Bring on the Blue Wave! Actions to win elections in 2026
Here's what we're working on, and how you can help.
Action: Deep canvassing and deep phone-banking.
What's that, you ask? It's a political campaign technique that uses person-to-person conversations not to pitch a candidate or cause, but to build understanding and trust, break down psychological barriers, and plant seeds that have been shown to grow political support.
Why it works:
Old-style door-to-door canvassing and phone-banking, where canvassers briefly present facts and arguments to promote a candidate or cause, have shown almost no effect at winning over voters who lean toward the other side. Why? Because facts and fact-based cases can trigger a person's psychological defenses against ideas that threaten long-held beliefs. But deep canvassing is different. Deep canvassers and phone-bankers spend time with participants in empathetic conversations -- perhaps 10 minutes or more. They ask questions about personal experiences and share their own stories about issues at play. They often ask participants rating questions using a 1-10 scale, and dig deeper with "why" questions, all in a non-judgemental way. Another difference is that, because deep canvassing is about dialog first and foremost, canvassers don't seek out only Republicans, Democrats, or undecideds -- they knock on all doors.
The exchange of stories and emotionally engaging conversation has been shown to be rather effective at changing minds compared with other campaign techniques. A study of deep canvassing in 2020 showed a swing to Biden of 3.1 votes per 100 interactions, with a much larger shift among key voter groups. Other studies on issue-specific deep canvassing showed supportive shifts in 10 percent of participants, with effects lasting for months.
How it works:
A current deep-canvass effort working to support Democratic candidates in 2026 is known as Ground Truth, and is sponsored by the Swing Left activist organization. The Ground Truth campaign is now at work in 46 critical swing districts for the US House, and in nine swing states for the Senate, and organizers' goal is to conduct 500,000 substantive conversations with voters before the general election. Locally, Ground Truth canvassing is ongoing in Oregon's 5th congressional district, which stretches from southeast Portland to Bend, and southwest Washington's 3rd district, where Representatives Janelle Bynum and Marie Gluesencamp Perez, respectively, are in tight races against Republicans.
The canvassing effort relies on volunteers, who receive a phone app used to identify residents in their canvass area, and then to document what they've heard from participants right after their conversation ends. This way, the issues discussed and recorded can be used later for follow-up contacts so potential supporters can be encouraged to vote. Ground Truth canvassers end up contacting people that conventional get-out-the-vote canvassers ignore, because conventional data doesn't identify these people as Democrats. But Ground Truth reports that canvassers are discovering many of these "non-Democrats" are reachable, and maybe persuadable come November. Canvassers are also hearing recurring themes and issues from voters, in particular the cost of living, and a lack of integrity and trust in politics.
Ground Truth is using the information from canvasses in two ways. First, findings are shared with candidates, who can hone their messaging to be more responsive to voter concerns. Second, Ground Truth will be collaborating with other groups to send personalized letters to persuadable voters, building on canvassing conversations, and encouraging support for Democrats at the polls.
How you can help:
Our friends at Indivisible Oregon are leading the effort for Ground Truth Canvassing in OR-5 to support the re-election of Janelle Bynum. You can sign up for one of their canvasses in Clackamas or SE Portland to take part in this program!