The Biden Campaign’s Decision Not To Knock on Doors Was a Huge Mistake
The Biden campaign's decision to forsake door-to-door canvassing may have cost Democrats dearly in down-ballot races. It was emblematic of the party's disastrous abandonment of face-to-face organizing.
Democrats largely allowed local Republicans to knock doors uncontested. (Flickr)
Several days after Democrats failed, despite everlasting hype, to win Texas in a presidential election, a top Democrat in the state had a stark message for liberals otherwise triumphant about Joe Biden’s overall victory: a lack of in-person canvassing cost Democrats dearly.
“It’s very hard to do effective campaigning with Latinos unless you’re talking to them in person,” Gilberto Hinojosa, the chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, told the Huffington Post. “We didn’t do this. Nobody did this.”
The Biden campaign drastically scaled back on door knockers, ceding ground to Republicans in crucial states. Throughout the summer and fall, Biden staffers and their allies argued the risk of contracting COVID-19 and spreading it to others outweighed whatever gains in-person canvassers could make on the ground. While there was little evidence canvassers, properly masked, were in harm’s way — Census workers went door-to-door throughout the year without apparent incident — Democrats largely allowed local Republicans to knock doors uncontested.
This article is for subscribers only. Please login or subscribe to access our full archives and beautiful print and digital magazine starting at just $3 a month.