The voter registration drive in Palmerton today was--how can I put this diplomatically--a bust. We had two teams at tables in downtown stores and four teams going door-to-door in the East ward. The door-to-door teams had a list of all registered voters and stopped at the houses that weren’t on the list. We assumed that if an address was NOT on the list, unregistered voters lived there.
We did this before in Palmerton Middle and registered twelve Democrats and one Republican. Today, not so good. We ended up with one Democrat, one Republican, and one Independent. We did leave notes with registration information at homes where no one answered, so we may get a few more that way. The teams at the stores also passed out some forms, so that may net a few more.
We also learned some lessons:
1. We need to list the houses that are for sale or are obviously vacant. One team was clever enough to do this. If we have a list of those houses, we can go back in October and register the new residents.
2. Concentrate on areas where people are not registered. Sandra and I did two blocks of Lafayette Avenue, and we were amazed at the number of people who were registered. We covered the 600 block, even side, and every house but two had registrants. I know from previous door-to-door campaigning that we would have had more luck along Mauch Chunk Avenue in the West ward.
3. Even failures are fun. It was a beautiful morning, people were polite, and we enjoyed a lunch at Bert’s after the walk. Nice people.
We’ll do better next time.
I like your positive attitude. Who knows, maybe the few democrats that you register to vote will make a difference.
ReplyDeleteSometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Sometimes your a hero, other times your a zero! Don't let it get to you. The important fact is that you are trying.
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