Won't You Be My Neighbor
The Democratic National Committee is rolling out its new online Neighborhood Volunteer tool, which will empower grassroots activists to use the party's voter file for organizing efforts in their communities. The DNC is launching it first in Kansas and Virginia, two states where officials said they had the structure in place to make it a quick success, but beyond shortly thereafter.
"We’re way ahead of where we were four years ago in terms of our field operation," DNC Chairman Howard Dean said today on a call with reporters. "And I think we’re going to make sure the American people don’t get bamboozled by the wishy washy-ness of John McCain."
Here's how the DNC explains it:
The tool builds on the DNC's investment in its new state of the art national voter file. Each volunteer will be asked to contact their neighbors. The program provides walk packets, scripts, and materials for the activist to print out from home or in a campaign office should they choose. The data volunteers collect are fed back into the voter file.
Neighborhood Volunteers are already making voter contact in the states and will be registering people to vote as a critical part of the DNC's 50-state strategy. There are more than 49,000 volunteers in the program, and more than 160 state partnership staff members in regular contact with them.
Also on the call, Dean said that he believes gun owners are in play this political season.
"Those are our voters," he said. "Those folks need our help. And we need their help. Those voters used to be dem voters and they need to be dem voters again. ... Rural America is up for grabs."
RNC spokesman Alex Conant quickly issued a comment asserting that Dean's claims are "delusional."
“Like so much about Howard Dean, his delusional claims that Democrats will be able to connect with gun owners cannot be taken seriously," Conant said. "Raising taxes and banning the sale, possession and manufacture of handguns may go over well at elite San Francisco fundraisers, but not in small town America.”
(JENNIFER SKALKA)
