50 State Canvass: Indiana

(Just got back from the road to find a small handful of stories from the 50 State Canvass in my inbox. This one was sent to me by Sandy in Indiana. -- Tim)

The Precincts we canvassed haven't had Democratic Precinct Committeeman or any outreach from active Democrats in years. Most of the Ward hasn't had any political outreach from either party, though what will be my precinct after the Primary (I'm running unopposed for Democratic Precinct Committeeman.) has had an active Republican Precinct Committeeman for forever. The neighborhood used to be staunchly Republican, but the demographic is changing and has been slowly moving toward the Democrats. It's right on the tipping edge now, so the timing of this outreach is perfect for gathering momentum for the Democratic Party in November.

We had a small but very good event.

A total of five of us. We canvassed in two precincts -- mine, and an adjacent one, and we found about a dozen Democrats we didn't know were there. We got to remind people about Indiana's new voter ID requirement, and we let them know that the Democratic party is made up of people just like them -- some of whom live in their neighborhood.

We met a number of folks that will need to register to vote for the November election, and a few avid Democrats, who have never before been politically active, but with an enthusiastic neighbor inviting them to join in, are probably ready and willing to do a lot more than simply vote.

I created a Yahoo Group for the 25th Ward, and invited every Democrat who gave us an email address to join it, and I intend to work with these newly found Democratic neighbors and our local Democracy for America group to continue the outreach work that has begun in the 25th Ward, and help the Democrats in the neighborhood to get together, get to know one another, and build a network that can shift the political landscape here from apathetic with a Republican overlay to actively Democratic!

Comments (1) «

Sandy, what you have done in the 25th Ward is truly grassroots. You will see, before too long, people in your precinct will start to join. I hope people are writing Letters to the Editors in your town or county paper. It helps. Have one of the new people you met hold a house party.

Thank you for sharing this with us and good luck with your own Precint Committeeman job.

1

PeppermintLizzy on May 1, 2006 at 09:48 PM

« Hide Comments

Comments are now closed for this entry.