Listen Up! Winning With Our Ears.

Training — TONIGHT! — on the Easiest Kind of Canvassing

By Steve Schear

The Johnson County Iowa Democratic Party (JCDP) knows how to listen, and they also know how to teach listening skills. In 2023, the party trained volunteers to participate in listening tours that helped them come within 799 votes of flipping Iowa Congressional District 1, a district Trump won by eight points.

As described in this previous Connector article, the JCDP listening tours focused on finding out what issues were most important to voters in the district. The tours not only provided vital information for use in later persuasion canvassing but also began building relationships with the voters they talked to. In addition, the listening tours made it easier to get volunteers canvassing for the first time.

Because most people are afraid to canvass, a listening tour is the simplest, least scary kind of canvass. Volunteers are only asking people what is important to them.

And the JCDP is doing more listening tours this year. Tonight, Tuesday, May 27, its volunteer leaders, the “3 S’s” Susan, Sharon, and Sarah, will conduct a training on how to participate in a listening tour, starting at 4:30 PT, 6:30 CT, and 7:30ET. Individuals from anywhere are welcome to attend. The zoom link for the meeting is here.

Organizing a listening tour is one of the very best methods for making progress in purple and red districts anywhere in the country. The JCDP training will be available on a recording for those who can’t make the live training.