Where are the Door-Knocking Politicians?
For the last several elections—federal, provincial, and civic—I have lived in various apartments around the city. I have always assumed that this was the reason that I never had political candidates coming to my home to speak to me.
Until this past Monday, I had always thought that the candidates were simply not able to gain access to apartment buildings, either because the landlords/managers wouldn’t buzz them in, or because of some weird bylaw prohibiting canvassing in multi-family dwellings.
Of course, there is also the possibility that I’ve just never been home when the candidates have come knocking. I don’t buy that excuse, though, because when I lived with my parents, the candidates would always leave a note on the door or in the mailbox saying something like, “I’m sorry I missed you. Here is an outline of my platform.”
Because I have never received a notice like this at any of my apartments, I assumed, as I said, that it was—for whatever reason—not possible for political candidates to visit voters who lived in apartment buildings. On Monday, I realized that I was wrong.
There was a knock on my door Monday night and, having not got a call from the front buzzer, I assumed that it was just the building manager coming to tell me something. Working on this assumption, I didn’t bother to check the peephole, and so I was quite surprised to find two strangers standing at my door.
They were volunteers from NDP candidate Deron Bilous‘ campaign. They greeted me politely, told me who they were, and talked a bit about Deron’s campaign. They talked about who he is as an individual, and asked me if I had decided who I was voting for, and if I had considered voting for Deron.
I answered their questions, chatted with them briefly, took the pamphlet they gave me, and closed the door.
I wondered, after that encounter, why haven’t any other candidates (or their representatives) ever come to my door? Where is Liberal incumbent Laurie Blakeman? Where is PC candidate Bill Donahue? Where are the candidates from the Green Party, the Wildrose Alliance, and any other parties that might have candidates nominated in Edmonton-Centre?
At the very least, I would have liked to have seen a note slipped under my door from the other candidates saying, “Sorry we missed you…” At least that would have indicated that they attempted to come and speak with me.
Through the simple act of knocking on my door and talking to me about my concerns, and about his platform (albeit by proxy, through his volunteers) Deron Bilous gained a huge amount of respect from me. I was already leaning toward voting for him (there, I finally came clean), and that simple act of having someone from his camp speak to me in person really helped sway my vote.
There are still a few days left in the campaign, so the other candidates’ camps may yet stop by, but I’m not holding my breath at this point. I’m still not certain who I’m going to vote for, so by actually stopping by and talking to me, the other candidates may yet be able to earn my vote. If they don’t, it’ll be a lot harder to convince me not to vote for Deron Bilous.
Personally I think all kinds of people try to come door knocking but aren’t let in by building tennants so they stop trying. I’m not going to vote someone in because they came to see me or not. I’m sure you’ll weigh the issues and come to a proper decision without the door knocking criteria.
Rosemary
29 Feb 08 at 10:34 am
Of course I’m not going to vote for someone based simply on whether or not they knocked on my door. To do so would be nothing short of asinine. But, the fact is, they should be knocking on doors. They should be talking to the people they’re hoping to represent—finding out our concerns, and talking to us about how they plan to solve the issues we’re facing in our riding. When they don’t make the effort to do so, it makes me question how well they’ll represent me and my neighbours should they be elected.
And, yes, they probably do have trouble getting into apartment buildings. And, yes, it’s probably frustrating to get turned down at several buildings, but they shouldn’t give up; they should still be making the effort, especially in a riding like Edmonton-Centre, where the majority of constituents live in apartments and apartment-style condos.
Adam Snider
29 Feb 08 at 10:40 am
I just think that sometimes the time is spent better doing other things than door knocking. I didn’t assume you’d just make your decision on the door knocking, I’m just saying I wouldn’t put that in my thought process in deciding on a candidate.
Rosemary
29 Feb 08 at 10:51 am
Other things such as what, though? When you’re in office, yeah, do other things (but still meet with your constituents from time to time). But, when you’re on the campaign trail, knocking on doors and holding “town hall” meetings is practically the only thing you should be doing. Getting your name and your platform out there is what you’re supposed to do during a campaign.
Adam Snider
29 Feb 08 at 11:04 am
Like the town halls where you can see all of those people and answer their questions. Those who won’t open their doors to strangers. I think I was the only one in my buidling besides my friend Denis who opened our doors to the enumarator this year. Let alone politicial reps.
Rosemary
29 Feb 08 at 3:39 pm
I did mention town halls. And, you’re right, some people don’t open the door, but that doesn’t change the point I’m making.
Adam Snider
29 Feb 08 at 6:36 pm
I have to say I tend to agree with your point about door-knocking being an important part of meeting prospective constituents and figuring out what their concerns are, Adam. It just makes me aggravated whenever my MP sends me mail with pictures of him flipping pancakes somewhere after years of sending him letters with no response, let alone a round of door-knocking around election time. There are sooo many ways to get to know your constituents, and I’m glad to hear Deron’s team is doing some of them! (full disclosure: I’ve met him a few times in and outside of Edmonton and think he’d be a great MLA myself).
Town halls are always iffy – I go to those things and the crowds they bring out tend to come from pretty narrow demographics and as a general rule don’t get the kind of turnout I think any political representative needs to understand what the people in their riding want.
Chris
29 Feb 08 at 9:52 pm
I’d agree that door knocking isn’t going to be part of my decision this year.
natasha
1 Mar 08 at 10:50 am
From a statistical perspective I don’t think that door knocking is very effective evidence as to the quality of the candidate.
Consider candidates A, and B, candidate A knocks on twice as many doors as B. If you get a knock you only have a 2/3 chance of getting the candidate who knocks on more doors. Moreover, if you consider the scenario where B knocks on half as many doors because they average twice as long at each door (probably the candidate you’d prefer as they’re much more interested in talking to their constituents) you now have a 2/3 chance of getting a knock from the less interested candidate.
Now if you factor volunteers into the equation (your scenario) you’re no longer interacting with the candidate directly. The only real evidence you get is the fact that a certain candidate was able to attract more volunteers, when you further consider how weak a door knock is as evidence that a candidate’s volunteers really are knocking on more doors it really doesn’t count for anything. If you really are interested in evaluating the strength of a candidate’s volunteer base as an evaluation of the candidate, you’re probably better off counting lawn signs.
aaron
2 Mar 08 at 4:12 pm
You make a good point, Aaron. And, I would never vote JUST based on whether or not someone knocked on my door. It’s just one factor that I add in to a lot of other factors (things like what party the candidate represents, what his or her party’s stances on the issues that matter to me are, what stance the candidate him- or herself takes on those issues, etc.).
But, you’re right. On it’s own, door-knocking is not a particularly good way of determining who to vote for.
Adam Snider
2 Mar 08 at 9:49 pm
I wasn’t just saying don’t use it as a major factor, I was saying ignore it entirely. As evidence goes door knocking (particularly done by a volunteer) contains so much noise that it’s probably on par with their choice of clothing as to evidence of their ability.
That doesn’t mean it’s completely useless as a metric, but human bias places way too much weight on personal contact already so you’d almost want to negatively weigh any candidate who knocked on your door just so you can get back to making a properly weighted decision.
aaron
3 Mar 08 at 10:43 am
That’s a fair argument, Aaron, and while I definitely understand the logic of it, I guess my irrational human nature doesn’t want to accept it. Regardless, it’s too late now. Today…we must vote.
Adam Snider
3 Mar 08 at 12:44 pm