poor or done good, we can always do better
Tuesday Afternoon
(56,912 posts)struggle4progress
(118,290 posts)Tuesday Afternoon
(56,912 posts)and, I really hope they ARE groovy
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)It was a simple question, "Do you need a ride to the polls?"
struggle4progress
(118,290 posts)Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)struggle4progress
(118,290 posts)AverageJoe90
(10,745 posts)SheilaT
(23,156 posts)campaigning a decade ago, the Democratic party assured us that a no soliciting sign did not apply to political speech.
Obviously, if someone is quite hostile you want to excuse yourself and walk away, but many people are okay with what you're doing.
struggle4progress
(118,290 posts)(in a neighborhood or town) against activities such as canvassing would be invalid; but I'd also guess that an individual property owner will certainly have legal remedy against a trespasser -- and exactly what constitutes trespass might depend slightly on jurisdiction
SheilaT
(23,156 posts)trying to promote your candidate, I sort of doubt it's actual trespass. Although if the homeowner asks you to leave you certainly should.
struggle4progress
(118,290 posts)and under all circumstances