Sleeper Issue

The upcoming election may be raging on millions of television sets but the race in Pennsylvania could be won, in part, with one-on-one chats about a sleeper issue—the environment.

Canvassing door-to-door for John Kerry and the environment is why 19-year-old Matt Beagle flew into town from California last week. The University of California Santa Cruz sophomore is crashing with friends in West Philly, but they won't see much of him. Matt's days and nights will be spent ringing doorbells for the League of Conservation Voters (LCV), a national environmental-advocacy group aiming to get Kerry elected.

Matt is among this year's bumper crop of out-of-staters who are coming to Pennsylvania. Unlike the numerous other advocacy groups that are working inside the city to increase voter registration, LCV canvassers are being deployed in the suburbs, mostly in Montgomery County. By November, LCV wants to knock on some 100,000 doors with the goal of motivating some 40,000 "persuadable" voters to get out on Election Day. (They estimate they'll need about 12,000 volunteers to do so). That number could make a significant difference locally and, as a result, nationally.

In his first four-hour shift last week, Matt was surprised to find so many people in King of Prussia willing to open their doors to a stranger on a rainy night. Organizers say that four out of five people who answer the door are willing to talk about what's on their mind.

First on their agenda is almost never the environment. Only after the economy and health care do voters begin to mention it. But with all politics being personal, there's nothing more pressing than pollution in your back yard and the LCV is saying that the environment is effectively pushing suburban voters toward Kerry. On environmental issues, it is clear to all except the deeply strange that one candidate cares and the other doesn't.

To that end, LCV canvassers use the environment as a seque into having voters voice other concerns. They often make the connection between dependence on foreign oil and insecurity at home. That there'd be no war if Iraq had no oil. And that when you spend money on the military abroad, you invest less in schools, streets and jobs at home.

The good news is that Matt and other LCV volunteers say it takes only a few minutes to break people out of their apathy. It's truly heartening to learn that a commonsense chat with a visitor at your door may be more important to the outcome of the election than months of mudslinging on TV.

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