DFA Pulse Poll Results...Interesting Slice of Democracy

Written by: David Reiter on Nov 6, 2007 11:56 PM EST

Politics Are Local

Have you ever noticed that when you have local elections, the candidate with the most yard signs in the community generally wins? It's not that simple because first, that is not always the case (and DFA Training teaches us differently), and second, the yard signs are generally a function of canvassing. The perception remains that the yard signs give us the impression that it is the signs themselves that build the name recognition as opposed to the personal connection with the individuals at homes that post the signs. People perceive that 'whoever has the most signs win" because this is what we see with our eyes. People do not see the canvassers knocking on doors in every neighborhood the signs are posted, or they are at work when canvassers come 'a knockin'.

Most of you reading this know this because you have been the canvasser yourself, looking back on that last block of houses you went to to earn support for your candidate based on the issues he/she supports...and seeing the result...100 houses, 30 confirmed votes for your candidate...10 yard signs...Success! That would be a tremendous canvassing session.

But that person coming home from work, who generally does not know what is going on in the local election, comes home and sees some of his/her neighbors sporting shiny new signs, and thinks "well if Tom and Sue are supporting this person, then I should too"...or "if they support this candidate, then I'll choose whoever is against them." This is your typical voter that is too invlolved with work, family, and social issues to pay attention to what is going on in the community...and this typical voter is

also not likely to vote in the local election.

Politics Are National

Now...try to imagine this on a national scale, with a few variables thrown in. The yard signs are now news reports, the canvassers are now contributors and campaign managers, and the people in their homes being canvassed are media organizations that request money to post their 'signs on their lawns.' Throw in a variable of national name recognition, which we cannot simulate in the local elections (except in a few cases), and we get the idea of many more 'yard signs' (news reports) for that person that has held the national spotlight in the past. One can argue that the more well-known candidate isn't exactly paying for those 'yard signs,' however, The homeowner (media organization) knows that come high season, that person has raised the most dollars for which to use on advertising.

In addition, the same businesses that fund the more well-known candidate, are also the advertisers that pay for the above mentioned news stories. Just take a look at the top corporate contributors of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama vs. John Edwards and Dennis Kucinich...(note Edwards' top contributor is Act Blue) which names do you recognize in the commercials of the news and other programs that you watch? There is a reason we hear about more support of some candidates, and less of others, and it has nothing to do with how America truly feels and everything to do with the number of 'yard signs' that are 'canvassed' for.

Coming home form work, you sit down to watch the evening news, and see a news story about how Clinton is leading in the polls (yard signs that your neighbors have posted), followed by an ad for your bank (Citigroup), your broker (Merrill Lynch), and a new drug you should ask your doctor about. The best thing is that that news story cost Clinton nothing...it came form her 'canvassers', but not in the form of campaign donations. "It looks like everyone is voting for Clinton," you decide while popping open that 2nd bottle of beer, "I guess I'll go along with the majority since all my neighbors are voting for her."

You laugh, but that is your typical uninformed voter.

On a local level, you have talked to your local candidate, and are happy with the fact that they seem like they will accurately represent you in the local City Council, so you canvass for them. On a national level, companies have talked to their candidate, and are happy that he/she will represent them in the Presidency, so they 'canvass' for them. The money that is dispatched from the company for news stories is the equivalent of the canvassers that are dispatched from local campaigns with self-funded yard signs. You may get something back when that person is elected in the way of filled potholes and a beautiful park...the company will get policies that help them earn more money. The big difference is one has a direct effect on your life, while the other has an indirect effect. One can argue that your local candidate is representing you, while the President is representing your employer.

...but I digress...

There is a difference between what the national media reports and the grassroots work on the ground. If anyone thinks that the front runner today has an easy path to nomination, better look at the Ned Lamont campaign last year. The grassroots efforts on the ground paired with netroots fundraising made all the difference in getting Lamont the Democratic nomination. Of those likely voters you hear about in the news, rarely half of them will vote in the primaries...only 15% of registered Democrats voted in the Lamont/Lieberman race! Ultimately, it was the contributors for the 'yard signs,' that preyed on fear of the unknown, and the Republicans that voted Lieberman back into the Senate in the general election. If Clinton loses the primary, she will not be running as an Independent, and when the contributors jump onto another Democratic bandwagon because they know a Republican can't win next year, any democrat will win in November.

The Issues

Those same polls we hear about on the news, no matter how skewed we think them to be, show that the majority of Americans support the very things DFA stands for: Ending the Iraq War, Universal Health Care, and an effort to stop global warming. The majority agrees that we should finish the job of getting those responsible for 9/11, bin Laden, the main financier of terrorism efforts, and ending this misguided war with a nation that never posed a threat to us. The majority agrees that health care costs are too high, and our government needs to stop the under-regulated insurance industry practices. The majority agrees that global warming is an escalating problem that we must address now instead of later and that it will be a big boom for our economy to develop an alternative energy infrastructure.

DFA and its Progressive values represent what the majority of Americans say they represent. DFA is truly the silent majority that has no corporate donors to advertise for us. DFA works on the local level to bring candidates and issues that represent everybody, not just Democrats, and gets results. Auditable elections, demonstrations for a safer and more peaceful foreign policy, local candidate fundraisers, rallies against unconstitutional policies of the Bush administration are but a few ways we represent the majority of Americans. We don't just wave our fists in the air and complain about it...we take action for the silent majority, yet still get labeled as a 'fringe' of the Democratic Party. But we are not the fringe...we are representing the majority...the majority of which is unaware that it is us that is fighting on their behalf.

We have people knocking on doors...one at a time, writing and calling our elected officials, volunteering on campaigns, writing blogs, making small campaign contributions, demonstrating, getting local press, lobbying congresspeople, supporting our troops with displays and donations, and doing what we can to make the silent majority heard. Just as in the Connecticut election, we can make a HUGE difference.

The DFA Pulse Poll

The DFA Pulse Poll visually depicts what informed DFAers want, and therefore what the majority of Americans really want. Our small 'yard sign' in the form of a poll doesn't necessarily get the attention of the more prominent signs in the form of news programs and advertising. The nearly inverted triangle of who Democrats support based on the issues they care about compared with the most recent polling data is a result of voters that lie greatly uninformed about who supports the issues they care about. It is our job to help them get informed and to prove it!

The poll was a great way to take the pulse of DFAers and raise awareness of the issues that matter. But greater than that, it shows that we are not afraid to depict the reality of our political climate. While some of us do support Clinton for President, the larger majority supports the more Progressive candidates that are willing to take a stand on the issues that Americans care about, but are too busy to discover that for themselves.

The majority of Americans come home from work, spend time with their families, and socialize with their friends...politics are the furthest things from their mind. DFAers are reaching out to their elected officials to preserve the Democracy with the zeal that many have died for in the past. We cannot blame or expect John Q. Public to do the same. Whether economic, social, or any other of a litany of reasons, John Q. does not feel it a necessity to involve himself. Like the frog in the pot that is brought gently to a boil, he will not jump out until it is too late.

So...I challenge everyone to work their tails off to get your candidate nominated in the Primaries. Don't be fooled, in a state like Florida, into thinking your vote doesn't count. It does. Blog about your candidate, campaign for your candidate, write your paper about your candidate, give money to your candidate, and work for your candidate to win. Howard Dean started DFA on the simple premise that all politics are local...lets prove it and get those 'yard signs' out there by knocking on doors and participating in phone banks to get the word out that your candidate supports the silent majority. Let's back this DFA poll with the muscle on the ground, and slowly watch the numbers change leading up to the Primaries, just as we watched the DFA poll numbers change until its conclusion.

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