Post by Bonnie on Nov 3, 2012 9:05:38 GMT -5
Unions prod (PROD? I bet! :
infrequent voters to early-vote, (and often, as the saying goes, I bet 
) saying these voters have the power to decide the election
By Olivera Perkins, The Plain Dealer
on November 03, 2012 at 9:00 AM, updated November 03, 2012 at 9:01
Samara Knight, a member of the Service Employees International Union, is part of labor's mission of getting people to early-vote, especially in neighborhoods that often have low turnout. On East 74th Street in Cleveland's Fairfax neighborhood, she persuades Jermaine Alexander to early vote.
Gus Chan, The Plain Dealer
They are often called "marginal" voters because they cast ballots so sporadically. It's not that these voters aim to shirk their civic duty, but sometimes life just gets in the way.
Organized labor believes these on-again, off-again voters have the power to decide who wins the presidency next week.
That's why unions are going after marginal voters in a big way, with the help of new campaign rules.
This is the first presidential election in which organized labor can campaign directly to non-union households on behalf of candidates. The U.S. Supreme ruled in 2010, in Citizens United vs. the Federal Elections Commission, that campaign contributions are protected free speech -- that the government cannot stop corporations and unions from spending money to support or denounce individual candidates.
Most unions opposed the ruling because they believed it would lead to unlimited spending by Republican donors who would be difficult to trace.
"All it did was perpetuate the ability for the wealthy and corporations to try to bludgeon the electorate with all their money," said Brandon Davis, national political director for the Service Employees International Union.
Nevertheless, unions have to admit that having access to a broader section of voters is an advantage, said John Green, director of the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron.
Many of the marginal voters are part of the Democratic Party's base: minority voters, younger voters, working class voters.
Building a strategy on this shaky part of the Democratic base can be effective, Green said.
"When the election is very close, turnout becomes key," he said. "Even small fluctuations in the vote can be the difference between winning and losing."
Labor's core base is usually reliable in casting ballots, said Michael Podhorzer, the AFL-CIO's national political director. But pushing marginal voters to vote early has become the focus of labor's get-out-the-vote strategy.
"We are getting them out early because those are extra votes," Podhorzer said.
Kate Bronfenbrenner, director of labor education research at Cornell University, said unions excel at getting out the vote because it is an extension of organizing: "That is what they do for a living."
Green said that's experience money can't buy, even in a Citizens United world.
"Corporations just don't have that expertise," he said.
Phones loaded with data Since June, Samara Knight, an SEIU member, has been canvassing Cleveland's East Side neighborhoods of Central and Fairfax, where voter turnout often is low. She is always armed with an iPhone, loaded with detailed information about the voters Knight is seeking to nudge into early voting.
The Voter Activation Network, or VAN, updated nearly daily, can answer questions such as: How routinely does this person vote? Did the voter request an absentee ballot and return it? Has the person already early-voted in person?
Drizzle turned to downpour as Knight stood under the awning of a house on East 74th Street trying to persuade Jermaine Alexander to early-vote that day for Barack Obama.
Alexander said he had to pick up his daughter. Knight told him the elections board didn't close until 5 p.m. The conversation was cordial, but Alexander tried to squirm out of the grilling shewas giving him.
"I'm voting for Mitt Romney," he said, striking a mischievous grin.
Knight shot back a look of disbelief.
Alexander burst into laughter. He said he would vote for Obama, but he couldn't say when because he was busy.
Knight let him know it would not be easy to brush her off.( I bet!
) The database on her iPhone would tell her if he had voted.
"If you haven't voted, I'll pull it up in the VAN," she told him, waiving the smartphone.
A few days later, Knight used the iPhone to get a status report on Alexander. He had voted later on the day of their exchange.
The SEIU is on target to knock on more than 550,000 doors in Ohio by Election Day. During this final weekend before the election, 2,000 members, staff and volunteers are scheduled to flood the state as part of a national effort that will include 25,000.
As of Oct. 24, the AFL-CIO had made more than 500,000 calls and knocked on nearly 258,000 doors, said Harriet Applegate, who heads the North Shore AFL-CIO Federation of Labor. Ohio is one of 25 battleground states where the organization will beef up its efforts, including knocking on 5.5 million doors nationally.
"The most effective contact is face to face," Applegate said. "It's great that we can communicate with the general public."
Labor started early The weekend blitz is the closer, but both labor groups began to reach out to marginal voters months ago. The SEIU's targets include people who voted in 2008 but not in 2010, and those who have registered since 2008.
Labor had to start early. "It takes some effort to stimulate" these voters, said Green, at the University of Akron. That often means making several contacts and offering rides to the polls. Both labor groups have a fleet of vans and boast of making frequent trips to the elections board. Neither group would say how much it is spending on the effort.
Davis said SEIU members are uniquely suited to persuade marginal voters because many share similar demographics: minority and working class. This includes volunteers as well as the 50 members in Ohio who are on leave from their jobs to campaign full-time. The union is paying these members' salaries.
Unions point to early voting figures as proof that their strategy is working.
By the Thursday before the 2008 election, nearly 40,000 people had voted in person at the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, spokesman Dennis Anderson said. At the same point this year, more than 33,000 had voted, but one could argue this year's figures may be ahead of four years ago. Most people vote on weekends, and 2008 offered five weekends to vote. This weekend will be the only one this year.
"We are open this weekend and Monday for voting and expect to see a surge of voters that matches 2008 numbers," Anderson said in an email.
There are fewer weekends to vote this year because Secretary of State John Husted had sought to cut off in-person early voting on the Friday before the election. A court battle reached the U. S. Supreme Court, which refused to hear the case.
Knight, the SEIU canvasser, measures success not only by the number of votes, but by the reactions of voters answering the doors. She said many seemed as though they needed an invitation to participate in the democratic process. Knight is glad she could make the offer.
"They aren't enthusiastic about voting because they are not aware about how politics can make a difference in their lives," she said. "Having 'boots on the ground' changed that."
infrequent voters to early-vote, (and often, as the saying goes, I bet 
) saying these voters have the power to decide the electionBy Olivera Perkins, The Plain Dealer
on November 03, 2012 at 9:00 AM, updated November 03, 2012 at 9:01
Samara Knight, a member of the Service Employees International Union, is part of labor's mission of getting people to early-vote, especially in neighborhoods that often have low turnout. On East 74th Street in Cleveland's Fairfax neighborhood, she persuades Jermaine Alexander to early vote.
Gus Chan, The Plain Dealer
They are often called "marginal" voters because they cast ballots so sporadically. It's not that these voters aim to shirk their civic duty, but sometimes life just gets in the way.
Organized labor believes these on-again, off-again voters have the power to decide who wins the presidency next week.
That's why unions are going after marginal voters in a big way, with the help of new campaign rules.
This is the first presidential election in which organized labor can campaign directly to non-union households on behalf of candidates. The U.S. Supreme ruled in 2010, in Citizens United vs. the Federal Elections Commission, that campaign contributions are protected free speech -- that the government cannot stop corporations and unions from spending money to support or denounce individual candidates.
Most unions opposed the ruling because they believed it would lead to unlimited spending by Republican donors who would be difficult to trace.
"All it did was perpetuate the ability for the wealthy and corporations to try to bludgeon the electorate with all their money," said Brandon Davis, national political director for the Service Employees International Union.
Nevertheless, unions have to admit that having access to a broader section of voters is an advantage, said John Green, director of the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron.
Many of the marginal voters are part of the Democratic Party's base: minority voters, younger voters, working class voters.
Building a strategy on this shaky part of the Democratic base can be effective, Green said.
"When the election is very close, turnout becomes key," he said. "Even small fluctuations in the vote can be the difference between winning and losing."
Labor's core base is usually reliable in casting ballots, said Michael Podhorzer, the AFL-CIO's national political director. But pushing marginal voters to vote early has become the focus of labor's get-out-the-vote strategy.
"We are getting them out early because those are extra votes," Podhorzer said.
Kate Bronfenbrenner, director of labor education research at Cornell University, said unions excel at getting out the vote because it is an extension of organizing: "That is what they do for a living."
Green said that's experience money can't buy, even in a Citizens United world.
"Corporations just don't have that expertise," he said.
Phones loaded with data Since June, Samara Knight, an SEIU member, has been canvassing Cleveland's East Side neighborhoods of Central and Fairfax, where voter turnout often is low. She is always armed with an iPhone, loaded with detailed information about the voters Knight is seeking to nudge into early voting.
The Voter Activation Network, or VAN, updated nearly daily, can answer questions such as: How routinely does this person vote? Did the voter request an absentee ballot and return it? Has the person already early-voted in person?
Drizzle turned to downpour as Knight stood under the awning of a house on East 74th Street trying to persuade Jermaine Alexander to early-vote that day for Barack Obama.
Alexander said he had to pick up his daughter. Knight told him the elections board didn't close until 5 p.m. The conversation was cordial, but Alexander tried to squirm out of the grilling shewas giving him.
"I'm voting for Mitt Romney," he said, striking a mischievous grin.
Knight shot back a look of disbelief.
Alexander burst into laughter. He said he would vote for Obama, but he couldn't say when because he was busy.
Knight let him know it would not be easy to brush her off.( I bet!
) The database on her iPhone would tell her if he had voted."If you haven't voted, I'll pull it up in the VAN," she told him, waiving the smartphone.
A few days later, Knight used the iPhone to get a status report on Alexander. He had voted later on the day of their exchange.
The SEIU is on target to knock on more than 550,000 doors in Ohio by Election Day. During this final weekend before the election, 2,000 members, staff and volunteers are scheduled to flood the state as part of a national effort that will include 25,000.
As of Oct. 24, the AFL-CIO had made more than 500,000 calls and knocked on nearly 258,000 doors, said Harriet Applegate, who heads the North Shore AFL-CIO Federation of Labor. Ohio is one of 25 battleground states where the organization will beef up its efforts, including knocking on 5.5 million doors nationally.
"The most effective contact is face to face," Applegate said. "It's great that we can communicate with the general public."
Labor started early The weekend blitz is the closer, but both labor groups began to reach out to marginal voters months ago. The SEIU's targets include people who voted in 2008 but not in 2010, and those who have registered since 2008.
Labor had to start early. "It takes some effort to stimulate" these voters, said Green, at the University of Akron. That often means making several contacts and offering rides to the polls. Both labor groups have a fleet of vans and boast of making frequent trips to the elections board. Neither group would say how much it is spending on the effort.
Davis said SEIU members are uniquely suited to persuade marginal voters because many share similar demographics: minority and working class. This includes volunteers as well as the 50 members in Ohio who are on leave from their jobs to campaign full-time. The union is paying these members' salaries.
Unions point to early voting figures as proof that their strategy is working.
By the Thursday before the 2008 election, nearly 40,000 people had voted in person at the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, spokesman Dennis Anderson said. At the same point this year, more than 33,000 had voted, but one could argue this year's figures may be ahead of four years ago. Most people vote on weekends, and 2008 offered five weekends to vote. This weekend will be the only one this year.
"We are open this weekend and Monday for voting and expect to see a surge of voters that matches 2008 numbers," Anderson said in an email.
There are fewer weekends to vote this year because Secretary of State John Husted had sought to cut off in-person early voting on the Friday before the election. A court battle reached the U. S. Supreme Court, which refused to hear the case.
Knight, the SEIU canvasser, measures success not only by the number of votes, but by the reactions of voters answering the doors. She said many seemed as though they needed an invitation to participate in the democratic process. Knight is glad she could make the offer.
"They aren't enthusiastic about voting because they are not aware about how politics can make a difference in their lives," she said. "Having 'boots on the ground' changed that."