Canvassing And Fundraising Conjoined

A trusted reader known personally by this columnist writes in to ask about an unusual canvassing technique she discovered last night, when a friend greeted an Obama volunteer at the door to her home in Arlington, Virginia. At first, the male volunteer asked her who she was supporting, if anyone. Then, he asked her for a $200 donation on Obama's behalf.

It is very unusual for a presidential campaign to solicit donors as part of their door-to-door canvassing program; is this an isolated case of a volunteer departing from the script? Or is this strategy?

I put the question to the Obama campaign. A spokesman for Virginia State Director Mitch Stewart said that the conjoining of what's known in the trades as "IDs" and fundraising is not standard operating procedure and to his knowledge, was not what the volunteers were instructed to do.

In any event, it ought to impress folks that the Obama campaign is canvassing this early in Northern Virginia -- in the middle of the week, no less.

Comments

Hey Ambinder, you star reporter, you! It's OK for a "journalist" like you to have "friends." Describing one of these "friends" as a "trusted reader known personally by this columnist" is what leads people to consider you a fucking douchebag, douchebag.

Distancing yourself from the subject doesn't somehow trick your readers into imagining you impartial. Your obvious concern about appearing impartial, however, does suggest your eternal cluelessness.

Posted by xx | June 17, 2008 5:02 PM

Northern Virginia, turning out the base.

Posted by Dan | June 17, 2008 5:03 PM

Isn't there an option C...that somebody not associated with the Obama campaign is hoping people will just hand him money?

Posted by Kerry | June 17, 2008 5:06 PM

Isn't there an option C...that somebody not associated with the Obama campaign is hoping people will just hand him money?

Posted by Kerry | June 17, 2008 5:06 PM

That's a scam. You don't hand money to people like that and the campaign needs to track where and who donates for the FEC. I hope the campaign sets up an alert for this.

Posted by Rhoda | June 17, 2008 5:16 PM

"Hey buddy, can ya' spare a coupla C notes. We're down to our last few million and it's going to be a long winter...".

Posted by robert ethan | June 17, 2008 5:24 PM

This is likely a third party outfit leeching off the Obama campaign. This happens every four years. Groups like PIRG, the Fund for Public Interest Research, etc, can endorse Presidential candidates and can send people out canvassing to raise money. There are also for-profit consulting firms (Fieldworks, Grassroots Campaigns, etc) which do this too. Outfits like this did this four years ago--raising money for Kerry, giving 20% to the canvasser, keeping 30% for themselves and sending 50% to Kerry. I would imagine the Obama campaign isn't happy about this. But they really can't do anything about it.

Posted by The Bag of Health and Politics | June 17, 2008 5:34 PM

Marc- there are 3000+ Obama Organizing Fellows that have been deployed in 17 states (Virginia among them) full-time for the next 6 weeks. Hence, it shouldn't be surprising in the least that the Obama Campaign has people canvassing, registering voters, etc. even in the middle of the week.

Posted by Edward | June 17, 2008 5:37 PM

I would think any legitimate donation solicitation on the part of Obama volunteers would simply direct people to barackobama.com

Posted by Andrew | June 17, 2008 5:54 PM

Just to be clear, I have no idea what the Obama canvassers are or aren't doing, or what their strategy is at this point. However, as someone who has done a fair amount of canvassing, it might not be a bad idea. In a campaign as visible as this, a lot of people are already emotionally locked in, and if you show up at their door as someone on the same side you are immediately vaulted beyond the initial suspicions and standoffishness that greets a "cold" canvass. There are plenty of organizations that rely on the canvasser to get past that into "will you donate some money" territory based entirely on their conversation at the door with no prior familiarity.

(BTW, just for the record I've only chosen to canvass when we were GIVING something away; voter guides, campaign literature, a compact fluorescent light bulb in one case.)

Posted by Sefrankel | June 17, 2008 5:56 PM

Mark, this sounds like a scam, not campaign-related at all. The guy is a con artist, not volunteering for Obama.

Posted by Jayant Reddy | June 17, 2008 6:04 PM

The Bag has it right. More likely than not, that was a paid canvasser for Grassroots Campaigns or Fieldworks. They are grasroots guns for hire and their employees, not volunteers, work for whomever they hire. Everyone from MoveOn to the DNC used them in 2004 with little success.
As for the fellows, they're usually not canvassers. They usually recruit the canvassers.

Posted by willie11 | June 17, 2008 6:06 PM

It's a scam. I'm an Obama fellow, and we are told not to raise funds door-to-door. We have little forms to give out for people who are donating, who can do so by mail or on the Internet.

If you could let your friend know to contact the Obama campaign, that would be great:

http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/contact/

Posted by Brandy | June 17, 2008 6:11 PM

Agree with other writers. You know you have to do ACTUAL reporting don't you?

Smearing the Obama campaign, whom you clearly hate based on your writing, through innuendo and this so-called "friend" is not credible. Frankly you're lucky to still have a job. The Atlantic must be an awful forgiving publication.

Posted by John | June 17, 2008 7:29 PM

I just met with a client of mine and we shared Obama stories. She, too, was solicited at the door by a canvasser in Oakland. This was a voter ID canvass. However, after she stated that she was a staunch supporter of Obama, she was asked to donate.

Not sure what is going on, but it could be local campaign office fundraising. Sometimes local HQ's are responsible for raising a portion of their own budget.

Tom

Posted by Tom | June 17, 2008 9:00 PM

Again, this is Fieldworks, Grassroots Campaigns, and other leeches leeching off the Obama campaign. It's possible the Virginia State Party or the California State Party hired these clowns, and if they did, Obama can't really do anything about it, as coordination at that level is probably illegal. If this happens to you ask "What organization are you working for?" The individual canvassers could lie and say the Obama campaign, but I'm betting the better ones--and the honest ones--will say Fieldworks, etc.

Posted by The Bag of Health and Politics | June 17, 2008 11:54 PM

The reason that Obama does so well in fund raising is that it is less painful to open up your wallet and give up next months rent than it is to stand on the doorstep and listen to the Cult Members.

Posted by robert ethan | June 18, 2008 12:30 AM

I did this myself in a congressional race almost 20 years ago. I was the volunteer coordinator, and had decided to canvass in the field to get a feel for the electorate. Since I previously had raised money (and worked in campaigns) as a canvasser for an environmental PAC, I decided to raise money, and was successful.

You don't ask, you don't get.

Posted by Phil | June 18, 2008 6:10 PM