(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Georgia Says, Yes, We KAM! Just Another Weekly Canvass Report [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-08-15 We’re mixing it up this week. Michigan came in third (in terms of volunteer turnout) last week, eclipsing 3 other states with higher populations. Georgia came in second, not exactly a surprise, given the fact that Hope Springs from Field PAC [website] began in this state and has had the most dedicated organizers, some of whom began as volunteers knocking on doors in the 2021 Senate Runoffs there. Georgia was consistently among the Top 3 last year. That has not been the case this year. Unlike Michigan, where last Saturday saw its highest volunteer turnout ever, Georgia saw its highest volunteer turnout the first weekend after Kamala Harris was elevated to the presumptive Democratic nominee. But we were only 11 volunteers short of that number. There’s a lot of interest and enthusiasm about Harris winning Georgia, even if it had seemed unlikely just a few months ago. And when we ask volunteers about this, Rev. Warnock often comes up in the answer. But, to be honest, Georgia volunteer turnout continues to have something to do we our special project of registering voters in counties with legacy voter suppression from historical records of lynchings. Divine Nine alumni/chapters continue to come down to help out here, telling us that they aren’t having problems getting African-Americans to register for the first time when they are knocking on their doors. Most of the 121 (!) new voters who were registered on Saturday in Georgia came from their efforts. It’s hard (for me) to explain why African-American volunteers knocking on doors of Black residents in these historically suppressed counties is so powerful. These aren’t economically vibrant areas. But when these (mostly) HBCU graduates show up at their doors, these brand new voters respond. I assume they see a different vision for their future, or something. I’m white, and i can’t really grasp the mental prison that traps voters in these areas. All i can describe is what i see, and try to put it into the context the other voters in these areas say. I will admit that, my experience with these Divine Nine volunteers is that they don’t present themselves as our normal volunteer. When i canvass, i dress for comfort, especially in terms of the weather. Shorts, t-shirt and flip-flops. And i would be shamed, appearance-wise, by every single Divine Nine volunteer i’ve seen. Because they know how — and who — they represent. We’ve had to advise them that they might not want to wear fancy high-heels because not all the roads are paved — but my observation is that this advice isn’t well-taken. And this is consistent among the three other states where we are doing this. Look, i’m impressed and i’m not afraid to admit it. Until recently, our general focus had been the Blue Wall states (WI-MI-PA). Those were Biden’s path to 270, despite the gloomy feedback volunteers had been getting at the door. Now everything has changed. But Kamala Harris has returned the other four states, including Georgia, to the playing field, leading in polls in all but Nevada. And a big reason why, especially in Georgia and North Carolina, is that African-American voters are responding to her candidacy. I simply cannot overstate the joy and excitement, and renewed commitment, we heard from our volunteers in Georgia. The joy is real. Kamala Harris is infectious. She oozes Joy. She inspires Joy. And laughter. Does anybody remember laughter? New Georgia Congressional District map 1,363 volunteers came out to knock on doors in Georgia last Saturday. We continue to knock on doors of voters in the Black Belt in Georgia and the suburbs of Atlanta. Our efforts in Georgia as less concentrated than in other states, primarily because of our attention to our special projects mentioned above. Georgia had the second highest volunteer turnout among the 13 states this week. They knocked on 100,453 doors (more than 500 doors more than July 27th) and talked to 8,920 voters (almost 400 more voters than the 27th). 17,086 voters answered at least some of our questions on the survey this week, most of them via follow-up phone calls by volunteers who had knocked on their doors Saturday. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/story/2024/8/15/2263351/-Georgia-Says-Yes-We-KAM-Just-Another-Weekly-Canvass-Report Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/