Political parties have fired up their get-out-the-vote operations as candidates are in their final sprint of the 2014 election campaign.
With the race for governor apparently too tight to call, Republican incumbent Rick Snyder and his Democratic challenger Mark Schauer have a hectic schedule that keeps them busy til the polls close Tuesday at 8.
We have more from The Michigan Public Radio Network’s Rick Pluta.
Governor Snyder’s pre-election dash took him to the political battleground of vote-rich Oakland County, where he met up with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Christie chairs the Republican Governors Association.
“I will tell you there is no one prouder of their state than Rick Snyder is of Michigan…(cheers..)
This is Christie’s second visit to Michigan to help Snyder as he seeks a second term.
“Four more years. Four more years...” crowd chants.
“Thank you! Thank you very much! Awesome! That gets you fired up. Very cool!”
Snyder says a Republican victory would be a vote of confidence in his plans to continue Michigan’s recovery. Democrats say Republican policies have failed to fully share opportunities with everyone.
Democratic challenger Mark Schauer told a crowd of Michigan State University students that a victory is within reach.
“The question is do you want it bad enough?” he asks. “Yeah!” “Are you ready to for it?” “Yeah!”
Both political parties have been working for months to identify registered voters who support them, and gauge their commitment to voting. Now, it’s time for the final push to get those voters to the polls.
“Everyone look at this side of the pack,” he says. “That’s where you’ll start knocking.”
Greg -- he would only allow us to use his first name – manages this Democratic Party field office in East Lansing. More than a dozen volunteers are getting their instructions before they head out to hit the doors. Most of the doors are people who are ID’d as Democrats or likely Democrats. Many of them are Democrats who have a history of sitting out the mid-terms.
“In 2010, there were about 900,000 Democrats who missed the election, and so we lost in a landslide,” he says. “If we can get just 200,000 of them to vote this year, we win. End of story.”
Lon Johnson chairs the state Democratic Party.
“In mid-term elections, Democrats have a lower turnout rate historically,” he says. “We now have the ability to know who these voters are and to message them, and knock on their doors and call them and to turn them out. When they do, we win.”
Databases, the Internet and smart phones have changed the game a bit. ID’d voters might get e-mails, and text messages, as well as phone calls – either recorded or a live call from a volunteer. They might also get a message from someone they know on Facebook or Twitter.
And Michigan Republican Chairman Bobby Schostak says Democrats aren’t the only party with a turnout machine that’s going digital. He says Republicans also know down to the voter who they want to show up on Election Day.
“And we’re watching the Rs and the Ds come through, and we’re checking them off,” he says. “And we see that some of our people haven’t been there who are part of our voter database, we’re going to be in touch with them to make sure they’re there. Digitally we’re going to be in touch with those who have not made it to the polls.”
Aside from political parties, there are also unions, environmental groups, business organizations and groups on both sides of the abortion issue that are among those trying to get their people to vote, as well. And they are also going high-tech to do it with databases and social media strategies.
The question is which message is most likely to move someone to participate in an election. But the surest way to get a reluctant voter to vote is still the direct pitch from a friend, neighbor, or family member. So technology, digital networking has changed how campaigns connect with voters, but they cannot replace the human touch when it comes to persuading them to vote.