I’ve always been intimidated by the idea of canvassing. No matter how much I’ve supported political candidates in the past, whether on a national or local level, I’ve just never felt informed enough to knock on someone’s door and convince them to share my opinion. How would I answer their tough questions? Would I really be prepared to debate every topic?

When I learned about all the Washington University students taking to the streets to support their Democratic primary candidate of choice these past few weeks, I couldn’t help but wonder what that must be like. So I made plans to observe students from WashU for Bernie and WashU for Warren on their routes on Sunday, March 1. Unfortunately, the WashU for Warren shift I planned to attend was cancelled, as all the drivers fell ill, so I instead only accompanied the Bernie Sanders team that day.

Photo by Curran Neenan

Do’s and don’ts
When I got to the Sanders St. Louis field office downtown, which opened in February, I was immediately greeted by excited staff and volunteers. The windows were painted with the phrase “Not Me. Us.” and “I’m canvassing for Bernie” posters were arranged on a large wall to spell out “Bernie.”

“Wash. U. is on fire for Bernie Sanders,” 25-year-old volunteer Adrian Voss said when I asked if he’d seen a lot of students canvassing.

Once the six Wash. U. canvassers arrived for their three hour shift, the staff conducted a short training session with them, reviewing documents with do’s and don’ts of canvassing. For example, they were encouraged to “be positive in [their] messaging” and “speak from the heart,” but not to “speak negatively about other candidates.”

When talking to a Sanders supporter, they were told to make a specific vote plan with them, including where and when they would vote as well as who they could encourage to also vote for Sanders. This “get out the vote” style of canvassing is meant to ensure that all those who favor a candidate actually go to the polls.

If the person said they were either undecided or leaning towards another candidate, canvassers were instructed to give their personal reasons for supporting Sanders, tying their story back to one of Sanders’ main initiatives or values. Wash. U. for Bernie organizer sophomore Philip Keisler, who has been assembling students for canvassing shifts through a GroupMe chat, said that voters often respond positively to the personal story he shares.

“People have been pretty receptive to it,” Keisler said. “I care a lot about healthcare. And I know that I’ve had the ability to get mental and physical healthcare when I need it. But for so many people, they can’t afford that in a broken healthcare system we have. And so I feel like a lot of that resonates with a lot of people.”

Using the app MiniVAN to view a map of their assigned houses, students split into pairs and headed to their locations. I joined Keisler and sophomore Beth Wiesinger in the Shaw neighborhood by Tower Grove Park.

This being her first time canvassing, I asked Wiesinger why she decided to spend her Sunday talking to voters about Sanders, especially when the Democratic field was still quite crowded at the time. Her response echoed that of every canvasser I spoke to that day. When describing Sanders’ various values and stances, Wiesinger, Keisler and freshman Benjamin De Jonge, who was in a different pairing, all used the same word: “consistency.” It was what they described as Sanders’ lifelong support for the issues they cared about that energized them to get out and canvas.

Wiesinger and Keisler knocked on their first door and were greeted with silence. Marking that house as “not home” on MiniVan, their next interactions were brief. One person wasn’t registered. The next was voting for Sanders absentee. Eventually, they began to have more plentiful conversations with a mix of Sanders supporters and undecided voters.

Get out the vote
Although it may seem counterintuitive to spend time canvassing at the doors of people whom the campaign already knows to be its supporters due to prior phone banking, Keisler emphasized the importance of cementing that vote plan and providing any necessary resources.

“We target them with canvassing to make sure that we get people who are already supporting Bernie [Sanders] out to the polls. A lot of elections are simply turning out your voters,” he said. Still, Keisler noted that voters are often inspired by his energetic support for Sanders. “I’ve seen undecided voters and I’ve convinced them to vote for Bernie, so that definitely happens.”

As Wiesinger got the hang of it, saying that she was “feeling optimistic,” she and Keisler split up to canvas different parts of a street. When we all met back up, Wiesinger began to tell me about a positive interaction she had with an undecided man who eventually expressed agreement with the reasons she gave for supporting Sanders. As she told me this story, Keisler abruptly looked up from his phone.

“Oh my god,” He said. “Buttigieg just dropped.”

Wiesinger and I yelled a collective “What?!” as Keisler searched the internet to confirm the information his friend had texted him. And there it was: The New York Times report that Pete Buttigieg was to exit the race just two days before Super Tuesday.

“I have mixed feelings,” Keisler said after seeing the results. “For one thing, it makes it easier for [Sanders] to win the nomination…. I feel somewhat bad that [Buttigieg] had to drop out because I think he’s a talented guy… I hope that those [Buttigieg] supporters can come jump on board the [Sanders] train and make sure that what [Buttigieg] stood for can be put into policy when [Sanders] is president.”

By the end of the three hour shift, Wiesinger and Keisler had knocked on 60 doors.

“It’s a lot of walking,” Keisler said. “I like playing frisbee, but I still don’t love exercise… It can be scary. You’re knocking on someone’s door, you’re going into their home and saying, ‘Hey can you give me something? Can you give me a vote?’”

Overall, Wiesinger felt positively about her first canvassing experience.

“Today was my first time ever doing something outwardly political,” She said. “And it was a blast. And I had a lot of very productive conversations with people that I would have never met.”

WashU for Warren
I sat down with WashU for Warren organizer senior Dana Abelson two days later as Super Tuesday results were just starting to come in. Abelson highlighted many of the elements of canvassing that I had just learned at the Sanders office, including sharing personal anecdotes and remaining “genuine” and “authentic.” Her favorite conversation was with a young mother who had never voted, as “she’d never felt any policies of government working for her.”

“She started off saying that she wasn’t going to vote and that she wasn’t really paying attention,” Abelson said. “By the end of our conversation, she was really interested in learning more, really passionate about Warren, and I’ve seen her several times since then volunteering.”

Although Abelson expressed that her support for Warren remained strong at the time of our conversation Tuesday night, she noted that primary results have made canvassing “a bit more discouraging,” as many people with whom she interacts question Warren’s electability.

“I read polling, I know what’s going on and I know where things are, but I won’t give up on the fight because I believe so strongly in who she is as a candidate,” she said. “And I believe so strongly that she would be the best president.”

Looking forward
Both Abelson and Keisler hope to work on the 2020 general election in some capacity. Abelson expressed interest in working in voter protection or on a Democratic presidential or senate campaign after she graduates in May, while Keisler said that he is considering taking the fall semester off to work for the Sanders campaign in Wisconsin or Arizona if he is to be the nominee.

While these campus campaign organizers are clearly invested in politics, my conversations with them dispelled my initial idea that canvassing is only meant for those who are most well-versed on all policy issues. In reality, it first and foremost takes passion and energy.

“There’s this idea that in order to canvas or in order to advocate for a particular candidate or a particular campaign, you somehow have to know everything that they’ve ever done,” Abelson said. “And you somehow have to know the minutiae of every plan that they’ve ever had. And I think it’s really exclusionary, because it makes a lot of people feel like they don’t know enough in order to come out. And that should never be how it is because politics is a participatory process. It’s supposed to be for everybody.”