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Conservatives are Canvassing, But So Are We. Weekly Report for Pennsylvania & Ohio [1]

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Date: 2023-06-29

While much of the country smoldered on Saturday, Hope Springs from Field PAC volunteers were loving their summer weather in Ohio and Pennsylvania. And who could blame them? Looking back on it, might have been the perfect day for knocking on doors and talked to neighbors because it seems like the Canadian wildfires aren’t going away. Climate change is a real bitch.

2024 Senate Battleground Map

One thing i try to mention whenever it happens is that we had volunteers see conservative org canvassers out there this weekend. And it can really freak out some of our volunteers. When our vols ask, we’ll tell them that they shouldn’t engage with them, although some of our feistier volunteers will (preferably in a friendly manner). Which is what happened last weekend in Ohio.

Since this was told to me third hand, i can only say i don’t know what started it. Either straight off or somewhere in the exchange, the Hope Springs vol asked the Republican canvassers (yes, plural) if they were “having a good week?” Now that seems innocent, right? In reply, these two young male Republicans said that they were being harassed!

In the past, i know that when i have engaged canvassers from the other side, it was generally pleasant exchanges. I’ve even gotten canvassers to show me their tech or their scripts. I’m willing to show ours. Or exchanged lit. And the reason why is that both sides knew their field organizers would ask about it the moment it got mentioned. Campaign intel, or something. It let us know when our opponents were in the field and often could explain things we would hear from voters we talked to.

My point here, which we already knew, is that (apparently) Republicans are being trained in “owning the libs.” Saying ‘hi’ is somehow offensive but you know cults, they are supposed to avoid outside contact. At least that’s the common belief. Or they want to intimidate us from knocking on doors in a swingy area (yeah, right!). I can’t really speak to their motivation but i know the group pulls their employees from the Leadership Institute, which does pretty extensive communications training for conservative groups and activists. Regardless, my takeaway here is that Republicans or their affiliated groups see Ohio as a key battleground state and are spending money there. So are we, but our ROI is much smaller. The couple thousand we have spent on voter file access and lit over the last couple of months might be equal to what they paid for just one of their canvassers cost them for that week.

And if they were trying to intimidate one of our volunteers from continuing to engage with his neighbors, well that didn’t work. Seemed to excite him. Make him more determined. “I have met the enemy and he is here!” Does Sherrod Brown have anything to worry about? Not yet!

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/6/29/2178297/-Conservatives-are-Canvassing-But-So-Are-We-Weekly-Report-for-Pennsylvania-Ohio

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