Planting Seeds With Independent Voters

By Kelly Fenton

I’ve never felt more convinced that the right conversations with the right voters will carry Joe Biden to victory in Wisconsin … and if he wins Wisconsin he almost  certainly will win re-election.

While out canvassing for the Kaukauna School Board and identifying only as a friend of the candidates and not as a Democrat I ran into six or eight voters who identified as independents who didn’t care for Trump but thought Biden was too old and who remained uncertain about their November vote.

Such voters represent the sweet spot for canvassers looking to plant seeds and make a difference. These are people amenable to a humble and earnest appeal about the dangers to our democracy and our freedoms.

I told them I watched the State of the Union address and saw a man totally in charge. I told them our economy was the envy of the world, that not only had the recession economists predicted never occurred, wage and job growth were through the roof.

I closed by expressing my deepest fears about our democracy and our freedoms, that we already know what one of the candidates did after losing the last election and what he is openly threatening to do this time. Joe Biden, I concluded, is a decent man who cares deeply about our democracy and freedoms and has spent his life defending them.

Joe Biden won by three votes per ward in 2020. My one canvass might – just might – have moved one or two voters off the undecided line toward a lean Biden. Furthermore, our next visit can reinforce our case. 

We have a message to convey to these voters. Let’s get out there and convey it.

*Blog posts represent the views of the author, but do not necessarily reflect the views of the local, state, or national Democratic Party*