By Glenn Yoder
Five days after Howard Dean’s unexpected third-place finish in the Iowa caucuses, NU for Dean and Mass for Dean collaborated to send a school bus full of volunteers to Dean Headquarters in Nashua, N.H.
From there, a full-fledged door-to-door effort was made to try to reclaim Dean’s front runner position in time for yesterday’s New Hampshire primary.
“I think there was more enthusiasm among Dean supporters this time around, more excitement – everyone had a ‘we have to do this now’ kind of attitude,” said Andrew Geibel, a freshman political science major who canvassed for the second time on Saturday. “It seemed more pressing.”
Upon arrival at Dean headquarters in Nashua, each volunteer paired up and was given a clipboard and a route to follow. Geibel was dispatched to Merrimack, N.H., a quaint community with a large elderly population where trucks with stickers like “Gun Control Means Using Both Hands” sit in driveways. The town has been blindsided by campaigners in the streets, knocking on doors and calling houses – and people are getting tired of it.
From 11 a.m until 4:30 p.m., Geibel knocked on 51 doors, of which only 20 were answered.
“I think each candidate is trying his hardest to get the votes up there and I think the people are ready to move onto the next stage,” he said. “I think a lot of them are sort of feeling like we’re telling them what to think, with all the canvassing and news coverage, when they’d like to decide on their own without any sort of spin on it.”
As he canvassed, Geibel passed out informational materials on Dean and recorded people’s responses on a clipboard according to a number system. Four households classified as a level one, or definite voters for Dean, while two former supporters have decided to vote Republican.
Most of the rest fell in the two to three range, where their votes could be swayed either way. According to Dean headquarters, the twos and threes are the target audience for canvassing operations.
“[Canvassing] lets me meet the people,” said Geibel, who hopes to run for elected office one day. “It lets me see what they want out of a candidate and what direction they would like to see the country go in.”
Unlike alleged reports from other campaigns, canvassers for Dean must walk in a grassroots fashion, while John Kerry volunteers, for example, comfortably ride in warm cars. Geibel roughed it for hours in the cold, stopping in at a 7-11 halfway through to purchase gloves for his exposed hands.
“The worst part was the cold,” Geibel said. “It was freezing outside and being outside for that long can really get to a person. But the fact that so many volunteers were out there really shows the dedication of Dean supporters.”
The cold temperatures were only one of several problems Geibel endured throughout the day. Among other things, he incorrectly read the map and walked nearly to the next town, upon which a state trooper gave him a ride back to the appropriate path. His original ride left him stranded in Merrimack, where he was not picked up until two and a half hours after completing the final house. But nonetheless, Geibel said he was willing to endure such conditions in order to promote his candidate for president.
“Win or lose, I think that Dean changed the whole dialogue of everyone’s campaign from a pro-Bush stance to a national examination of his policy, and by doing that and bringing so many people into the democratic process, he’s really made his mark,” he said. “I went up because I’m a huge supporter and I think he’s the only politician who has stood up to Bush and I think he’s the best candidate for president. I think every campaign has setbacks but it’s how the candidate responds. I think ours needed a little help to clarify his position and I was willing to do that on Saturday.”
