Canvassing Is Basic Building Block Of Campaigns. What Happens When Knocking On Doors Isn’t Safe?
The pandemic will likely alter the election landscape far more than just in terms of how people vote. It's also going to hamstring campaigns that rely on the old standard of knocking on doors. Meanwhile, candidates tout their COVID relief efforts.
The New York Times:
Knock, Knock, Who’s There? No Political Canvassers, For The First Time Maybe Ever
Joseph R. Biden Jr. went door-to-door in his first Senate race in 1972, and had volunteers hand-deliver mailers. In 2018, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez walked across her district until rainwater seeped through the soles of her sneakers. This past winter, Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign mobilized an army of supporters to hit more than 800,000 doors ahead of the Iowa caucuses. But in the fall of 2020, volunteers might have to knock on a door and then sprint 10 feet away, making a pitch from a safe social distance. That is one tactic some strategists have floated as they consider a pandemic-safe update to a fundamental political tool: the humble door knock. (Goldmacher, 5/7)
Politico:
Candidates Morph Into Covid-19 Relief Workers — And Want You To Know About It
Clayton Fuller was filming his first campaign ad for Congress when he got a call from his Air National Guard commanding officer: He was being activated for coronavirus duty. Now the Republican from Georgia is spending his days far away from the campaign trail, coordinating the cleaning of nursing and veterans’ homes in Alabama. But because he’s under federal orders, he can no longer ask for votes himself — this week, he’s missing two virtual candidate forums. (Schneider and Arkin, 5/6)
The Washington Post:
Democrats’ Hold On House Seat In Jeopardy As Coronavirus Complicates Vote In California
Holding the House seat in California’s congressional district north of Los Angeles County was supposed to be fairly easy for Democrats who had a growing voter advantage in the onetime GOP stronghold and a rising star of the freshman class. But that came crashing down when nude photos of then-Rep. Katie Hill were published online and her estranged husband accused her of having an affair with a member of her Capitol Hill staff. Within days of the revelations, Hill, 32, denied the affair but acknowledged the photos, apologized and resigned. (Itkowitz, 5/6)
