Our goals for last weekend were (1) register students as they moved into their campus homes, (2) test-run some canvassing ideas, including student-focused literature, targeting apartment complexes, testing quality of existing data, and launching from a room with an outside door (our internal office space is a bit of a problem on weekends), and (3) enjoy the Monsoon Picnic where we showcased many of our 2020 Democratic candidates.
We achieved our goals in an unexpectedly outstanding way: Record-breaking turnout at the Monsoon Picnic and registering 195 new voters over the course of the weekend. We also introduced our new “What Students Need to Know about Voting” webpage, which quickly became one of the most popular pages on our website. The address to that page is on the literature our canvassers used in the 7 shifts of canvassing we did Friday through Sunday.
We were assisted in canvassing by a group of Swing Left volunteers from the Bay Area of California. And in meetings with their leadership during the weekend, our leadership learned a lot about organizing, data, and plans to Get Out the Vote in 2020. At the picnic, a question was posed about Swing Left’s presence by one of our local Democrats, “I don’t want to swing too far left,” she said. Don’t worry, this is not about policy, it’s about organizing and getting out the vote to win for Democrats — moderate and progressive, whichever our primary voters choose. This work — our work — is about removing the Occupant from the White House and winning Democratic majorities in as many legislative bodies as we can. It’s about preserving the fine service our Democratic incumbents have provided in their County Offices. Swing Left can bring us experience and canvassers to assist in our work, and they are willing to help now because they agree that we can’t wait until 2020 to work hard at registering and educating voters.
We’re grateful to all the candidates who attended the Monsoon Picnic. We look forward to seeing you at other events in the coming months. Check out our Monsoon Picnic photo album.
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