Yesterday I saw one obnoxious trump sign in a yard and then 2 Harris signs beside the place! I beeped my car horn while passing by. I live in rural red PA so that was awesome to behold.
When I first started doing postcards 4 years ago, I was told that the names were not only swing state voters, but voters who only voted sporadically. Idk if that’s still the case.
My wife confirms that the cards are going to Dems and independents who have only voted sporadically. I don’t remember if she had mentioned that point to me before.
Here are the 500 postcards.
Click to see the full image.
Impressive!!
I’d believe they’re more effective than just standard mailings. I still sometimes get briefly suckered by some of the script fonts on bulk mail, and these would have me studying letters to see if I could tell whether it was hand-written.
Anyway, I hope they work, because it does feel urgent to do something.
I did feel pretty happy when two undecideds I spoke with said they now intended to vote and when a Republican said she was already voting straight D.
The text banking I do is very much directed at swing states, though not exclusively. Sometimes it’s directed at swingy local races. The organization I work with tries to track outcomes. I think my efforts do something because enough people are semi-engaged with the political process enough to work with me in finding their polling place. Some text back, “Right on, thanks for the reminder!”, which gives me a charge but they were probably going to vote anyway. Others are more abusive which IMHO is totally understandable: this is an intrusive exercise which I only do during election season when one of the two candidates/parties opposes democracy. Let’s hope that will change and in ~?~2030 I’ll have a ethical challenge to resolve.
The texting occurs via my desktop, not my phone (though there are apps for phones and tablets).
2020 summary of text banking research by the Sister District Project:
[I’ll note that “Cons” can be addressed via multiple sponsoring organizations]
A piece of 2018 research indicates that texting costs about $90 per vote.
Is it worth it? Well it’s more effective than doomscrolling I say. Matt Yglassias:
My strong sense, though, is that too many not-at-all-indifferent people are spending time and psychic energy on things like “feeling stressed about the election” and “arguing with the biggest shithead on Twitter.”
If these things are genuinely bringing you joy in life, then by all means, carry on. But they probably aren’t, and they’re certainly not the most constructive things you can do with your time.
If you’re nervous about the election and the future of the country do something about it . Talk to undecided voters you have a personal connection, and tell them something you think they may not have already heard that is relevant to their lives. Give money to the candidates who are most likely to benefit from your money. Talk to people you know who already have their minds made up about how they can be more effective and more strategic with their own communications and giving. No one of us can single-handedly determine the future of the country. But we all have a good deal of agency, and almost everyone feels better in the medium term if they take concrete action, even if worrying or emoting seems more satisfactory in the short term.