I don't know if I can hold it together........................

[ClintonTyree]

this weekend. I'm going door to door handing out Dem literature for local and national campaigns. I KNOW I'm going to run into the typical "morans" out there who are going to be rude, vile and oh so Republican.

I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to keep a grip on things and not retaliate. I hate these pricks. I don't want to do anything stupid that could cost us one vote or get my keester thrown in jail.

Does anyone have any tips that I could employ to keep my cool, be civil in the presence of the most uncivil, and generally be a good representative for our candidates. Seriously, I'm afraid I'll lose it when I come face to face with the inevitable "Freeper Moran" Maybe I should just stay home.

[Jacobin]

1. kind bud?

[TahitiNut]

9. Yeah ... a little toke can bring a whole lot of peace to the world.

:thumbsup:

[ClintonTyree]

10. I want to be able to talk...............

"kind bud" makes me act like Bush.

[da_chimperor]

2. Think of their faces when they announce Kerry's victory.

Just be civil no matter what. Smile a lot, grin the whole time if you have to. I would really irritate rude customers at my last job by doing that.

[codegreen]

3. just see if you can have a calm conversation with them

consider it a challange to be able to maintain composure and be civil, even if they do not; if it helps, detatch yourself as if you were doing a rehearsal scene for a movie or something.

[Boyz2Menz]

6. You

shouldn't have to consider composure a challenge. If you do then you could be in the wrong game.

[ClintonTyree]

12. Detachment will have to do....................

I guess. Perhaps just say a quick thank you and be on my way. I can't let them get to me.

[coalition_unwilling]

4. Your worries are legitimate

I was canvassing for Dukakis back in '88 in Madison, WI. Got onto a close-in porch with a grubby fellow. Gave the Dukaks spiel and then he said, "I'd like to vote for Dukakis but his stand on abortion (rights) offends me." I started backing away from him only to realize that the porch door was closed behind me.

It was truly a creepy moment. Best advice I can give you when you encounter craziness is simply to say, "I appreciate your views. Thank you for sharing them" and beat a hasty retreat. That's what I did and I lived to tell the tale.

[Boyz2Menz]

5. Well

first off if your going door to door then you better keep your remarks to yourself if your on someone elses property. If they don't want you there then leave. Don't try to convert them if they don't want it. And if they say something offensive get over it. It is their house. You wouldn't want to get into an altercation, beaten up, and then thrown in jail. That would be silly. Just walk away if they don't want you there. Don't act like one of those witness people.

[H2O Man]

7. Separate.

It has nothing to do with you. Don't take things personal. Don't take the time to engage with the negative people. If you were to pass a pile of trash on the sidewalk, you would not stop to converse, debate, or argue with it. So don't bother if the trash is behind a screen door.

[sandnsea]

8. Nah, it'll be fine

I worried about that too. All's you do is say "Thanks for voting" and walk away. Most people are super nice, running into the gung ho Dem voters more than makes up for any nastiness you might encounter. I haven't encountered ANY nastiness yet. Go to it! You'll feel like a real patriot, believe me!

[skygazer]

11. It's very difficult

But remember, you are not simply knocking on doors for yourself - you are representing somebody else and so have to present in a positive light. It's hard work. I know how these people are.... Oh, wait a minute, wrong speech. ;)

Really, though, I know it's tough but you have to recognize when you've come upon a person whose mind you are not going to change and simply tell them, "well, you're free to make your choice".

I mean, if some Repug came to my door, I would be hard pressed not to set the dog on them. If they were calm and polite, I would be less irate. Course, with them you never know.

Do your best, it's all you can do. And then come vent here at DU.

Hey, that rhymed!

[ClintonTyree]

14. You're right Sky..........

I'll just have to remain civil and remember that I'm a Democrat, an emmisary of peace and understanding.
Maybe I will try the "kind bud".

[Snotcicles]

13. When your out there and see those bush yard signs.

Do not be discouraged. Think, all the yards with no signs, or have Kerry signs, are voting for Kerry.
So go forth America needs you if they are that vile turn and walk away they can not be helped.
I am sure you will do good. You may give someone that little nudge they needed.

[Batgirl]

16. agreed, this is good advice

just walk away, think of it as the agonized bleating of a creature facing it's own extinction...somewhere else on your route may be the person who really wants/needs your visit.

[Lisa]

15. you're doing a very brave, important thing

I always get nervous when it comes to phoning people or door-knocking. But your party supporters (especially in neighbourhoods where they're outnumbered) really seem to appreciate it. What I do when I meet an unpleasant person (ask me about the weirdo in Poll 43 sometime!) is to pretend that she or he is an employee playing a role in some bizarre Republican theme park, and be polite while mentally applauding them for such a classic rendition of a "moran".

If you have a friend or relative in the military, it may help to simply say, "I'm very concerned about the safety of someone I love" -- and if the respondent chooses to rip you for being a softie, s/he only looks like more of an oaf. As someone else mentioned, it IS that person's home, and s/he is free to act stupid there, surely!

Thanks again for what you're doing. I bet that the good Senators have experienced face-to-face rejection themselves during their early campaigns -- and I don't know a single politician, even the ones from the opposing parties, who doesn't feel deep-down gratitude and amazement that people like you would care enough to volunteer.

[iverglas]

17. I bin doin' it

since I was 15 ... and that was the year Pierre Trudeau became Prime Minister. That was a loooong time ago.

All but that first time, it's been for the New Democratic Party of Canada. We invented banging on doors for political candidates.

If your party does it like we do it, the canvassers often have to be reminded of something very important.

The purpose of the canvass isn't really to change people's minds. That is simply not going to happen.

The purpose of the canvass is to identify people who, if they vote, will vote for your candidate(s).

And then, on election day, your party sends people out to beg, cajole, shame and drive them to the polls to vote. And in any kind of a close election, *that* can make the winning difference. In a municipal election here some years ago, my friend won by an average of 1.5 votes per poll. I thought -- hmm; that was the visually impaired older woman I drove to the advance poll when I happened to be canvassing her building on advancing voting day, and the woman with the baby whose car seat we strapped into the back of my Suzuki (I sat in the car with the baby while she voted) so I could drive her to the polling station in a snowstorm 15 minutes before it closed.

You really just are not going to change people's minds in 2 or 5 minutes on the doorstep. The best you can hope for is to find people who are soft -- who probably would not vote if not prodded, and who have good reason to vote for your party, but who would vote Democrat if they did vote or who might see that they should if you help them a bit, and who can then be got out to vote. But don't be unrealistically optimistic; people will often claim they're going to vote for your candidate just to get rid of you, and then will take great offence if someone tries to get them to actually do it.

If they watched the debate, this is an opening. Often, people watch, and see some of what the media says, but don't talk about it. If you can identify something that one of your candidates said that seems relevant to them and their lives, mention it. "What did you think about what Kerry / Edwards had to say about" ... health care, maybe? Hopefully, something other than the war or the national deficit, or anything else that seems big and remote and incomprehensible.

I had about my best year in 1984, when Ed Broadbent, then the leader of the NDP, put on a terrific performance in our leaders' debate. For two weeks, all I had to say was "Did you see Ed in the debate? What did you think about what he had to say about ...?" (to a woman with a baby: the national childcare program, e.g.), and people would be talking politics with me, and asking me for information about our platform. We were Xeroxing off party policy info sheets as fast as we could feed the paper in. I know that probably 25% of the votes we got in that constituency came directly from Ed's performance and from talking it up on the doorstep, and from the fact that the election in question was one in which ordinary people had been enabled to feel engaged. But this is unusual, and just isn't to be expected by the door-knocking political army as a regular occurrence.

The worst was in 1988, when asking ordinary people I'd dragged up off their couches "So, what do you think about free trade?" had the same effect as telling them there was about to be a pop algebra quiz.

People do appreciate attention. If your candidate knocks on their door personally, they might be more likely to vote for him/her. I've encountered numerous people who said they'd be voting for another candidate simply because s/he appeared on their front porch and our party's hadn't made it by.

For the canvasser, maintaining a sweet countenance and an attitude of genuine interest in the voter, no matter how piglike the voter is, is about the only option. You are glad they take such an interest in politics and the election, and you appreciate the opportunity to provide someone like them with information about your candidate.

Then you hand over the leaflet, and make tracks to another door where your time isn't being wasted. Because that's all that arguing with adversaries on doorsteps is (and us clever folks argue amiably with the opposing candidates' canvassers precisely to waste their time).

And then you all get out on election day and drag those voters to the polls.

[Lisa]

19. great point ...

From what I've seen, it's unusual for campaigns to know exactly where their supporters are in a district. They often have no idea who was thinking of voting for them, who needs help getting to the polls, who will be open to displaying a lawn sign, etc. -- last time, we didn't even have data from the previous election and had to use old stuff from 1996! If you can pinpoint 2 or 3 houses on a street with possible supporters, and come E-day, make sure they get to the polls in time to vote -- extrapolate that for a whole city, and that could well be enough for a win.

The information you collect (e.g. on which issues people mention at the door, and even on whether a particular street may be so ticked off at repeated campaigning that they just roll their eyes and slam the door) is going to be useful, no matter what your reception was like. (Like Iverglas, I've canvassed for the NDP -- let's just say that our party would kill to be as high in a national poll as Kerry is now -- so people did laugh, in the same tone of voice used when they caught sight of the Natural Law party candidate. But knowing that I was collecting data which would be useful even in the next election made me feel a lot better.)

Plus, one day when I was door-knocking with the candidate, we came across a voter who had a delightful bit of gossip about seeing our opponent furtively buying a certain magazine, ahem, in a grocery store. That story's become the stuff of legend in our local organization, and not only does the candidate still laugh about it -- I can say that I was there on that memorable day! It could happen to you.

[davsand]

18. If they are nasty I thank them for their time and move on.

I've also been known to talk to them about how important it is to vote--that it is a civic duty.

I find that even the most rabid conservative is hard pressed to be terribly rude when we are standing there discussing the idea that in a representative democracy and we all have an obligation to participate. While we are discussing that civic duty I can edge away and escape gracefully.

For me, the biggest thing is to leave them with the feeling that even if I am a Democrat, I am also a person who loves this country. I think there is too much of an opinion out there that all Dems are sprout eating/tree hugging/wild eyed radicals. For that very reason I find it important to connect with them somehow in that two to three minutes on the doorstep.

Best of luck, and you are doing a very important thing by going out!

Laura

[donco6]

20. Why are you distrib. Dem material to non-Dems?

Do you have a walking list of registered Dems in your precinct? Usually lit drops are only to confirm the base, not convince the opposing party. Waste of time and money.

[TrogL]

21. It's not that bad

I delivered Liberal campaign flyers in the local Freeperville. Most told me I was wasting my time. One line that works is, "I'm sorry you have such inaccurate information about what's going on in the election. I have to get the rest of these flyers distributed but if you phone the number on the back or go to the website, they will have better information. While your at it, check out your own candidate. You'd be surprised what he really stands for."

[roguevalley]

22. go in pairs, say thank you and leave. works for me, honey. good luck.