Should We Trust the Polls?

Back in 2016, about a month before the election, I had to go down to South Florida to take care of some long-neglected business involving my late parents who had lived out their last years in Delray Beach. I was already hearing some disquieting stories about whether the Dems could hold onto Florida, so I figured what the hell, spend a few days in Dade County doing some GOTV for the Hillary campaign.

So, I contacted the national campaign office in Brooklyn, and they gave me a number in Florida which was the office, I was told, that was supervising GOTV activities throughout the entire Gunshine state.

I called the number several times, but nobody picked up the phone. When I tried again in the evening someone finally answered and said they were still putting together their GOTV plan for Dade and Broward Counties, but if I dropped by the office where the person was sitting with whom I was talking, they would assign me an area where I could then go and walk around.

What was the address of the statewide GOTV effort I asked?

Answer: Some street in — ready? — Orlando, which is only a couple of hundred miles away from Fort Lauderdale and Miami Beach.

How do you run an effective GOTV campaign 200 miles away from the neighborhoods where you want your people to be out ringing doorbells every single day?