This has been on my mind off and on for years, and with another presidential race now gearing up I want to get it off my chest and see if anyone else has had the same questions.
I volunteered for the Obama campaign in 2008 and 2012 in rural New Hampshire, making phone calls, knocking on doors, and talking to voters.
It felt good to be out there talking to voters and trying to make a difference.
But here's the thing.
A huge percentage of the campaign address list was just wrong.
I'm talking like at least 50 percent.
Someone would answer the phone or come to the door and when I asked if so-and-so was home, it would turn out that they had no idea who that person was or they would tell me the person had moved away years ago.
On those too rare occasions when I actually met the person on the list, the majority had already been contacted multiple times by other volunteers and were growing weary (and in some cases a bit irritated) of the constant contact.
That's why whenever I see another news article that raves about how great the Obama campaign's address list was, how it was so well-targeted, how the Democrats' brilliant use of voter data was the key to success, blah blah blah etc. etc., I just shake my head in wonder.
So here's my question: Was it just me or did other people who volunteered have the same experience?
Because now I'm wondering if the quality of the voter data (or lack thereof) was minimally important to the campaign.
Maybe what really made the difference, maybe all that mattered, was just getting people out there calling people and knocking on doors, even if they were the wrong people and the wrong doors.
I ran into a few voters who wanted to debate, and I was happy to oblige, but I don't think I changed any minds. In fact, our instructions were to just remind people when and where to vote; it was OK to engage with folks who weren't on the list, but we weren't expected to.
In one case I spent at least half an hour discussing economic theory and debunking the Laffer curve and Romney's vulture capitalism with one middle-aged voter. (His wife was on the Obama campaign list, but he was a Republican.) We both thoroughly enjoyed the debate, and as I was driving away he tapped on my car window and said "just one more thing," he didn't agree with Obama but at least someone had come out to his house to talk with him about it. No one from the Romney campaign had done that.
So here's the thing. Maybe that crappy, out-dated voter contact list wasn't a bug. Maybe, intended or not, it was a feature. Maybe the most important thing was just the visibility of people getting out there making phone calls, ringing door bells, leaving flyers on porches, creating a sense of momentum and motivating just a few percent more voters to get to the polls on Election Day.
So, I'm wondering did some of you have the same experience and the same questions?
And are there any lessons to be learned that can improve the next campaign?
I would love to hear your thoughts.
