Shy people GOTV

I'm not good at this knocking-on-strangers'-doors thing. It's not that hard, mind you, it's just that it's a bit too much like sales for someone of my temperament.

When I say it's not that hard, what I mean is that the actual thing itself is never as bad or as uncomfortable as I think it's going to be beforehand. But beforehand, it's really quite uncomfortable.

At the moment, for instance, I'm sitting here in the apartment neither expecting nor desiring some stranger to knock on my door. If someone did knock, or hit the buzzer downstairs, my initial reaction wouldn't be one of expectant delight.

If the interrupting knock came, however, and I answered the door, I wouldn't mind as much after the fact if it turned out the unbidden visitor was an earnest volunteer hoping to make sure that I exercised my right and responsibility as a citizen on Nov. 2. I would probably, after the initial awkwardness of encountering a stranger at my doorstep, thank them for their work and reassure them that, yes, I'm voting, and I'm voting for John Kerry because the country I love cannot afford another four years of the kleptocratic Bush regime that is making such a mess of things.

That's how most people seem to respond, at least, to finding me on their doorstep. None of them has actually used the word "kleptocratic," but the phrase "cannot afford another four years" has been said quite a bit. Their encouragement makes the task slightly easier — up until the moment when I take a deep breath and go to knock on their neighbor's door.

But in any case, I'm doing it.

I have a list of 150 registered voters in my one little swing-state precinct and I'm going to make sure these folks show up and make their votes count on Nov. 2.

The door-knocking is easier now than it was two weeks ago. Sort of. The people I've met really have, almost unanimously, offered encouragement and support. That's been true not just of the folks the computer says are "turnout" voters, but also of the folks identified as "swing" voters.

The job has gotten easier also in part because over the past two weeks John Kerry has swept the presidential debates. The public seems resoundingly unimpressed by the 4 1/2 hours of Bush unfiltered that they've seen.

This door-knocking work takes time, though, and blogging in these parts may be a bit lighter between now and Election Day.