Does knocking on doors work? I was called by one of the campaigns, asking me if I would "knock on doors" for candidate X. My first thought was "gee, I hope they don't knock on my door, that's really annoying." I asked many of my friends, and they said the same thing - "ugh, I hate when people knock on my door. It's so intrusive and annoying. It just makes me want to vote for the other candidate!" This was true of the Democrats and the Republicans - all of them thought a door knocker would turn them off, rather than attract them. Who wants some annoying stranger at their door?

Maybe I'm in the minority on this, or maybe it's generational. After all, there are people who like being called by telemarketers, people who think spam is great, and people who love getting a visit from a Jehovah's Witness. But I find a stranger at my door about as appealing as a root canal. And I wonder if it really helps the candidates.

I rather like a bit of fried Spam with eggs in the morning. It is practically the official meat of Hawaii. I am not saying I'd rather have Spam than a beautifully prepared slice of standing rib roast, but it can be a perfectly acceptable meal. I find knocking on doors works with my local neighbors, people who may not know me well, but recognize me as someone from the neighborhood. I went around my block knocking on doors to register people to vote and make sure everyone was up-to-date a few weeks ago. I won't say I was greeted with universal enthusiasm, but I wasn't run off with a shotgun either.

I'm with you on the Spam. Or Portuguese sausage, eggs, and rice... now there's a breakfast.

I will confess to annoyance with commercial solicitors at my door, but who can really object to a fellow-citizen investing a little time to try to make things better?

i had a bunch of deaniacs who kept coming by my house last time. they were mostly 19 year old tattooed and pierced losers who had nothing better to do as they were living in mom's basement or quit jobs shaking fries at burger king. real impressive young people! ha!!

hardly who i would want campaigning for me but representative of the left. never produced a fucking thing in their entire lives but still knew everything.

Ugh, indeed. The Obama volunteer coordinator here told a group of volunteers that he knows that they will start annoying people in the last few weeks, and he's okay with that. The campaigns try to keep from calling and visiting the same person over and over, but it's inevitable.

I don't care what they're selling - I don't want any stranger coming to my door. Heeding the golden rule, I would never knock on doors or work at a phone bank.