Consider This from NPR - How many ways can you tell someone to vote?

Episode Date: October 31, 2024

There are plenty of ways to encourage people to vote, as the presidential candidates and their supporters are demonstrating in this final stretch of the campaign.We dig into each campaign's voter turnout operation.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at [e-mail] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

How many ways can you tell someone to get to the polls and vote? The answer is lots, as the presidential candidates and their supporters are demonstrating in this final stretch of the campaign. There's the direct approach. Just vote whichever way you want to do it. Former President Donald Trump at a rally in Georgia borrowing a page from Nike. At another Georgia event, Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz encouraged voters to imagine their future selves. Even some of you younger people, you're going to be on that porch in your rocking chair someday,

and there's going to be a little one at your knee and say, what did you do in 2024 to save democracy? And you're going to say, every damn thing I could do. Every damn thing I could do. By this point in the campaign, the focus has shifted from persuasion to motivation. The candidates want to make sure everyone who already leans their way actually casts a ballot. That's why you hear former First Lady Michelle Obama reminding potential supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris that they don't actually have to tell anyone how they voted. If you are a woman who lives in a household of men that don't listen to you or value your opinion. Just remember that your vote is a private matter.

Regardless of the political views of your partner, you get to choose. And it's why you hear Trump laying out an alternate vision of politics within marriage. Make sure you vote and bring all our friends that want to vote for us. Tell them, Jill, get your fat husband off the couch. Get that fat pig off the couch. Tell him to go and vote for Trump. He's going to save our country. Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance bet on fear as a motivator.

Here he is at a rally in Arizona. Here's the scenario that I want you to consider. And I don't mean to give you nightmare fuel here, but I'm going to do it. We wake up on November the 6th and Kamala Harris has barely elected president of the United States by a 700 vote margin in the state of Arizona. Think about that and ask yourself what you can do from now until then to make sure it doesn't happen. At a church service in Georgia, Harris urged supporters to fight apathy. We have to remind people the power they have in spite of those that would try to diminish

and make people feel powerless. In spite of those who would try and suggest that, oh, if you vote, nothing will happen. For sure, if you don't vote, nothing will happen. And she added one last nudge. I mean, recently I was reminded Jimmy Carter voted on his 100th birthday. Seems to me everybody can vote.

Consider this. In an election that looks historically close, the outcome will depend on who succeeds at getting out the vote. We'll look at each campaign's effort after the break. From NPR, I'm Ari Shapiro. Joe Biden's on his way out. Donald Trump's on his way back. Want to know what's happening as the presidential transition is underway?

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So as we just heard, the candidates and their surrogates are convincing, cajoling and flat-out urging voters to go out and vote. Behind the scenes, of course, there is a huge operation to back that up. Texts and phone banks and door-to-door canvassers all trying to make sure no gettable vote is left in the field. This year, the two campaigns' strategies look a little different. Two of our correspondents who've been watching this are here to talk about it. And I want to start with NPR's Asma Khalid, who's been covering the Harris campaign. Asma, what does the Harris get out the vote effort look like? Well, it is an ambitious effort. The campaign says it has

roughly 2,000 staffers and 250 offices across the key swing states. Now, in terms of what that operation looks like, it's a combination of traditional phone banking and door knocking, you know, volunteers just making cold calls. And then it's also about relational organizing, people texting, say, friends and family. One thing I think that is worth pointing out is that when Harris became the Democratic nominee and replaced Joe Biden at the top of the ticket, there was this sudden surge of organic enthusiasm among different demographic groups. You probably remember those Zoom calls, right? It was like white women for Harris, Indian Americans for Harris. And even though these are ostensibly unaffiliated with the campaign,

they are an extremely powerful organizing tool that, you know, frankly, Democrats did not have before. You mentioned those demographic groups. Who exactly is the Harris campaign trying to reach in these final days? Yeah, I mean, the campaign has a three-pronged vision in the key states, and it's pretty similar whether you're talking about Georgia or Pennsylvania. First off, the goal is to solidly win the cities. Secondly, they're trying to win the suburbs convincingly, and they think they have an edge on issues like reproductive rights and the threat that they believe Trump poses to democracy. They think that this could really resonate with college-educated voters in the suburbs. And lastly, they are trying to lose by less in rural areas.

And to me, Ari, this is really interesting because to this point, you know, as an example, the campaign says about a third of their Pennsylvania offices are in counties Trump won by double digits last time. So that's the Democratic strategy. And Republicans and the Trump campaign are trying something different with their voter outreach. So let me bring in NPR's Stephen Fowler to tell us what does that effort look like, Stephen? So, Ari, it's hard to directly compare the offices and staff and resources in these swing states. There's no direct comparison because Republicans don't share those numbers to the same degree, but it is less than the Democrats, partially because Republicans' key focus is on this program. It's called Trump Force 47. They're relying on grassroots volunteers with a lot

of enthusiasm to be the ones doing the door knocking, talking to their own neighbors and friends in their communities, and also talking to people who don't often vote instead of primarily using paid canvassers. Now, the canvassers are still there, but those are handled mainly by third-party groups run by people like Turning Point's Charlie Kirk and billionaire Elon Musk. Here's Musk speaking at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. So thank you. And honestly, you want to just be a pest, just be a pest to everyone you know, people on the street everywhere. Vote, vote, vote, fight, fight, fight, vote, vote, vote. But as you hear, these groups are inexperienced and some Republicans I've talked to are worried about voters falling through the cracks. How much does the ground game actually matter, Stephen? Well, Republicans are seeing some of the fruits of their labor. There's

been a surge in Republican turnout in many states so far, both of people who normally wait until election day to vote and those who may be early voting earlier. That, in theory, is going to free up more time and resources for Republicans to target those harder to convince voters to show up between now and Tuesday. It's also the third time Trump has run for president, and the campaign feels like Trump himself is the only get-out-the-vote effort they need to get them across the finish line. You know, to that point, Stephen, you mentioned this is the third time that Trump is running. It's also the third time Democrats are running against Trump. And so they feel like they've got experience here.

You know, I recall covering the 2016 election cycle and the Democrats were essentially sort of blindsided by the organic enthusiasm for Trump. Ben Wickler is the chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party and he told NPR that after that shocking loss in 2016, they started a year-round organizing effort. We have never let up. We organize 12 months a year. We organize in school board elections all the way to presidential elections. When there's no election, we have kind of mock dry runs and go knock on people's doors and check in with them

about what they're thinking. This is how we win, is by showing up all the time. Democrats feel they have really learned their lesson, and they know this election could be decided by just a few thousand votes in a couple of states. And P.R. Sass-Mahalad and Stephen Fowler, thank you both. Good to speak with you. Thank you. This episode was produced by Connor Donovan and Michael Levitt. It was edited by Roberta Rampton, Jeanette Woods, and Megan Prats. Our executive producer is Sammy Yenigan. And one more thing before we go.

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