I venture into this diary hesitantly because I don’t see anyone else talking about this. If you know of other outreach efforts, please let me know. And I hope that those reading this can give me feedback and help shape these ideas if they make sense.
First the background: I have spent a lot of my life around blue collar workers and women without a college education (they are not mutually exclusive). I have been a union member and worked to unionize VISTA volunteers many years ago. I am actively engaged with the Democratic party and just came back from the Oregon Summit, a yearly policy wonk kind of gathering for Dems. There was a lot of talk about how to engage voters, especially in special and midterm elections. We heard of new approaches to social media, mailers, ads, and emails. We talked about the effectiveness of face to face contact such as that of the Neighborhood Leader program.
And these all sound like important vessels for our message. My problem is that I have called, knocked on neighbor doors, tabled at events, used social media and engaged with organizations. And many of the people I meet don’t care about our message, no matter what the vessel. No matter what we say, the message they get is — “we are the better party, we will do good things, vote for us”. And they are having none of it. In the upcoming elections they probably will not vote, they don’t welcome my insights or those of the party.
My second concern is the amount of time and money we spend on campaigning. I work hard for the candidates I support but, at the end of each election cycle, I wonder if I and others could have spent the time in other ways that would also make the world better. This got me to thinking if there was a way to both actively do good within the community and recruit voters at the same time.
While not rejecting all of the traditional outreach methods, if we want to win the uninterested voter, we need to show, not tell, what we have to offer. We need a new paradigm of teaching about the Democratic party. My suggestions:
Skilled Trades Fair: In a community where people are underemployed, sponsor a skilled trades fair. Some of the participants would be:
- The community college
- Representatives of Labor unions with information about how to get an apprenticeship
- People with information about how to pay for training
- The Bureau of Labor and Industry with information about job outlooks and wages in different trades.
- People who had recently gone through job upgrade who could talk about the experience
- Employers looking for workers
In addition, Democratic candidates for office would be there with information about how they are supporting people to move up to a better life including specific legislation sponsored and passed by Dems that makes this difference. (This is possible in Oregon because we have passed such legislation and few people realize it). Candidates could also interview some of those attending, asking them what they would like to see on a legislative agenda, maybe a Story Corps setup where the people attending can really make their voices heard and be involved in the process of governing.
This would have to be publicized widely in the community — through schools, flyers, newspaper articles, and invitation to specific groups such as those representing minorities, students in high school and community college, and workers in low wage jobs (I have a vision of handing out flyers outside of Walmart at closing time).
I have two goals in this. The obvious one is to reach out to possible voters in tangible ways. But an equally important goal is to campaign in a way that makes an immediate difference. We spend so much time and money that, at best, results in getting someone elected but changes no one’s life immediately for the better. If we could reach out in this way, we could make lives better and let people know what we stand for at the same time.
So I am asking the Kos community to help me. Is this a possible idea? Does it make sense? Do you think it could make a difference, either for the people we serve or in vote turnout? What should I be considering as I begin to further explore doing this before the elections next fall?
And I find myself thinking, if this works, there is room for many other such practical outreach efforts that also highlight the Democratic party and its candidates:
- a women’s fair that has health information on how to access services for women and their children and highlights legislation they can use.
- a gun safety program that makes biometric gun safes available, and talks about the impact of guns on suicide and how to respond if you are worried about someone in your life.
- an expo on government services and how to access them — highlighting what positive things government does in your life.
All of these would be clearly branded as part of the service role of the Democratic party. Rather than telling people what we will do for them — I want to show what we have already made possible and what we are doing now to make their lives better. I guess I liked show and tell in Kindergarten — I think it also has a place in the political life of the community.
I thank you for any help and ideas you can give me in shaping this. I feel a little silly getting so excited about something that feels both daunting to organize and seems to be outside the box, but I want to try. Have you tried anything like this?
