Andrew Boucher: The 10 House Campaign
Here’s a campaign question that every first-time candidate, rookie staffer, or local volunteer always gets right:
What if the entire election were limited to just ten households on your block?
It’s an important thought experiment because when you break it down, it’s not that complicated:
First, you’d make a list of the voters. (You would keep this list in a safe place. If you had time, you would make a copy of the list… in case something happened to the first list.)
Second, you’d either call or visit each of your neighbors one by one. Standing on their front porch, you’d ask them for their opinions about your race. You’d ask if they’d be willing to support you. If they’re supporters, you’d ask them about their plans to vote. Do they know where and when to vote early, by absentee, or on Election Day?
If they’re undecided, you’d spend a few minutes with them to ask about the issues that they care about the most. You’d make the case for your candidacy and be able to tailor your pitch to their specific concerns. You’d tell them which of the other neighbors are supporting you.
Third, you’d swing through the neighborhood a few more times before Election Day, repeating the process, trying to add new names to your supporters list. Maybe you’d have a respected supporter help you make the case to the undecided voters.
Finally, when voting starts, you’d keep count of who had voted and note which of your supporters were missing. You’d do whatever it took to ensure your supporters showed up at the polls. If just one of your supporters hadn’t voted, you’d call him or stop by his house to make sure he made it to the polls before they closed. You’d be waiting in the driveway when he came home from work to offer him a ride to the polls.
When you break it down to just ten houses on a single block, campaigning is pretty simple.
- Start with a decent list.
- Find out who each voter is voting for and what issues they care about.
- Persuade the ones who are undecided.
- Get out your voters on Election Day.
Or, to put in it more flowery prose:
“Organize the whole state so that everyone can be brought to the polls… Make a perfect list of all the voters and ascertain with certainty who they will vote for.
“Keep a constant watch on the doubtful voters and . . . have them talked to by those in whom they have the most confidence . . .
“And on election day, see that everyone is brought to the polls.”
It’s a quote from Abraham Lincoln. Smart guy, that Lincoln.
So, how do you take that ten-house model and scale it to a full campaign?
Start with a decent list.
Target the voters with a history of voting in similar elections, and make sure your database system is set up to add information about individual voters:
- Who they’re supporting.
- What issues they care about.
- Even if they want a yard sign.
Find out who each voter is voting for and what issues they care about.
This is called voter identification. It should be the focus of your voter contact efforts up until the final month of your campaign.
Knock on their doors. Your door-to-door canvassers shouldn’t just say, “Please vote for my guy,” and hand out a lit piece. They should ask questions: Who are you planning to vote for? What issues are most important to you?
Call them. Technology has made phone calls more efficient, easier to set up, and more responsive.
Persuade the ones who are undecided.
Now, you can send mail, run digital ads, and make follow-up phone calls to identified groups of voters to talk about specific issues that you know they care about.
Get out your voters early and on Election Day.
You’ve built up a supporters list throughout the campaign, now use technology to treat each supporter like you’d treat each household in your ten-block campaign—track who has voted and contact the ones who haven’t.
None of this is revolutionary. It is a model that has been used for centuries.
It’s a ten-house campaign. But technology makes it scalable.
At Ascent, we built our firm on this model back before text messaging was a thing and volunteer phone banks relied on landlines.
Today, we use:
- Text message surveys to ask candidate and issue preferences;
- Text persuasion and GOTV messages, often including graphics or videos;
- Live-operator phone banks that can get out tens of thousands of phone calls in a single day;
- Professional canvassers with apps that include lists, scripts, mapping, and the ability to track responses immediately.
We often include voter ID, persuasion, and GOTV in a single script – after all, if you’re having a conversation with someone, you should make it count. We ask who they’re supporting and what issues they most care about, and then the adaptive call scripting adjusts based on their response. An undecided voter who cares about taxes will get a persuasion script about how our candidate will cut taxes. A supporter will get detailed information about early, absentee, and Election Day voting and a message about how important their vote is.
So start with the question, What if the entire election were limited to just ten households on your block?
Ascent can scale that to help you win.
New Ascent Gives Initiatives
We’ve been fortunate enough to see our company grow over the years. This growth has allowed us to give back and support causes that hold a special place in the hearts of our staff. With that, we are in the final stretch of our Q3 Ascent Gives Initiative.
Recently, Devin O’Malley participated in the 5th Annual Beltway Brawl hosted by Haymakers for Hope, which benefitted St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Although his event has passed, we wanted to congratulate him on his participation and highlight the worthy cause one last time.
The second cause we’re supporting this quarter comes from myself, actually. The cause I submitted to help is the National Fibromyalgia Association. I live with chronic pain; some days are more complicated than others, but the general public often overlooks invisible illnesses. When you “don’t look sick,” it is harder for others to see your pain as tangible. Fibromyalgia is written off as made up often, but I assure you, the effects are genuine. I have watched my mom, one of the strongest women I know, struggle with it for the majority of my life, and I have dealt with its impact for years.
Please join us this quarter in support of these two worthy causes. We’re excited to announce our quarter-four causes in our next newsletter.
Join us in celebrating our Ascent team members’ upcoming birthdays and work anniversaries. We are grateful to have them on our team!
October 4th: Mark Warner’s 3rd Work Anniversary
