Getting the Gore movement going in your neighborhood

I am a huge believer in precinct work in politics. Back in 2003, I started working three precincts in my neighborhood in a city (Irvine, California) with a majority of Republican voters. Initially, my focus was Wes Clark for president, starting with the Draft Clark movement. I wrote personal notes to Democratic neighbors, printed them from my computer, attached some material on Clark, and left them at gates. I had business cards printed up free of charge by Vista Print and stapled them to the corner of the notes, so that it created a "hook" for hanging the material, and also let people know that I was willing to be contacted personally. I think that Democrats want to know there are other Democrats in their neighborhoods.

Actually, I seldom actually saw anyone, although I did knock on the doors of some older people and they were happy to visit. Over the years, I have walked those precincts quite a few times, always leaving something personal, along with applications for absentee ballot voting and candidate literature of various kinds. It has paid off. In the 2006 congressional election, the Democratic vote in those precincts increased by 40 percent!

At this point, it doesn't really matter so much who your candidate is. Get out there and start making contacts among Democrats. You can then take Gore petitions when they are available, and you will find some willing takers. Keep on and by the time the presidential election rolls around, you should see some good results for our country!

Sharon Toji
Irvine, California