Eliza Bikvan makes her way down a driveway to a quaint, wooden house nestled in the rural New Hampshire trees. It is a nice scene, but after five hours of canvassing and with rain clouds looming overhead, she is business-minded. Her primary concern is to figure out which door to knock on.
"This is the hard part," she says, examining the house's backdoor. "If worst comes to worst, we'll just knock on their front door. They have a Barbie tennis racket. How bad could they be?"
She ends up opting for the oddly fenced-in front entrance, and the man who answers invites her inside. With less than two weeks to go until Election Day, the middle-aged veteran who usually votes Republican is still unsure of who he is supporting, saying he isn't thrilled with either candidate.
The two talk for seven minutes about the candidates and the economy, as Bikvan in a polite and understanding tone capitalizes on several opportunities to promote the Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. Barack Obama, and the other Democratic candidates in New Hampshire.
It is Oct. 25, and Bikvan has been canvassing for Obama for the past few weekends with other members of Tufts Students for Obama. But, as the freshman has learned all too well, a canvasser's day is made up of few moments as gratifying as this one. It consists more of walking for miles, standing by as owners restrain their dogs and trying to make campaign literature stay put between screen doors and doorframes when no one is home.
"A lot of this is an exercise in futility," freshman Seth Rau says. "It's a lot of challenges. It's not easy to win an election."
The day begins at noon in downtown Raymond, N.H. Tufts students typically work out of the office in nearby Derry, but they have switched today, when they are competing with 30 students from Brandeis University to see who can knock on more doors in a mini challenge they call "Barack the Raymond Vote."
Together, the groups knock on over 1,000 doors that day, with the 16 Tufts students contributing just under 400 and Brandeis winning the competition.
The effort is a coordinated campaign for three Democratic candidates: Obama, Senate hopeful Jeanne Shaheen and House incumbent Carol Shea-Porter.
Standing in Raymond's town center, the Tufts group circles around boxes filled with papers, campaign literature, clipboards, snacks and the ever-popular Obama flair for those who forgot to bring their own. Hollie Russon Gilman, a field organizer for the Obama campaign, gives the students a short talk about the area's demographics. Raymond is a working-class town that campaigns often overlook, she tells them.
For those still a bit unsure of what to say, she provides some talking points about the three Democratic candidates the students are supporting. Other more-seasoned members of the group offer their own last-minute reminders. Is Obama a radical Muslim? No. Is he an American? Yes.
After this, the canvassers are on their own. They split into groups and grab packets outlining Raymond's different "turfs."
Obama staffers create these turfs, which are sections of houses located near each other with high concentrations of undecided voters, says Doug Foote (LA '08). Turfs usually consist of 30 to 50 houses. In each packet, canvassers find a map as well as the names and addresses of uncommitted voters, who have been identified over the course of the campaign.
The campaign also provides a script, but most canvassers use their own words. "I think I followed the script once," junior Jeff Latz says. "It's more about having some kind of human interaction with voters."
Canvassers typically ask to hear a voter's thoughts on the election, and if the individual is still unsure, they start a conversation about political issues and why they support Obama.
But the students waste no time trying to force Sen. John McCain's supporters to change their minds, according to Foote. Although he finds this the "hardest part," when people say they will be voting for McCain, canvassers must simply say thank you and walk away.
This type of respect is paramount, regardless of whom the canvasser is talking to, Foote says. "Since you're representing the campaign, you have to be assertive but you have to be polite," he says.
In Raymond, many of the residents have already been contacted by the Obama campaign in the last few days, and even more of them say they don't need a visit. One person doesn't even let canvasser Ben Silver get all the way up to her porch –— although it is more a gesture of kindness aimed at helping him avoid her dog. She yells across the yard that she will cast a straight-Democratic ballot.
"Go Obama," she shouts as Silver heads down the driveway.
"In town, there's a lot more McCain supporters, but out here we're doing better," Rau says. Out here is the more rural area immediately surrounding the central part of town, where some houses are far enough apart for canvassers to feel like they're hikers as well.
At one point, Rau walks a quarter of a mile in search of a particular house only to find a no-trespassing sign. He lets out an exasperated sigh, but then he smiles. "That's real canvassing," he says.
With so little time left to go before the election, a significant proportion of Raymond residents have yet to make up their minds. Foote says their uncertainty stems from a reluctance to support either major candidate after a campaign that has involved mudslinging and harsh attacks.
"More people are sick of the negative campaign and sick of both candidates for that reason," he says. "Part of it is a sense that all politicians are bad."
Several Raymond residents provide evidence to support this diagnosis. "I don't care who becomes president, they all suck," one man tells Bikvan. Another tells Rau, "They both stink," but says he's leaning toward Obama.
After five hours of canvassing, Tufts and Brandeis students meet at a pizza parlor to devour food, exchange stories about the day and submit their final tallies.
Tufts loses to the hometown rivals, but no one seems to care.
"At the end of the day, this isn't about Tufts or Brandeis," Bikvan says. "It's about the campaign."
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Editor's Note: News editor Sarah Butrymowicz traveled with students canvassing for Sen. Barack Obama in New Hampshire to report on their efforts.
