Personal Narrative: Field Manager

In 2003 the Democrats still figured out how to hold a 17-15 point of interest inside the state's U.S. House delegation, a bonus to the new electoral map was intended to undo. The Republicans' manage to hang on to the administration and the Democrats' determination to recapture lost ground uncover however far the state has come since the times of the democratic form of government. In 2004, both parties admonished the committee to get out the vote through time-regarded grassroots organizing on the local and precinct levels, while at the same time using new innovations and methods to expand partisan mobilization. As a quick come about, in numerous parts of the state, turnout sailed above historic averages.

The Kelly Ayotte campaign was a well-run organization and played a large role in getting the New Hampshire citizens to the voting booth. I was honored to serve with such great people from who came to New Hampshire from all over the country. These people like myself, wanted to hopefully help Kelly Ayotte get re-elected to the senate. The campaign headquarters was based out of a first floor office, located in the Brady Sullivan Tower in Manchester. I was a man of many tasks, and tried to help where I was needed depending on the day. I volunteered in the office and was out in the field, knocking door to door. My job was incredibly important because going into the start of my service I knew the senate race was going to be extremely close, the closest Senate race in the country for that matter. As we observed, the race was extremely close and unfortunately my candidate lost three weeks ago. Although, it was not the outcome we were looking for, I have a couple of theories of why we may have lost by only eight hundred votes. If more un-educated voters exercised their right to vote, the outcome could have possibly been different. Whether we like it or not, most of the citizens in Manchester New Hampshire are not as well versed on public issues and candidates. However, towns including Bedford and Merrimack were very well versed. Towns including Bedford take election cycles more seriously and in my eyes seemed more educated on the issues. The experience volunteering on the Kelly

The Voter Guide Release Party was a non-partisan political event encouraging the community to vote, while also providing the necessary resources and knowledge which would prepare citizens for the upcoming election. MOVE is the nonprofit civic organization that hosted the event. The event had a successful turnout. I recall a person commenting "Wow, this place is bumpin'!" before sliding into a small gap between two people, then vanishing into the mingling crowd. The space was filled with people eager to be involved with the upcoming election. The age range varied, but everyone was either eighteen or older. The event also highlighted a journalist and writer who wrote a book regarding the importance of voter participation.

The voters that were targeted were low propensity Republican voters.. The way that these voters were identified was through voter history, technology that shows which elections you voted in and how often you voted. We know targeting these voters is an effective strategy to increase voter turnout on election day. Research conducted by Author Alan S. Gerber and Professor Donald P. Green show how crucial this face to face interaction could be to getting Republicans who normally don't vote to vote. In their article, The Effects of Canvassing, Telephone Calls, and Direct Mail on Voter Turnout: A Field Experiment they concluded that “Face to face interaction dramatically increases the chance that voters will go to the polls.”(Gerber and Green, 2010) Talking to these voters face to face in their community had a positive effect in which Republicans who were not going to vote, will now vote on election day. After compiling the data, walkbooks were created with these specific low propensity Republican households shown in the walkbook. About one hundred houses were comprised in one walkbook. All sixteen volunteers were given one walkbook to

We have come a long way from a time when only white, affluent, property owning males could vote. In terms of ‘voting rights’ it was a gradual expansion of the vote, which slowly began to expand to all whites, individuals once labeled slaves or ‘aliens’, African Americans, military personal and women. To vote in the United States, no longer do you need to pass a literacy test, but you must be a U.S citizen and at least 18 years old on Election Day. In addition, some states also require various periods of residency before voting is permitted. Furthermore some states restrict felons or those mentally incompetent to vote. In Massachusetts, for the first time, there was Early Voting. During this period, October 24th to November 4th, registered voters were allowed to cast their ballots. During this period of Early voting, I along with a group of classmates had the engaging opportunity to be an exit pollster. We decided to canvas much of the Boston area, with hopes of a ranging demographic. This hands-on experience, working with a team in carrying out the exit poll, allowed for a greater insight to the dynamics of election administration, a deeper understanding on the rights of voters and voter turn out, technique for attaining a random sample, the role of the interviewer and importance of survey design.

One of my biggest lessons learned from this experience is that knowing the resident of your district can be extremely beneficial to your campaign. At my location we cast one thousand nine hundred and eighteen ballots. While I’m against stereotyping I found it ironic that most of the people who came in you could intuit which party they were going to participate in. The lady with awesome tattoos and purple hair wasn’t most likely to identify with a conservative republican; likewise the older authentic rancher was not very likely to be a liberal. That day I had the privilege of helping a new citizen vote for the very first time. She got dressed up in her nicest clothes and was on the verge of tears, because she was so excited. I also observed that many multi-generational families tended to participate in the same party. I encountered a few hard headed almost embarrassed people who believed they didn’t need to disclose what party they wanted to participate in, but overall it was an amazing day that won’t be soon forgotten. The amount of behind the scenes work that is required by the county is almost unfathomable and I’m grateful to all of the logistics it takes to allow people to participate in

Not having much of any political affiliations or even experience in any town meetings I was caught off guard that the audience did not just include democratic supporters but supporters of all parties, coming together for a town meeting to discuss the issues at hand to better the community. While I was shocked at how much older everyone was I was glad that they all cared so much about the community they lived in to set aside their differences and work together to make the town a better place for everyone. There were candidates for positions I was not aware existed. Michelle Jones running for State House, Jim Barksdale

Outreach events, word of mouth, flyers, and ads are ways in which an organization would communicate with their target population.. This organization chose to hold homecoming tours. These tours were open to anyone who wanted to learn about the services Pathways to Housing PA offers. Sensitive to the needs of their potential participants, Pathways held these meeting after business hours to help increase the amount of people able to attend. These meeting are no longer held, but the interviewee states they believe these were helpful functions, and suspects they will return in the

With the current presidential elections approaching soon, there is plenty of political activity going on in our communities. Many people follow the presidential elections and listen to what these candidates have to say, however, there are other elections going on in our own communities that also have a big impact on us. We sometimes tend to forget about our local candidates and at times ignore what they have to offer for us. I, myself, am able to relate to this. I decided to take action and go out to a local community to do voter registration with the hope that people would not only register, but also go out on November 8 and vote.

As I step out onto the field I smack in the face the aroma of the freshly cut grass. I get the sense of being home after a long trip away. It’s great to be home where I know I have fans that will cheer us on. The grounds crew is out working on the field to get it ready for the game later tonight.

Today we sent out a veteran group of canvassers. We started with a skill session for rap practice focusing on undecided voters. We then moved towards a good open discussion about questions brought up at the doors. Canvassers got to share some of their successful response outcomes to undecided voters with one another. This helped everyone improve their raps and expand their approaches. Upon the return from field, canvassers shared some on the interactions they had today. A few mentioned signs of opposition being out in the area as well. Even bringing back a flyer given to a canvasser with a heading that states “Fracking in YOUR Neighborhood”; about the Synergy Resources Corporation meeting going on in the area to, “voice concerns, ask questions,

Today we began the day on our Your Choice Colorado moving into some issue discussion with the team. As we approached the end of our first week towards our efforts door-to-door for the campaign we have gained plenty of great feedback from folks. We worked on the best ways to approach those common questions asked daily and sharing with on another the most efficient ways to deliver in these situations. Canvassers keep familiarizing themselves with how the public feels in regards to allowing beer and wine over 3.2 at local stores other than liquor stores. Went sent out a strong veteran group of canvassers to House District 36 and collected a total of 67 letters of 148 conversations. For our next canvass we hope to work on turf management to make

Gerber and Green’s New Haven experiment in The Victory Lab reveals how the mobilization of voters in Get Out the Vote (GOTV) efforts were futile due to contemporary forms of “individual contact [lacking] a personal touch” (Issenberg 83). Gerber and Green designed a field experiment to measure “what effects … the most fundamental campaign methods could have on an election’s outcome” by using three basic modes of voter contact - direct mail, phone call, and doorstep visit (Issenberg 80). All of the basic modes incorporated a similar nonpartisan and patriotic appeal by referring to the ubiquitous notion of voting as a civic duty. These methods were tested on thirty thousand New Haven voters across the city’s 29 out of 30 wards in a municipal

During the days I went to the Democratic Headquarters, I have learned so many new information about the government and politics that seems more interesting now. When the guest speakers made their speech, I heard them say to spread the word on voting yes on prop 55, which at first I didn't understand. Voting yes on prop 55 means that income tax will increases on higher income taxpayers and this would help the education system with the amount of money they need for the school. It will also help the lower income taxpayers with the amount of money they would save up from when the higher income taxpayers pays off to the education systems. Small little information like that helps me build a better knowledge to myself and helps me copperhead much more. What I did that was new for me was making phone calls as a reminder to go out and vote. At first it went well since most of the people that I called already voted or they were about to go out and vote, but others have a different perspective of the government and politics and they disagree with everything that is going on in the election. It’s not their fault because it’s based on what the media displays and that is on the eyes of America. When I would make the phone some people would hang up, make rude comments, or just wouldn’t comprehend how much the elections are important.

The mayoral election of 2017, was a hard one for Rossi’s team as they had not one, but two opponents. Nonetheless, Rossi and her team worked genuinely hard to secure the people’s votes. They had a campaign strategy which included, visiting as many houses as possible and ensuring the return of absentee ballots before the day of the election. On November 7, 2017, election day, calls were still being made to persuade the people to get out and vote for Rossi. Despite the rigorous fight Rossi received from her opponents, Rossi came out victorious above the other candidates at the end of the election day. Her team and supporters perfused with joy, began to scream and shout upon hearing the tremendous news. In that moment, I underwent the feeling of pure joy as if I was the one who had won the election. Talking to the people of West Haven and listening to their concerns, in addition to properly handling the questions thrown at her during the Mayoral Debate appears to be fundamental reasons why Rossi won the election. Rossi received 45% of the