Sign Waving vs Canvassing

[GunnyFreedom]

Same here- and the door knock is even more annoying than the phone.

If you aren't a friend, a relative, or someone coming to tell me I've won the publishers clearing house prize, stay the hell away from my door- I don't want what you are selling- and even if I did, I won't buy it because you are annoying me by knocking...

Since I don't like being pestered at home, whether by salesmen, religious nuts, or political canvassers, I won't do it to others.

Well if you would rather Ron Paul lose than to do what has been proven to work, well, that's your perogative. Don't come crying in 2 years though.

 

[Santana28]

our sign waves are in a mostly Obama supporting neighborhood and have been very effective at getting the message out that there is such a thing as an anti-war Republican out there...

i think we're going to shoot for a rotation allowing everyone to do both canvassing and sign waving all day... just taking shifts

 

[robert4rp08]

You've been on these forums long enough to see DOZENS of threads about people who won't vote for Ron Paul because "they don't think he has a chance."

Yet you think that sign waving is useless because all it does is show that Ron Paul has support?

Let that sink in for a second, then tell me how "useless" it is...

I won't even get into the fact that a large portion of the electorate still has no idea that Ron Paul is even a Presidential candidate yet.

I guarantee you that 15 people at a busy intersection at rush hour will expose a hell of a lot more people to Ron Paul's name than the same 15 people banging on doors at 2 PM on a weekday (when most voters aren't even going to be home).

On top of that, there are some people who WILL volunteer to sign wave, but simply WILL NOT be willing to pound on doors.

So no, sign waving is not "useless."

Both sign waving and canvassing are useful- its up to the individual to decide whether his time is best spent doing one, the other, or both...

Oh really? Seeing people waving signs convinces people that Ron Paul has a chance? I'm pretty sure that comes with primary/caucus results or a heart to heart conversation. When people see a sign that says "Ron Paul. A hope for America" that doesn't let people know that he is running for president. Or when people see a sign that says "Ron Paul. President 2008" that doesn't let them know he's a strict constitutionalist, against the war, against the IRS, etc? People that have never heard of Ron Paul and see these signs just think.... who is this Ron Paul guy. I wonder if he's a Republican, Democrat, or Independent. Oh well, he must have no shot at winning since I've never heard of him before.

Sign waving is fun. Sign waving makes great YouTube videos. Sign waving will get you a few honks from supporters. Sign waving will not convince anyone to vote for Ron Paul. We need face-to-face contact to wipe away what people hear on the news, and waving a sign in their face isn't going to accomplish that.

We have actual evidence that canvassing can double, even triple the number of votes for Ron Paul. We out sign wave, out rally, and out march any other candidate's supporters anywhere... what has it accomplished thus far?

More people may get exposed to the name Ron Paul by sign waving, but more people will commit to voting for Ron Paul by canvassing... and these newly committed people will talk to their friends and family about Ron Paul... and these people will spread the word, etc etc etc.

Don't get me wrong. I enjoy sign waving, and I think there is a time and place for it. But the original question was... sign waving or canvassing? In my opinion, if canvassing is an option it should ALWAYS be done over sign waving.

 

[RonRules]

With well chosen intersections, where lots of people are stuck waiting, combining a sign waving and passing around slim jims and DVD's is a very good combination.

I've done several. With about 20 RP supporters and 3-4 on each corner, and the remaining handing out slim jims and DVD to passerbys and people in cars, we can provide around 300-400 slim jims per hour. That's very effective.

The joy of sign waving is contagious, and I have often seen passerbys join us.

 

[firebirdnation]

Same here- and the door knock is even more annoying than the phone.

If you aren't a friend, a relative, or someone coming to tell me I've won the publishers clearing house prize, stay the hell away from my door- I don't want what you are selling- and even if I did, I won't buy it because you are annoying me by knocking...

Since I don't like being pestered at home, whether by salesmen, religious nuts, or political canvassers, I won't do it to others.

+1

 

[expatinireland]

Sign waving might be a fun group effort but in the end it is about building name recognition.

Static signs do the same job with less effort.

Precious time is best put to canvassing. Don't signal or tick off the opposition, identify the uncommitted for conversion and identify supporters to get out the vote on election day.

 

[romeo2]

do what my church did when we were street preaching(jesus loves you)

busy intersection. a lot of signs. a lot of people(crowd attracts a crowd theory you said right). and have the smoking hawt babes passing out gospel tracks(in this case, ron paul slim jims) to the cars that stop at a red light. we have everybodies attention because they are reading the massive signs. all the ladies have to do is put one track in the air (they were in their late teens and early twenties and in shape lol) and nod to the people in the cars if they wanted one. they cant reject the girls, after one car accepts, everybody down the line does. i think this is a ton more effective than 2 man teams on different intersections around town. have a major one at a single time with some honeys and hit all the intersections like that.

edit: yeah somebody mentioned this a few posts up

 

[firebirdnation]

I think you are missing a salient point.

Everyone who hasn't been living under a rock for the past 10 years+ knows Rudy Giuliani and McCain. Romney is almost as well known.

Ron Paul is an obscure congressman from Texas that almost no one but Libertarians and those in his district had heard of 6 months ago, and who is probably still no better known to "Joe Sixpack" than Ru Paul.

So efforts that get his name out to the masses and show support (e.g. sign waving) will be far more effective for Ron Paul (low name recognition) than it will for Rudy Giuliani (almost universal name recognition). Of course, canvassing helps with name recognition, too. But you can reach a lot more people in an hour sign waving than you can walking neighborhoods (thousands sign waving versus dozens canvassing).

And again, for those who simply WILL NOT canvass (and there are many who won't), sign waving is better than sitting home watching Oprah or tapping away at your keyboard on the Ron Paul forums...

Those are excellent points, it seems the biggest obstacle we currently face is name recognition. I usually limit my activities to literature drops instead of bugging people at home. I also dislike it when someone shows up to my house unannounced, and I hate telemarketers. Some folks here will flame you for not doing things their way, but I like to give credit to everyone who is trying to help, no matter how insignificant it may seem.

 

[maghi85]

how about putting goods like.... a long line
"If you want to" - "End Income Tax" - "Bring Troops home" - "then vote for Ron Paul"
1st sign board 2nd sign board 3rd Sign board 4th sign board
i mean something that gives the entire RP message in one sentence... so that you don't have to google up this mystery...

 

[maghi85]

people need to work on their families and friends first... trust me its traditional and it works alot faster...
because all RP supporters are RADICAL by nature because they realize a threat and feel cheated and bias by the MSM...
you just have to radicalize your friends and they'll radicalize their friends...
it's going to be alot faster than going to people you don't know

 

[firebirdnation]

how about putting goods like.... a long line
"If you want to" - "End Income Tax" - "Bring Troops home" - "then vote for Ron Paul"
1st sign board 2nd sign board 3rd Sign board 4th sign board
i mean something that gives the entire RP message in one sentence... so that you don't have to google up this mystery...

There are a group of signs like that off the freeway in this area. The first sign says something like "End the IRS", second sign says "End the War", and then at the end there is a large Ron Paul for President sign. Very effective IMO.

 

[specsaregood]

Same here- and the door knock is even more annoying than the phone.

If you aren't a friend, a relative, or someone coming to tell me I've won the publishers clearing house prize, stay the hell away from my door- I don't want what you are selling- and even if I did, I won't buy it because you are annoying me by knocking...

Since I don't like being pestered at home, whether by salesmen, religious nuts, or political canvassers, I won't do it to others.

That's funny, the majority of people THANK ME for giving them information Ron Paul, when the primary is (date) and any other info.

 

[robert4rp08]

There are a group of signs like that off the freeway in this area. The first sign says something like "End the IRS", second sign says "End the War", and then at the end there is a large Ron Paul for President sign. Very effective IMO.

And Clinton signs say "End the War" too. And Obama signs say "Vote for Change". And Edwards signs say "Bring the Troops Home". And Rudy signs say "911 911 911 I will protect you". And McCain signs say "I'm an American Hero"

Are those effective signs too?

 

[firebirdnation]

That's funny, the majority of people THANK ME for giving them information Ron Paul, when the primary is (date) and any other info.

On a related note, I haven't been bugged in long time, but sometimes a Jehovah's Witness will come by and try to leave me some stuff. I will also tell them thank you for the information and hope they leave as quickly as possible. I then toss their literature right in the trash. Perhaps those people are just polite? I wish there were some real research on this as I am very interested in seeing the results. I will try to see what I can find on the topic. Keep up the good work, at least you are out there doing something.

 

[chelu]

I found Ron Paul through the internet. Not through banner ads, or seeing his name everywhere, but by an article link similar to what we try and do with Digg, with Ron Paul's policies or debate clips. I guess in internet terms that would be the equivalent of sign waving & canvassing with slim jims. Canvassing and giving voters the formal introduction to Ron Paul's platform and leaving them with something to ponder should be first, and then we hammer home the name ID, and the sense of belonging to something, with the sign-wavings, the Blimp, moneybombs, etc.... I'd say it's a cycle of both sign waving and canvassing. Sign Wavings get some to take the initiative to "Google Ron Paul", but for the rest, that's where canvassing fills the void.

 

[firebirdnation]

And Clinton signs say "End the War" too. And Obama signs say "Vote for Change". And Edwards signs say "Bring the Troops Home". And Rudy signs say "911 911 911 I will protect you". And McCain signs say "I'm an American Hero"

Are those effective signs too?

I haven't seen any of those signs for the other candidates yet, but when I do I will let you know if they are effective or not. But, there is a big difference between Ron Paul and the other candidates, that difference is name recognition. I have seen a few Obama and Clinton commercials on TV here, and for those who are not educated on the candidates and issues, I would say they are very effective.

 

[ASayre]

(clearing)

 

[Freedom&Reason]

I say do a little bit of all at first and see what you think is the most effective. We did sign waving and canvassing here in Michigan and they both worked. I canvassed with cars while I was sign waving(at stop lights). people would stop buy and get signs and lit from our sign wavings. It is not necessarily what you do, it is how effective you are at it. I see people say it was proven that canvassing works, can they prove that sign waving doesn't?

 

[robert4rp08]

I haven't seen any of those signs for the other candidates yet, but when I do I will let you know if they are effective or not. But, there is a big difference between Ron Paul and the other candidates, that difference is name recognition. I have seen a few Obama and Clinton commercials on TV here, and for those who are not educated on the candidates and issues, I would say they are very effective.

Well, that's the point. People aren't going to learn about the candidates and issues from signs. All candidate signs are positive because they were put up by supporters. The only way to inform people is by talking to them.

 

[ASayre]

(clearing)