Doorstep Democracy

The quest for elected officeone conversation at a time The famous Tip ONeill axiom all politics is local comes alive in this chronicle of Democrat James H. Reads hard-fought but unsuccessfulby 98 votesbid for state legislature in the socially conservative communities of Stearns and Morrison Counties, Minnesota. Read door-knocked 7,500 households during his campaign, visiting with voters and engaging in genuine dialogue on doorsteps from St. Anthony to St. Joseph. At once a memoir of a hard-fought contest and a meditation on the state of American democracy, Reads work contrasts the modern media-driven political campaign, where candidates glean their knowledge of voters from pollsters and communication only flows one way, with the kind of true understanding of constituents and issues that can only grow from individual encounters. Face-to-face doorstep conversations, he claims, give a candidate (or volunteer) and voter an opportunity to truly persuade and learn from one another. In a district where the pro-life movement dominated politics, Reads invitation to honestly discuss abortion and reject single-issue politics resonated with many voters. Refusing the red state versus blue state view of American voters, Doorstep Democracy shows the power and importance of kitchen-table politicspeople sitting down together to tackle the issues that affect usand proves that voters and candidates can be convinced to change their minds. Read ultimately demonstrates how conversations between citizens concerned about their communities can get us beyond the television ads, mass mailings, and sound bites to rejuvenate American democracy.