Best way to campaign for Harris in Pittsburgh

October 15, 2024 5:31 PM

I’m new to Pittsburgh and have already registered here to vote. I want to campaign for Harris but my disability and lack of vehicle prohibit canvassing. As well as local opportunities, I’d like to see links to info about what kinds of campaigning tend to be most helpful.
posted by mermaidcafe to Law & Government (7 answers total)

I just addressed a few post cards to Pittsburgh with post cards to voters, which I learned about here on askmetafilter.

The one study I found easily suggested that these post cards help and they help even more if they come from the same state cite. So picking a PA campaign would likely help

Thanks for doing what you can!
posted by akabobo at 6:21 PM on October 15, 2024

My usual answer here is that while it doesn't feel good, your best bet is probably to do whatever you do for money and send whatever you're comfortable with to either the Harris campaign or some PAC that has goals you like. Let (at least notional) pros figure out how to use it best.

If you really prefer to donate your time directly instead of as moolah, I still wouldn't worry about what the very bestest way to use that time is. That's the campaign's job to figure out, not yours. I'd contact the local campaign to explain your limits and ask if there's anything you can do. You might steel yourself ahead of time that donating time might well also mean doing something unfulfilling and boring that doesn't feel like campaigning, the campaign equivalent of working in the motorpool fixing tires during a war.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 7:23 PM on October 15, 2024

...but if you do send them money, don't be ashamed to use a burner email account. Whatever acct you use is gonna get on AAAAAAALLLLL the vaguely-D donation lists.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 7:24 PM on October 15, 2024

I have a friend who, for years, has taken her vacation time around election time and used it to go work for campaigns.

I asked her if she had any suggestions, and here's what she said:

YES, canvassing and phone banking DO make a difference. The science says so! Here's a good summary of the studies, with links to more: Get Out The Vote With These Research-Backed Strategies (callhub.io)

I would point folks to this: Volunteer Opportunities, Events, and Petitions Near Me · Mobilize

Mobilize began as an app that was touted as the Tindr of politics. It's a way to match people who want to volunteer to opportunities either geographically near them or remote opportunities. I do all my phone banking from home, with my computer and laptop.

I've done some phone banking and text banking (2016, 2020, and this year), much of it through Mobilize. I've had some great conversations with people (especially in Georgia), and I ended up SO MUCH MORE enthusiastic about the candidates I was promoting, and just knowing how many other people were out there trying to get out the vote and promote candidates who really wanted to make a difference made me feel a lot more optimistic about the country.

I also made a front-page post a couple of months ago, Many hands make light work - lots of MeFites shared a lot of the great things they're doing.

Thank you so much for asking this. Please know that pitching in, in whatever way you can, WILL make a difference!
posted by kristi at 7:29 PM on October 15, 2024 [5 favorites]

1. There is also this recent thread.

2. You can likely just plug in somehow at your local county Dem party office. That might be easier to find than the campaign, given that the party office is fairly permanent.

Thanks for volunteering!
posted by NotLost at 9:47 PM on October 15, 2024 [1 favorite]

Another pitch for Mobilize - it makes it very easy to find ways to help out, virtual and in-person.

There are some events that are high-volume outreach - say going to a farmer's market and engaging with whoever is in your vicinity. So depending what your disability is, perhaps that's an option? But also, depending on whether your disability impacts your mobility, you might be able to canvass - you don't need a car (you can get paired with someone with a car) and many of the lists don't involve much walking - you could ask for a list that's mostly apartments and so you possibly wouldn't need to walk more than a few blocks. But if not, phone banking locally is a great option.

Finally - vote early. The more registered Democrats that vote early, the better the campaign can direct its energies towards those who haven't voted yet.
posted by coffeecat at 7:24 AM on October 16, 2024

Hi, I have been volunteering with political campaigns in my own state for 16 years. Phone banking is known to be a highly effective form of voter outreach-- moreso than postcard writing (although postcard writing is still good and impactful and if that is what you feel would be the best fit for you, you should definitely do it). If you want to try phone banking for Harris or local Democratic candidates, you don't even have to go to a Democratic or campaign office to do it-- you can do it from home. You can sign up to make calls directly with the Harris campaign here. I suggest also reaching out to your local Democratic Committee and asking them if they can help get you set up with volunteer work that will work for you, whether that is phone banking or postcard writing or something else you can do from home. They probably also have virtual phone bank opportunities available that would not require you to go to the office to get trained.

(I know a lot of people THINK phone banking must not work because most people don't like to take cold calls. But it really does work! I've done it a lot myself so I know that in fact sometimes people are actually excited to get a call, especially if they live in an area where there aren't many other people of their political persuasion and they don't get to talk to like-minded people very often. And yes of course you get people being rude or hanging up on you, too, but not as many as you might think.)
posted by BlueJae at 7:53 AM on October 16, 2024 [1 favorite]