DCCC’s race for 1M votes

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is launching a new campaign to secure commitments from 1 million supporters to vote in November — an effort that will be the centerpiece of the party’s fall turnout operation.

{mosads}According to details shared first with The Hill, the “1 Million Votes for 2014” campaign calls for voters to sign a “Commitment Card,” on which they pledge to vote in November and offer a reason why: “Better paying jobs,” “equality for women,” “raising the minimum wage,” among others.

The card will be sent back to them the week before the election. Studies have shown reminding voters of their written pledge to hit the polls just before Election Day is about as effective at boosting turnout as speaking directly to them at their door.

In 2012, the Obama reelection campaign used the tactic to great effect.

The launch of the campaign is set to coincide with “Weekend of Action,” field organizing events taking place across the nation, as the parties enter the final 100 days before the election.

While the DCCC has consistently outraised its GOP counterpart and is using that advantage to develop its field program and reserve airtime, its prospects for the fall are less than rosy.

Turnout remains one of the biggest challenges confronting Democrats as they look to November. 

The party is facing a difficult political climate and historic trends that have shown critical Democratic demographics tend to tune out and stay home during the midterms.

To mitigate that problem, the DCCC hopes to secure 1 million pledges to vote from targeted voters across its most competitive districts, a number that mirrors the number of voters that decided the 65 most competitive House races in 2012, according to the committee. They’re planning to compete in about the same number of districts, as they look to narrow House Republicans’ 17-seat majority.

The DCCC has been expanding its field operation to do so, and the new campaign will add to its volunteer ranks. Voters can sign up to volunteer on the Commit Card, and a detachable portion, given to the voter after they sign, includes contact information for their local field organizer.

DCCC Chairman Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) said the new campaign will help Democrats “out-organize” Republicans for the fall.

“ ‘1 Million Votes for 2014’ will be the centerpiece of the largest field program House Democrats have ever put on the ground for a midterm election. We’ve been outraising the Republicans and now we’re going to out-organize them as we build a campaign infrastructure to win this November,” he said.