By Harold Henderson
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“Obtaining entry into high-rise buildings or [gated] residential compounds to canvass will be difficult,” writes UIC political scientist, former alderman, and former congressional candidate Dick Simpson in his new book Winning Elections: A Handbook of Modern Participatory Politics. “Four practical methods of gaining entrance are: 1) to have a contact who lives in the building let the canvasser in, 2) to walk in at the same time as someone who lives in the building, 3) to call people listed on the precinct poll list over the speaker system until someone willing to talk about the election lets the canvasser in, and 4) to walk up to the doorman, say hello and act as if he is expected to open the door, and often he will. If none of these techniques work, ask the building manager for admittance or at least permission to place campaign literature in the mailboxes.” In the worst case, “A canvasser may obtain entry in the building or gated community only to find irate residents calling the manager to have her thrown out.” Then the public interest may be served by a strategy: “Five or more workers can enter the building or community to canvass different floors or sections simultaneously. By the time the management throws them all out, the bulk of the building or community will have been canvassed.”
O.W.’s secret is safe with us. From a tourism brochure for northwest Indiana’s LaPorte County: “Rolling Prairie is also home to a famous Chicago-based talk show host that lives directly east of here.”
Hard times? From the Illinois secretary of state’s booklet An Illinois Consumers Guide to Investments: “In 1980, one out of 16 American families owned mutual funds; today it’s one out of four households.”
