# Well, I signed up to go Canvassing

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-signed-up-to-go-canvassing/268915>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [October 13, 2004, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-signed-up-to-go-canvassing/268915 "2004-10-13T00:53:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-signed-up-to-go-canvassing/268915/1 "2004-10-13T00:53:49Z")

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Because I believe a favorable outcome of this election outweighs lots of strangers’ rights to an uninterrupted day, I have signed up to go to Wisconsin a week from Saturday and go canvassing.

I am an introvert in real life, but, y’know, I thought this was too important to take the stress I’ll feel at approaching people I don’t know to talk about politics into consideration.

So…any advice?

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**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-signed-up-to-go-canvassing/268915/2 "2004-10-13T00:59:17Z")

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What is canvassing?

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**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-signed-up-to-go-canvassing/268915/3 "2004-10-13T01:01:06Z")

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Ok, I looked it up.

> [@](#):
>
> To go through (a region) or go to (persons) to solicit votes or orders.

This works?

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**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-signed-up-to-go-canvassing/268915/4 "2004-10-13T07:36:34Z")

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Good luck!

We had a canvasser knock on our door last weekend to talk about the election. She asked if we had decided which way we were voting, and my roommate answered that we’d both be voting for Kerry. Words cannot describe the absolute look of relief on her face. “Thank God!,” she said, looking a combination of happy and terrified. “Everybody else I’ve talked to today has told me they’ll be voting for Bush.”

I hope you get a better reception in Wisconsin than she did in Nevada. Thank you for doing it.

**Bruce\_Daddy** , I think most people **bup** will talk to have probably already made their minds up. The ones who are important, who the canvassing is designed to “work” on, are the undecided voters. If a canvasser can reach an undecided voter and answer a question or clear up an issue for that voter, then yes, it works. I’d bet that the sucess rate is pretty low, especially for this election, but every bit helps. I just hope nobody hurls jalapeno bites angrily at **bup**. 😃