Democrats woo voters

It's the dog days of summer, and the next state election is nearly 18 months away. But two Saturday mornings a month, members of the Gloucester Democratic City Committee are taking to the city's neighborhoods to knock on doors.

Their mission is not to make a pitch for any particular candidate, but to woo residents to join the party.

''People feel that nobody speaks for them and that they have nobody to speak to," said John Sarrouf, one of the door-to-door volunteers. ''What we are trying to say is that the Democratic Party is a party that will listen to you and will speak for you."

The volunteers target unenrolled voters, whom they encourage to become Democrats, and unregistered residents, whom they urge to register, preferably as Democrats.

Committee members did similar door-to-door work during parts of 2003 and 2004. But with the new effort, begun about a month and a half ago, they are expanding it from once a month to twice a month, and doing it in a more organized way. For the first time, the committee has rented space downtown for the project.

''We think this is absolutely essential if the Democratic Party is to regain power in Massachusetts," said city committee chairwoman Catherine Bayliss, noting that the state has been without a Democratic governor for 15 years.

State Democratic leaders say Gloucester Democrats are on the cutting edge of what they hope will be similar party-building activity across Massachusetts.

''The Gloucester initiative is considered to be groundbreaking, and really an example of how you can talk one-on-one with voters," said Democratic State Committee member Arthur Powell of Beverly.

Philip Johnston, chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, called the Gloucester effort ''the model of our principal statewide activity leading up to next year's gubernatorial election."

By the end of this year, Johnston hopes to have Democratic captains assigned to all 2,100 voting precincts in the state. Those captains ''will be responsible for doing what the Gloucester Democrats are doing, which is going door-to-door . . . to get to know their neighbors and engage them in a dialogue about the future of the state."

''I think it will pay huge dividends next year," he said referring to the elections.

The statewide program began after last year's state and national elections, according to Brent Welder, the state party's field director. He said some precinct captains are in place and that door-knocking has begun in a few other communities.

Republicans are also looking to use such contacts to increase their numbers, according to Republican State Committee member John Racho of Ipswich. He said the state GOP is forming county-level groups to help coordinate local party-building efforts, including door-to-door canvassing.

''What you are seeing is a microcosm of what's happening at the national level," Racho said, referring to grass-roots efforts by both parties. ''This type of building the party during off-election years . . . is what won the presidency for President Bush. So you are now seeing all the same tactics applied in Massachusetts because we have a lot of fights to come."

Bayliss, who is also a Democratic State Committee member, said the city committee came up with its canvassing strategy after the 2002 governor's race.

''We were concerned when Gloucester went for [Mitt] Romney," she said. ''We began looking at the huge number of unenrolled voters in Gloucester." Of the city's 19,639 registered voters, 59 percent are unenrolled. Democrats account for 28 percent, Republicans 12 percent, and smaller parties a combined 1 percent.

Committee members hope to reconnect people to the Democratic Party by convincing them that it is the party most in touch with values. They hope that will also spur them to vote for Democratic candidates and to volunteer for the party.

''We are trying to bring back a sense of pride about the party and our party affiliation," said Sarrouf, an actor and writer.

The campaign has averaged six to eight volunteers on a given day. The canvassers usually work in teams of two. Other volunteers who are unable to go door-to-door or would prefer not to can help by writing letters. The Democrats, who began the effort in late May, were scheduled to have their third door-to-door canvassing day yesterday.

When they go door-to-door, canvassers bring forms that residents can fill out to register to vote or switch parties. The volunteers turn in those forms to the city clerk's office.

''They are amazingly receptive," Bayliss said of the residents. ''Many of our volunteers felt initially that we would get doors slammed in our faces. But people are remarkably willing to talk."

About two weeks ago, Bayliss and one other volunteer signed up seven new Democrats in just two hours, she said.

Bayliss said the committee has signed up several hundred new Democrats since it first began door-to-door canvassing in 2003, though some of those might have been the result of other committee activities, such as the table it manned at the city's annual sidewalk bazaar.

Sarrouf says the project will require a long-term effort. ''Gloucester is a Democratic town. . . . Until our numbers clearly reflect that reality, I don't think we can stop," he said.