Last week, I canvassed around San Pablo Park. I discovered a delightful neighborhood. The park works as a well-used and, I venture to guess, much-loved commons. Games going on, lots of large group picnics, kids in the playgrounds. Neighbors congregating on porches. It felt like a little piece of Shangri-la. It was one of the warmest canvassing experiences I have had.
This weekend, I canvassed in what, I now know, is the neighborhood the incumbent for State Assembly District 15 lives in. I know this now because Nancy Skinner, the now-termed-out incumbent, was on my canvassing list. I rang her doorbell before I saw her name. Her husband answered. He was as gracious as a person can be, thanking me for doing the work I am doing, even as he declined to take one of my candidate's brochures. His wife, after all, has endorsed the rich, never-held-elected-office-buying-her-way-into politics opposition. His wife, Skinner, is deeply embedded in the political power structure of Berkeley and so, apparently, is my guy's opponent.
One reason for vote for my guy, imho, is simply that he is not beholding to any political power structures.
The Skinner neighborhood appears to get more than its fair share of political canvassers. I say this because even the people who were nice to me, talked with me awhile and even committed to vote for Tony politely mentioned they often are approached by political canvassing.
I also say this because in this neighborhood, West of Sacramento, East of San pablo and a few blocks south of University, had signs on many houses that did not limit to "No Soliciting". I saw several elaborate signs that said "No solicitors, No fundraisers, No political canvassers". I've been all over the distrct by now and this was the first area that had signs saying 'no political canvassing". And I saw many such signs. And these were not mass produced signs. EAch one was individualized.
My favorite?
One sign said:
- No soliciting
- No fundraising
- No selling
- No political canvassing
- No political polling
If you disregard this sign, we will unleash the hounds of hell on you.
I left a brochure on their doorknob. I was mildly disregading their sign, tis true, but I reasoned they could not know who I was. I was safe from the hounds of hell.
I wonder how many times that neighborhood gets hit with political canvassing. Based on what some folks said to me, it seems like a lot.
It's so weird how unevent the world is. I live in an apartment building of 97. I offered to have a meet and greet for Tony in the community room of my building, suggesting we phone bank nearby large apartment buildings to invite folks from those neighborhoods. My offer was declined. So large apartment buildings get no canvassing attention and cosy neighbrhoods get inundated. An imbalance in putatively grassroots campaigning.
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