Joe Biden won Illinois in 2020 by 17 points, 57% to 40%. There’s every indication his vice president, Kamala Harris, has an equally comfortable lead in the Land of Lincoln.
But up in Wisconsin, Biden squeaked out a razor-thin victory in 2020 — by 0.63% — in a state Donald Trump won in 2016, making Wisconsin among a handful of swing states.
“The election is likely to be decided there,” said Evanston Mayor Dan Biss, who showed up at Democratic Party headquarters Saturday morning to see off a contingent of Operation Swing State volunteers heading to Wisconsin to knock on doors. “You live in a state that’s not close, and you wonder for a second, ‘Do I have a voice in this election?’ And the answer is ‘yes.’ Because the state line is about an hour away, and that’s where it’s going to be decided.”
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Biss is a politician; politics is what he does. But why would an ordinary person spend their Saturday — a lovely day, in the mid 70s, low humidity, sunny with a scattering of clouds and a gentle, caressing breeze — driving 68 miles due north to ring doorbells and quiz strangers?
“Because our future is at stake,” said Susan Kelly, a retired executive who lives in Evanston. “I am concerned about what Donald Trump would do if he gets in office again. I’m concerned about Project 2025. The economy may go up and down, but once our democracy is gone, it’s gone.”
“A lot of our freedoms are at risk, and I am very concerned, especially as a woman, a person of color and just a human being in general,” said Loretta Jackson, a retired social worker, who started knocking on doors in June. “Most of the time they’re friendly. You get one or two, they want to scream at you about COVID. They don’t have their facts straight. You want to try to inform them, but sometimes they don’t want to hear it, and when you can’t speak to them, it’s best to just walk away.”
The volunteers tended to be older, many retirees, while the organizers skew young, like Carter Gulyas, 19, a history major at Illinois State University, and today’s canvass captain. He’s seen a big change since President Biden took himself out of the race.
“It’s like turning a new chapter — people are really getting excited,” he said, noting that about 50 people signed up for today, double what it had been previously. “This is going to be our biggest turnout yet.”
Gulyas made a brief speech: “It is time for new beginnings. It is time for risk. It is time for joy and prosperity. We are here today because we are going to win.”
He made sure everyone was paired with a driver. An experienced activist, Andrea Pauls Backman, former CEO of the Les Turner ALS Foundation, was paired with Diane Ativie, a retired social worker from Skokie. She had done phone canvassing for Harold Washington and Barack Obama, but this was her first time going door-to-door, prompted by both the elevation of Vice President Kamala Harris and the need to defeat her opponent.
“This is vital to our country and vital to the world,” Ativie said. “If this guy gets back in office life will be miserable. I can’t allow him to continue to do damage to this country.”
By noon, they were in Wisconsin. There was a quick orientation meeting in a suburban driveway to make sure they all had the canvass app, Mini VAN, needed to find their addresses and record responses.
The goal is not to persuade Republicans — working off registration roles, they’re only approaching Democrats or independents, asking about their concerns, discussing candidates and reminding them to vote.
“The purpose is not to convince people but to raise awareness,” Pauls Backman said.
It was 12:40 p.m. when she and Ativie reached their territory in southwest Milwaukee, beginning at Holt and 84th, ringing the doorbell of a modest blond brick tract house with an American flag tacked to the door.
“There is a dog somewhere; I don’t see a person,” Pauls Backman said. Nor was anyone at the second. The third address has eight doorbells, all unmarked. Nor the fourth.
“We’re doing the best we can, and we’re leaving literature, which is good,” she said.
The fifth try was the charm.
“I’m not voting for Trump,” Willie Anderson said. He and a woman in a polka dot robe, who said she’s concerned about Social Security because she’s not able to work, were the only two voters at the first 10 addresses.
“Democracy in action,” said Pauls Backman, walking to the next house. “This is retail politics at its most basic level. One person at a time.”
They split up, and I follow Ativie, who spoke with Mitch Ott, a 28-year-old engineer concerned mostly about the economy and, “to be honest, leaning toward RFK Jr.”
About a quarter of the residents of the three dozen houses approached were home. Most were friendly — none of the angry confrontations, waved guns or biting dogs some canvassers encounter. Nor the wives whose husbands don’t know they’re Democrats. Nobody we encounter seems to mind talking politics with members of the Southwestern Milwaukee Action Team.
“I’m perfectly fine with it,” resident Nicole Warnke said. “Not everyone watches the same stuff on TV; not everyone reads the newspapers.”
Ativie had both “a really lovely conversation” and a Trump supporter who told her to go away.
They reconvened at the suburban driveway to be debriefed. Some reported a 50% success rate, and finding people eager to talk politics. Being Democrats, there were, of course, complaints — a few felt they had come up for Harris, then were deputized to plug LuAnn Bird, a local candidate for the Wisconsin State Assembly they knew nothing about. The MiniVAN app was seen as deficient.
“This app they want us to use, it’s not a natural conversation when talking to a voter,” said Mary Kate Fleming of Rogers Park, who has volunteered many times. “I say, ‘ditch it.’ It makes it too impersonal.”
Another suggests weekday canvassing: “You know in Wisconsin, Sundays are for Packers and Saturdays are for Badgers, so doing it weekends in the fall kinda irritates people.”
But in general people seemed satisfied with the day and the Wisconsinites they talked to.
“They don’t close the door on you,” said Jane Neumann, a volunteer from Evanston. “They want to have a conversation. It really makes a big difference. This kind of work makes the most difference.”
