Title: Knocking on Doors Ahead of Election Day [music]

Brigid Bergin: It's the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. I'm Brigid Bergin filling in for Brian today. We're going to end today's show with calls from those of you who are going out and knocking on doors this weekend for your preferred candidate. The weather is supposed to be basically perfect outside, so we want calls from canvassers, regardless of party or position on the ballot. Listeners, have you gone door to door to persuade your fellow voters to support a candidate ahead of election day? Maybe you've been canvassing in the swingy congressional districts in Long Island or hopping a bus with friends to Pennsylvania.

Who are you campaigning for? What motivated you to get involved in the political process beyond just voting? The number is 212-433 WNYC. That's 212-433-9692. Why do I ask? In recent weeks, we've been getting a lot of calls from those of you who are volunteering with presidential campaigns, and in those calls, we get to learn a little bit about the people who will decide the outcome of this incredibly consequential election.

You doorknockers are having crucial conversations with voters about issues that matter the most to them. You may be the only political conversation those voters engage in before November 5th. Your labor often goes unacknowledged, but you could be the reason an undecided voter makes up their mind. We want to know what kind of conversations you're having with people as you show up at their door with your clipboard in your hand and maybe your smartphone list.

Are there any particular issues that have been especially prominent in the hearts and minds of those voters? Whether it's maybe the first time you're volunteering with a campaign or you're an experienced canvasser, you do this all the time, we want to hear your experiences going door to door in this election cycle. Again, that number, 212-433 WNYC. That's 212-433-9692. You can call or text at that number. As we take your calls, I'm also thinking about listeners who feel particularly strongly about the choice we're facing in this country, but maybe have not gotten involved in our political process beyond voting.

For the sake of promoting small d, the democratic involvement, what should first-timers know about canvassing when they go to have that experience? Where do you go to get involved in the campaign you're working on? How does one travel to a swing state, for example, to talk to these undecided voters, and what are those conversations like? Give us your tips and tricks from the field. Joining me now to offer his expertise on canvassing and engaging everyday people in our political process is Blair Horner, executive director of the New York Public Interest Group, otherwise known as NYPIRG. Hey, Blair, welcome back to WNYC.

Blair Horner: Great. Thanks for having me and great talking to you. This is a wonderful topic.

Brigid Bergin: NYPIRG is a nonpartisan organization, Blair. You don't get involved in political campaigns, but NYPIRG definitely knows a lot about canvassing. To start things off, can you talk about how NYPIRG does get involved and how does that connect to the work of canvassers representing candidates?

Blair Horner: There is a distinction, of course, between nonpartisan issue-based canvassing and partisan canvassing. We could talk more about that. We've been canvassing in New York for about 45 years and primarily on environmental issues, issues that bring people together. We talk to everybody basically, that has a door. I started actually as a canvasser back in 1979.

It's a fascinating thing to talk to people about something that you care about and educating them on the issue and finding all different kinds of people, all different levels of understanding of the issues in all different walks of life, for whatever the amount of time you're talking to them, to have them thinking about whatever the issue is. Not to use up too much time, but right now we're talking to people about the damages caused by climate change and the financial impact it has on new Yorkers in terms of their taxes and utility rates and ideas about trying to make the oil companies pay.

That's a way for people to think about an issue that is probably in the back of their minds or if they're watching all the terrible things happening in Appalachia right now or Florida or Ecuador, that they can think about, "Well, that's right. There are impacts here. What do we do about it?"

Brigid Bergin: Blair, we have so many canvassers who called in that our board filled up immediately when we did the call-out. I want to make sure we hear their stories. Let's start with Jonathan in New Rochelle. Jonathan, thanks for calling in.

Jonathan: Oh, my goodness. Long time, long time. I'm honored to get a minute on your show, but I love your show and the work you're doing. I've gone every free minute. I got a field commission. I'm a Kamala Captain-inclined, and that's captain with a c. I have met the most amazing people, many from the New York area. People that I wish I'd met 30 years ago. I don't see why everyone isn't doing this. It's amazing connection with people. Even the people that you meet knocking on doors, you meet wonderful people in the most strange conditions. You meet people that politely disagree. There's nothing to be afraid of. I don't see why

Brigid Bergin: Jonathan, just so we're clear, tell us where you are canvassing. I know you said you're canvassing for Kamala Harris, but where are you going?

Jonathan: Pike County, Pennsylvania.

Brigid Bergin: Got it. Thank you so much, Jonathan. Let's go to Christina in the Bronx. Christina, thanks for calling.

Christina: Hi. I'm not canvassing for either of the major political parties. I respect the guy who said he was going out for Kamala. I am canvassing for the poor people's campaign. We're not supporting any specific politician. We are supporting the idea that low-income people are a large enough demographic to swing the vote. We are encouraging really, all across-the-board participation, but targeting low-income, less frequent voters.We will be out on the streets tomorrow.

Brigid Bergin: Christina, thank you so much for that call. I want to go to Peter, who is calling in. Peter's head of the New York State Young Republicans. Peter, where are you now and where are you going to be canvassing this weekend?

Peter: Hey, Brigid, thanks for having me. We're focusing on Long Island this weekend in New York's first congressional district. It's one of five districts that we're targeting, including New York 17, New York 20, New York 19, and New York 22. These are some of the most top-rated districts for the NRCC, and obviously, they're, for the most part, districts that we want to hold onto in order to keep the republican majority in Congress.

Brigid Bergin: Peter, I think that you guys are calling it Noctober, is that right?

Peter: Yes. It is our third annual Noctober initiative.

Brigid Bergin: Peter, thank you so much for that call and for information about the work that you're doing. Blair, can you tell us what do you think makes a good canvasser? Are there certain personality types that jive better with this gig?

Blair Horner: It really is the type of thing that anyone can do. One of the callers mentioned this already. It's absolutely true, but a willingness to actually listen to other people is an important part of it because just like any other human interaction, you want it to be a dialogue, not a monologue. Willingness to listen to people and to try to find the areas of common interest and not be willing there necessarily to dictate to someone how they should think. You learn a lot when you do it that way. It's a better human interaction if you're there to listen as much as you are to speak.

Brigid Bergin: To that point, I want to go to Aneem in Brooklyn who is doing a specific kind of canvassing. Aneem, thanks for calling, WNYC.

Aneem: Hey, thanks for having me. That definitely resonates because I've been going down to West Philly from Brooklyn, down to Philadelphia, of course, the major swing state, and doing deep canvassing, which is really about setting up a nice relationship with a person you meet at the door, having a long-form conversation, dialogue, doing a lot of listening and question-asking. One of the goals, or the specific goal for our organization that I've been volunteering with, which is changing the conversation, is to really find people who are infrequent voters.

They haven't voted in many of the last federal elections. That's who is on our list. To talk with them and help them find a reason to vote. That involves telling stories yourself, hearing stories about them. It's been proven to be one of the most effective forms of political persuasion. Our orientation is to stop Trumpism, stop Trump. We do get around to saying the best way to do that is to elect Kamala Harris. It's not very focused on policy. It's really about personal relationship. It's been great.

I'm not a natural canvasser.

Brigid Bergin: Sur.

Aneem: I'm not someone who loves knocking on doors. Feels like disturbing people, but I learned a lot and am always surprised at how many people do want to talk. It's great to give people a chance to think out their issues for themselves.

Brigid Bergin: Aneem, thanks so much for that call. We're going to sneak in one more caller. Let's go to Molly in Manhattan. Molly, thanks for calling.

Molly: Thank you for having me. I'm part of a coalition of people who are called Vote Blue NYC. We're filling buses going out of Union Square and we're going both to Pennsylvania and to the New York districts because we need to know that down-ballot races are just as important as the top of the ticket. We want to make sure that if Kamala Harris is elected, that she's going to have the support of a democratic house, get Hakeem Jeffries back into the speakerhood.

We're knocking on doors in New York 17, 18, 19, New York, 4, and even New Jersey 7, because Sue Altman is an excellent candidate. That's what we've been doing and it's been really great.

Brigid Bergin: Molly, thank you so much for that call. Blair, just in terms of the specifics of how people navigate some of this, this is work that NYPIRG is familiar with, but when people are going out there, how do they know what doors to knock on? Do you just typically hit every house or are there usually targets?

Blair Horner: If you're in a partisan canvas, usually there's a list and you're looking to identify voters and to figure out who needs to be contacted to show up at the polling. You're not necessarily trying to convince a Republican to vote Democrat or vice versa. The deep canvassing person that was on the call already, they are looking for specifically people who don't vote or are infrequent voters to try to move them in the conversation that you heard about.

If you're doing a nonpartisan canvas, for example, like what we do, we knock on every single door because our view is that the more people we talk to, the much more likely there is to be an educated public that will demand solutions to problems, for example, like climate damages, a bill that will be going to Governor Hochul soon.

Brigid Bergin: Just in our last minute or so. Blair, can you close out with any advice you want to give to those who are preparing to knock on doors for the first time this weekend? Any tips or tricks for surviving your first canvassing experience?

Blair Horner: It's a lot easier than you might think inside your head, but if it's going to rain, bring an umbrella.

Brigid Bergin: That's very good advice. I want to thank my guest. My guest has been Blair Horner, executive director of the New York Public Interests Research Group. Blair, thanks so much for coming on the show. We've had some really great examples of some things that are listeners are doing this weekend in some of the texts that I didn't get to read. I have a listener who texted, "I've door knocked in Nassau county in swing district several times since 2018. I find it uncomfortable. I feel like I'm intruding even though someone answers the door."

Another listener wrote, "I've canvassed for Sue Altman in New Jersey 7, in my town out in the rural part of New Jersey. Another listener wrote, "I'm canvassing this Sunday for Laura Gillen on Long Island, and I'm also promoting Prop 1. Got involved in campaigning in 2017." Lots of listeners who are going to be out and about this weekend, and we're glad to have them. We're glad to have some advice from you, Blair, for how they can go about it and do it safely.

Maybe if you could just give us a line about-- I know NYPIRG is doing some voter registration work on college campuses. If someone's looking for that, where would they find them?

Blair Horner: You could certainly find out more about what we're doing @nypirg.org. N-Y-P-I-R-G.org. If you're looking to register to vote, of course, the easiest place to go would be to google the New York State Board of Elections. You can download voter registration forms or ask for a mail-in ballot, which now is allowed in New York. That makes it a lot easier to vote.

Brigid Bergin: It certainly does. A lot of changes to our election laws that make it a little easier for people to access the ballot. Blair, thank you so much for your time. Have a great weekend.

Blair Horner: Thank you for having me. Great talking to everybody.

Brigid Bergin: The Brian Lehrer Show's producers are Lisa Allison, Mary Croke, Amina Srna, Carl Boisrond, and Esperanza Rosenbaum. Our interns this fall are Andreas Pacheco Hirone and Olivia Green. Megan Ryan is the head of live radio. Shayna Sengstock and Julianna Fonda are at the studio controls. I'm Brigid Bergin, and this is the Brian Lehr Show on WNYC. Enjoy your weekend. Stay tuned for All Of It.

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