Lessons from the field: what (not to) do if you’re a smart campaigner.

Get souls to the polls. It is that simple.

Phone banks, direct mail, and campaign events are all great, but they’re supplements. The road to the White House happens one home at a time.

And that’s good news. From the top to the bottom, every one recognises the importance — indeed the supremacy of grassroots campaigning. This means that one of the most un-glamorous jobs in political campaigns is the most important.

This is the case for a number of reasons, most of which can’t be delivered by the aforementioned methods. It makes people feel targeted, but not in the creepy way that online adverts can do. That’s because as well as targeting, it makes the person feel wanted; almost selected, like the candidate — or more accurately, their team — has singled the person out and decided that person warrants face-to-face interaction.

Significantly, it can cut through the national media bullshit too. Trump is going to hit hard on his latest catch-phrase ‘Do Nothing Democrats’. If individuals are having memorable conversations with actual Democrat activists on their door steps— what becomes more believable? Massive community grassroots campaigning that communities see with their own eyes, or one of many redundant tweets from Trump accusing these very people of doing nothing?

The Democrat Party recognises this and have begun to implement programmes that capitalise on its…