Walk This Way

1. Tim Tuten of the Hideout bought the first round of beers and thereby became the honorary Sergeant-at-Arms of Blue Beginning.

2. Pizzas arrived from Piece Brewery and Pizzeria, which consequently became the official pizzeria of Blue Beginning.

3. Sarah Lincoln and Julie Harrison told us about a couple of voter registration campaigns going on at League of Women Voters, including a drive at Cook County Jail scheduled for several Sundays through February. Look here for info on this and other LWV registration drives and here for training sessions that will make you a deputy registrar.

4. Mike Lenehan gave a little speech in which he made, or intended to make, the following points:

• The original idea behind Blue Beginning was to help people who wanted to get active after the election of November 2016. That’s still an important part of our mission and we want to hear from members about what we can do for them. Are there issues that are important to you, actions you want us to take, research we can do for each other? We want to get people mobilized. If there’s something we can do to help you, let us know, we’ll try!
• Early on it became clear to us that our members also wanted us to undertake some action as a group. And at our first meeting, Don Rose told us that he thought we should focus on “flooding the zone” in the nearby 6th congressional district to oust the incumbent congressman, the Trump enabler Peter Roskam.
• Right around the same time, a grassroots group in the 6th was picking up steam: the Coalition for a Better Illinois 6th (CBIL6), which has an imaginative strategy for flipping the district and a well-organized effort already underway. They have the infrastructure in place; we have volunteers who can help them. It seems to us that it’s a perfect fit—which is why you have been hearing so much from us about them.
• At the September 27 meeting, Mike said that the main topic of the evening would be canvassing. It's not easy to present yourself at a stranger's doorstep with a political purpose in mind, but it's What We Have To Do. Signing petitions, calling representatives, attending marches, all this is good and necessary—but the way to win elections is to knock on doors, and winning this election is our most important objective. If the president needs to be impeached, we’ll need a majority in the House. If he doesn't, we still need a majority in the House. Before Trump even happened we needed a majority in the House. So it all comes down to walking, knocking, talking, and changing the flippable district that’s closest to home from red to blue. All over the country, groups like ours will be tending to the districts close to them. With a little luck and a lot of shoe leather, we can take back the government.
• Which brought us to our guest speaker, Reid McCollum, one of the leaders of CBIL6, who gave us a training session and led a role-playing exercise to help first-timers get comfortable with canvassing.

Roskam won’t have a Democratic challenger until the primary election in March. Instead of treading water until then, CBIL6’s strategy is to use this time paving the way for whoever the challenger will be: talking to voters, identifying their issues, and forging relationships that will be invaluable when the general-election campaign begins.

CBIL6 is now calling on 6th district voters who generally share our values: these are people who we think voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 but sat out the midterm elections of 2014. One of the chief canvassing objectives is to establish a voting plan in these voters’ minds, preferably voting by mail (VBM). If we can get them to vote with us in 2018 we have a good chance of flipping the district.

Reid passed around the info sheets and canvassing tips that are given to volunteers before they go out to canvass. They include a flyer that is left with every voter we talk to; this sheet can also double as a script with which a canvasser can answer questions or make points about the incumbent’s position on the most relevant issues. CBIL6’s advice is to spend no more than two or three minutes with each voter. Don’t go into the house, stay outside at the door, and politely cut conversations short if necessary. Don’t argue! We have good reason to believe that the people on our walk lists share our values, but they’re not always the ones who answer the door. We’re not trying to win people over; our objectives are to (1) identify people who are likely to vote with us, (2) plant in their minds a plan for voting, preferably by mail, and (3) find volunteers who may be willing to help us in the future. When we go canvassing, all of this will be emphasized and reviewed in the training we’ll receive before we go out.

A few members who have already canvassed with CBIL6 have shared their experiences:

• In September, Elizabeth Chandler reported on our Facebook group: “Enjoyed work out in Downer's Grove and Lyle, because not a single person we spoke with knew anything about Roskam or the upcoming election. We felt we could really make a difference in this blue-ish region.”
• In June, Julie Harrison wrote:

Well, I did it: drove to Glen Ellyn and canvassed. The two people running the event were terrific — Reid McCollum and Patrick Watson. They were well organized and gave a good presentation on best canvassing practices. They emphasized the value of early voting and mail-in, proposing that those methods have a better follow-through rate. They provided pretty good handouts on Roskam and voting. Also a good simple script and an easy tally sheet. The orientation took longer than had been scheduled; I arrived at 9 and my partner and I went out around 11. We worked until 2 (which included a small lunch break). We did not make it to every door on our list but future orientations will not last as long as ours did. Patrick and Reid were thankful for whatever we could do.

We were sent out with a partner so that we could work opposite sides of the street. We immediately lost track of each other but then regrouped and shared phone numbers.

The plan was to ask those who answered the door what issues were most important to them and then if appropriate pick one of those issues and inform them of Roskam's position. Then ask them to call Roskam's office and let him know their concerns.

Next we informed them that the Illinois primary is March 20th; ask if they planned to vote by mail; and finally asked if they would like to volunteer.

We had good maps but — whoa — the houses are much farther apart out there!!

I don't know how many doors I knocked on but I am guessing there were 25 or so of us knocking.

Those who answered were friendly—or polite—even the one person who said he wanted the government out of everything. I really did enjoy talking with the people who came to the door.

The day was glorious, the neighborhood and yards gorgeous. So in addition to opening a few conversations, passing out literature, and doing housekeeping on the lists, we had some lovely, easy exercise. At the outset we were told we need not go anywhere we felt uncomfortable (which was never)

I think it is worthwhile and will do again when I can.

• At the meeting, Mike and Reid admitted it can be difficult for first timers to get over their natural reluctance. But canvassing becomes much easier with a little experience. You’ll have some good conversations and you’ll find that even the people who don’t want to talk are nice about it. You’ll get into a rhythm and begin to enjoy it, knowing you’re doing the work that needs to be done.

The meeting broke up in a hurry as the evening’s band came in for their soundcheck. As members left we urged them to sign up for a special Blue Beginning-CBIL6 canvass October 15. This will be an excellent chance for us to act as a group, get comfortable with canvassing, and feed off the enthusiasm and experience of people who have done it before. We'll try to arrange rides and car pooling for those who need them. Please sign up here. Any questions, send us an email.