Despite a widespread consensus that Democratic tech needs a total upgrade, not much has changed since 2024. Better tools exist, but what's missing is money and will. Plus, what Hungary may portend.
It’s kind of too bad they picked the letters Pol.is, because our Colorado governor Polis, whose term is up, is abandoning progressive Democrats, becoming a privileged billionaire who doesn’t want to pay taxes and fully supports AIPAC and has persuaded several of our Democrats to accept their money.
Swing Left's Ground Truth program uses its new People App, which enables Knock-Every-Door Canvassing, the ability to add voters to the list, and the ability to voice-enter unlimited data about a voter into the App. It works much better than VAN. Swing Left then uses AI to analyze the data to find attitudinal trends in a location as well as storing the data on each voter. I used it recently during two week-end canvasses in Fresno and it worked very well. Swing Left is also developing data-sharing agreements with the Democratic Party that will allow it to share the collected data with candidates and campaigns. I encourage activists, candidates and campaigns to join Swing Left's work in the 33 purple House districts they are targeting. Their approach addresses the problems Micah correctly identifies in his article.
If we want to go beyond canvassing to relational organizing, then we need to decide who stays in touch with each voter we spoke with - is it the canvasser (who may not be local) or a local organizer like a precinct captain?
I love the idea of local meetings and meals together, but that requires a core group of local activists who like to do things together. That's far more likely to come out of Indivisible and NoKings groups than the typical local Democratic Party.
Good question, Bob. Since most places unfortunately don't yet have local organizers, I suspect that Swing Left and Democratic coordinated campaigns will need to be flexible about who makes the second and hopefully third or fourth contact with the voter, because different places will have different organizational capacities and different sets of volunteers. It's still a work in progress. I know Yasmin Radjy, the ED of Swing Left, recognizes the advantages of using neighborhood organizers.
It would be fabulous if more Indivisible and NoKings groups got involved in canvassing for the midterms. I'd suggest that local groups of any kind that want to help with the midterms contact their local Democratic Party and/or Swing Left so that work can be coordinated to have maximum impact and to avoid duplication of efforts.
In 2024, I was one of the volunteers who gave more than 600 hours to the Democratic effort that’s included phone banking and canvassing . My experience is very much in line with what is expressed above. The work was extremely tactical and not based on strategy. It was not fulfilling and actually felt that way at the time, but we continued the efforts because it was the only way we could find to contribute to the Democratic cause.
Because of that experience, I am not willing to put in that kind of effort again in the future and I’m not alone in that. Many of the volunteers I worked with have also decided not to return for the same reasons.
As for the technology discussion, it reminds me a quote we often used in business attributed W. Edwards Deming: “Put good people in a bad system, and the system wins every time”. And just like in business, the technology tools you use are critical to your success and if you’re competitor has better tools, they have a sustainable competitive advantage.
I was also heartened by the playbook— seeing them write about open field as one of their field tools made me smile. Ari, the developer and founder, was a brilliant teacher of mine. Also, the WhatsApp memo was really interesting, and at the local party here in Louisville, we are going to work on a plan with those ideas in mind to our Latino and immigrant community.
My bottom line response: please present a proposal on what you need (money and will from others) to Alex Karp. After seeing and listening to Bill Maher's interview of him a few years ago, he made an impression that he can be tapped for "good." Apparently, what he has recently chosen to work upon has not worked out well for him. I'm hoping that the time is ripe for him to apply his talents (all of which you need right now) to have a total upgrade for Democratic tech.
It’s kind of too bad they picked the letters Pol.is, because our Colorado governor Polis, whose term is up, is abandoning progressive Democrats, becoming a privileged billionaire who doesn’t want to pay taxes and fully supports AIPAC and has persuaded several of our Democrats to accept their money.
Very distressed to learn that Gov. Polis would "abandon progressive Democrats" and support AIPAC.
Swing Left's Ground Truth program uses its new People App, which enables Knock-Every-Door Canvassing, the ability to add voters to the list, and the ability to voice-enter unlimited data about a voter into the App. It works much better than VAN. Swing Left then uses AI to analyze the data to find attitudinal trends in a location as well as storing the data on each voter. I used it recently during two week-end canvasses in Fresno and it worked very well. Swing Left is also developing data-sharing agreements with the Democratic Party that will allow it to share the collected data with candidates and campaigns. I encourage activists, candidates and campaigns to join Swing Left's work in the 33 purple House districts they are targeting. Their approach addresses the problems Micah correctly identifies in his article.
Yes this is exactly the new canvassing strategy we need - more info at https://ourgroundtruth.org
If we want to go beyond canvassing to relational organizing, then we need to decide who stays in touch with each voter we spoke with - is it the canvasser (who may not be local) or a local organizer like a precinct captain?
I love the idea of local meetings and meals together, but that requires a core group of local activists who like to do things together. That's far more likely to come out of Indivisible and NoKings groups than the typical local Democratic Party.
Good question, Bob. Since most places unfortunately don't yet have local organizers, I suspect that Swing Left and Democratic coordinated campaigns will need to be flexible about who makes the second and hopefully third or fourth contact with the voter, because different places will have different organizational capacities and different sets of volunteers. It's still a work in progress. I know Yasmin Radjy, the ED of Swing Left, recognizes the advantages of using neighborhood organizers.
It would be fabulous if more Indivisible and NoKings groups got involved in canvassing for the midterms. I'd suggest that local groups of any kind that want to help with the midterms contact their local Democratic Party and/or Swing Left so that work can be coordinated to have maximum impact and to avoid duplication of efforts.
In 2024, I was one of the volunteers who gave more than 600 hours to the Democratic effort that’s included phone banking and canvassing . My experience is very much in line with what is expressed above. The work was extremely tactical and not based on strategy. It was not fulfilling and actually felt that way at the time, but we continued the efforts because it was the only way we could find to contribute to the Democratic cause.
Because of that experience, I am not willing to put in that kind of effort again in the future and I’m not alone in that. Many of the volunteers I worked with have also decided not to return for the same reasons.
As for the technology discussion, it reminds me a quote we often used in business attributed W. Edwards Deming: “Put good people in a bad system, and the system wins every time”. And just like in business, the technology tools you use are critical to your success and if you’re competitor has better tools, they have a sustainable competitive advantage.
I was also heartened by the playbook— seeing them write about open field as one of their field tools made me smile. Ari, the developer and founder, was a brilliant teacher of mine. Also, the WhatsApp memo was really interesting, and at the local party here in Louisville, we are going to work on a plan with those ideas in mind to our Latino and immigrant community.
Ugh
My bottom line response: please present a proposal on what you need (money and will from others) to Alex Karp. After seeing and listening to Bill Maher's interview of him a few years ago, he made an impression that he can be tapped for "good." Apparently, what he has recently chosen to work upon has not worked out well for him. I'm hoping that the time is ripe for him to apply his talents (all of which you need right now) to have a total upgrade for Democratic tech.