Over the last year, I focused on sharing with you the important work we do at the Attorney General’s Office—and I will continue to keep you updated on that important work. I also will, over the next year, ask for your help on The Horizon Project.
I believe in canvassing. But canvassing should never be a mere transaction—saying “I need your vote” or, worse yet, a faceless and brief “here’s some literature to read” missive. Rather, I see canvassing as an important opportunity to engage citizens. And it should be relational: “I am here to listen and learn, because I care about you as a fellow human being and as my neighbor.”
This approach, referred to as “deep canvassing”, starts with building a relationship through trust and an emotional connection. As Teddy Roosevelt said, “No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.” I truly believe that. You can read more about the impact of deep canvassing here.
Last summer, I went deep canvassing as part of The Horizon Project, which is designed to generate authentic conversations and activate voters. In that case, we engaged in it to help keep Yadira Caraveo in Congress. One powerful interaction stayed with me. It was with a voter who did not vote in the prior cycle and did not plan to vote in the next. We talked about who inspired him. I talked about my mom, a Holocaust survivor. He spoke of his mother, too, and how she accepted him after he shared with her that he was gay. It was a moving conversation. And, at the end of our talk, I circled back and asked him if he planned to vote. He said that now he was much more inclined to do so.
We need more of this type of respectful engagement in our politics, and I need your help in making The Horizon Project a success. This project–through its commitment to deep canvassing–promises to develop new leaders who participate in these canvasses and to engage voters who might otherwise sit out this next election.
