Dear Friends,
I’m in the middle of a 10 day road trip in Arizona to knock doors to help stop Trump. I came to Arizona because I was tired of reading the news. Tired of hearing about the latest terrible thing Trump did or said, the horrifying plans for a second Trump presidency. I was tired of checking the polls in battleground states, hoping they would change post-verdict. So I hit the doors, and I’m writing about it. You can see past posts from Notes From the Field HERE. What follows are some of my observations, and what I’m hearing from voters. This is a continuation of learning from the surprisingly successful WA-3 victory in 2022. I was in Tucson for 4 days, Phoenix for 2 days, and now I’m heading to Flagstaff and Yuma for 2 days each.
Good News
I love being wrong. I was expecting people unenthusiastic about the election, upset with Biden, depressed into inaction by Trump, and resistant to take action. Fortunately, what I found were voters just like me- terrified about a 2nd Trump presidency and eager to do something about it, they just needed an opportunity that made sense to them. I’ve been knocking on doors for 25 years, and I’ve never recruited so many volunteers on the doors.
My rap was something like this. “Hi, I’m a volunteer because I don’t want to see Trump become president again.” The voters would agree, often expressing their anguish, bewilderment at Trump supporters, and their fear of a second Trump term.. We would talk about it for a few minutes, and what we both thought and felt. It was an emotional conversation for both of us. Some even shuddered at the mention of his name. Once we were both fired up, I’d try to get them to do something about it. I’d ask if they are going to vote and then something like. “Voting is not enough this election, do you want to know the best thing you can do? It’s to talk to your friends and family and make sure they vote. Will you do that? How many people can you talk with? Will you sign this pledge card?”
Out of the people I talked with in Tucson, Phoenix, and Maricopa City, 70% signed the card, with their contact information, and made a goal of how many people they were willing to talk with. A couple of times, multiple people in the household would sign. While they were signing, I would talk with them about the electoral college, and how important an Arizona voter- and even more so- an Arizona volunteer is. I would try to make them feel golden for their commitment. Especially in one election where both candidates are unpopular, and in a state that will get saturated with TV ads and paid canvassers, the most effective way to get someone to vote is supporters talking with their friends and family.
My personal goal this year is to get 100 Arizona voters to vote to stop Trump. I was hopeful by the end of the road trip, I could recruit volunteers that would commit this 100. Then I could keep in touch and train them to be successful. Instead, Half way through my road trip, I recruited 27 volunteers on the doors who have committed to talking to 290 voters.
I didn’t do it alone. Usually I had a local Arizona volunteer that had participated in Base Building for Power training programs.. Thank you Haley, Ruby, Kim, Kevin, Fiona, and Zakku for volunteering to knock on doors with me in 105 degree heat (and show me how to handle it).
Here’s a bit about some of the people we talked with:
Heather from Maricopa City, Latina in her 50’s, like many had the whole conversation squeezed in between her own door to block the big dog behind her. She was upset that Trump took away abortion access, and was worried that in a 2nd Trump presidency, more rights will be taken away. She ignored her husband who didn’t want her to talk with us. She agreed to talk to at least 10 people.
Toccara from Maricopa City, African American in her 50’s, was dumbfounded that a felon could even run for president, when most felons face enormous obstacles getting jobs, renting an apartment or even voting. She sees it first hand as she works as a nurse, and often does shifts at a local jail. She committed to talking with at least 50 people- “I have a big family”, and volunteered herself to knock on doors with us on her days off.
Kallie from Tucson, white in their 30’s, identifies as non-binary and was angry about Trump’s attacks on the LGBT community. She just lost her 1 year old daughter in a drunk driving accident 3 months ago and showed us their families altar. Kallie committed to register to vote (they had never voted before) and talk with 20 people. As we were talking, Kallie’s stepson, his fiancé, and Kallie’s husband all walked up- Kallie got them all to sign up as volunteers, and the family collectively committed to organizing 50 voters.
Jeffrey from Tucson, Latino in his 50’s, works in maintenance at the Tucson airport. Jeffery was fired up to get rid of Trump, and when I asked him to talk with people, he exclaimed, “I’m that dude! I will talk with everyone”. He brought me into his house, and told me of the challenges he is having sorting out his parents affairs after they died as well as his brother. Jeffery committed to talking with 10 people but promised me he could do more.
Gabriela from Phoenix, was my canvassing partner with the Arizona Students Association. She is white, 20, from Chandler AZ, and taught me about how she could get Pokemon eggs while canvassing. Her boyfriend of 5 years is trans, and Trump’s attacks against trans folks upsets her. Abortion access was also extremely important. Gabriela was a natural canvasser, but she is not an activist. She wasn’t sure if/where she was registered to vote, so she registered and committed to talk with 10 voters.
George, white, in his 80’s saw my name tag I forgot to take off, and asked me how I got my name. When I told him that my mom made my dad get rid of his Harley to marry him and start a family, it turned out he had the same story with his ex-wife- “It’s me or the bike.” she said. Then he told me about being called into duty during the Cuban Missile crisis. I actually don’t remember what he said about Trump, we had more of a personal connection, but I have a card that says he will talk with 10 people.
Recruiting others to mobilize 100 swing state voters
When I wasn’t knocking on doors I was recruiting others to commit to organizing 100 voters in a swing state to stop Trump. I also found this was easier than expected. In the last 5 days, I’ve recruited 20 people who committed to organizing 100 swing state voters. Most of these people are part of the Base Building for Power organizing community, and they come with organizing skills and connections, so I’m optimistic in their ability, with some training, to meet the goal of 100. If each volunteer organizer can get 10 volunteers to talk with 10 people, they have 100 right there.
Thank you to the following people who agreed to volunteer to mobilize 100 voters in the past 5 days: Alberto-Phoenix AZ, Herlinda-Tucson AZ, Jonathan-Yuma AZ, Kevin-Phoenix AZ, Maria-Tucson AZ, Ruby-Tucson AZ, Diego-San Luis Obispo CA, Eva-SF CA, Colbi-Atlanta GA, Sincere-Atlanta GA, Josie-LA CA, Maria- LA CA, Olinda-LA CA, Othaniel-Philly PA, Dorothy-Houston TX, Tamin Houston-TX, Kim-Tucson AZ, Kai-Vancouver BC, Drew-Vancouver BC, Haley-Maricopa City AZ. Special thanks to Maria, Olinda, and Josephina who made phone calls to our Emergency Meeting where many signed up!
You can join this inspiring group of individuals by signing up HERE
The next steps are to follow up and train this group to be successful in meeting their goal, and hopefully exceeding it. We will be tracking through sign ups on a google form. We will also share on social media. We also want to grow this list. Our goal as a team is to mobilize 5,000 swing state volunteers through this 100% volunteer effort.
The Trump base is active, growing, and knocking on doors. There are a lot of people sitting at home waiting for an opportunity to get involved in the most important thing they can do- convincing people they know. How can we get to as many of these people as possible and get them into action?
Supporting Local Campaigns
While I was focused on Trump at the doors, I was also supporting three powerful women in the upcoming primary: Stephanie Stahl-Hamilton, Mariana Sandoval, and Jen Allen. If you are in a position to support excellent candidates, please make a donation or volunteer with them. What is the best way to get support for local candidates on the doors? Over the past few days, I have found that after first forming a strong connection with voters around the Trump threat, getting them to support other great candidates who are fighting TrumpISM in Arizona while pushing for progressive policies, is an easy sell. In fact, 50% of the people I asked to put up a Stephanie Stahl-Hamilton sign up, said yes, even if they didn’t recognize her name at first. If I were supporting any candidate in Arizona (or perhaps the country) right now, I would also talk about the main thing on voters’ minds right now- which is Trump- and then find a way to connect to that campaign.
We wouldn’t be even talking about Arizona as a swing state if it wasn’t for the years of struggle and commitment from Arizona organizers on the ground. We all owe a big thank you to the organizations like Mi Familia Vota, Our Voice Our Vote, LUCHA, Arizona List, Worker Power and others, who have been successfully building Arizona voter infrastructure for years. I was very impressed by the Arizona Student Association canvass operation which I volunteered with. Organizers for all these organizations have been knocking on doors for many years, many summers in 100 degree heat, to fight for justice and preserve democracy. They deserve our support-please donate or volunteer with them..
I welcome your thoughts, feedback, or questions. Also, I’d love to connect with anyone else recruiting volunteers on the doors in swing states. I’m very curious if a similar program would also be successful in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin or other swing states.
I just arrived in Flagstaff, off to knock on more doors…
Harley
