A post by Paula Tancredi Penman, Vice Chair of the Wilton Democratic Committee
The “Get Out The Vote” or GOTV effort has always been a favorite of mine as far back as my college years as a political science student. This is the effort in political campaigns focused on increasing voter turnout. And GOTV efforts have become quite sophisticated since I first learned about it. However, today, I did two things that were not particularly sophisticated, but were effective in GOTV efforts. You never know where an opportunity will arise and the best effort you can make is to capitalize on it.
I began my day by running a couple of errands. This brought me to waiting behind a car at that odd intersection of Traver Road and Northern Pines. How could I not notice the “Dump Trump” and “Dems against Insanity” bumper stickers. Wow, THAT is strong language to display on your car. Does the driver know that we have re-established the Wilton Democratic Party? She needs to know; we need her to know.
So I followed the car. Since it was headed towards Saratoga, I hoped it wouldn’t be going too far, i.e. the driver wasn’t headed toward Exit 16 and the Northway. Fortunately, she eventually pulled into the parking lot at Kohl’s. Patricia was a bit wary when I approached her and asked about the bumper stickers. But once she knew my mission, she was completely on board and we happily shook hands as she was already in touch with our Committee Chair, Pat Tuz.
Later the same day, as the afternoon wore on I remembered I wanted a bottle of wine for dinner. As I didn’t have long before my son would be getting off the school bus, I made the quick trip to a nearby store. I couldn’t help but immediately realize that MSNBC was on the television and that the cashier, between customers, was very interested in the news story. I decided to feel out her political leaning, “Do you usually watch MSNBC?” “Oh, I love it. My husband has to ask me to turn it off in the mornings because I begin to get so upset.” Yep, I know just what she means. Within moments I was giving Gay my contact information and the date and place of the next Wilton Democratic Committee meeting. She wasn’t sure that she could do the walking needed to be a District Representative, but she did know that she had a party and candidates to support in her own town.
THAT is getting-out-the-vote in the least sophisticated and most effective manner.
