Page 17 - 2023-bfw-TLC-4e

phone — she asks him to promise to nudge three so little time, and it’s so scary to experiment that
2
friends to vote. The campaign writes down the most people don’t,” Ms. Gallagher said. “So we
friends’ first names: Rachel, Ross and Chandler. do things the way they’re always done.”
On Election Day, the campaign texts the In addition, campaigns want supporters’ full 25
supporter and says: “Hey, remember to nudge names and contact information. Vote tripling —
Argument
Rachel, Ross and Chandler to vote.” of both sorts — takes that control away. That
Many campaigns and state Democratic makes campaigns nervous.
parties, in addition to liberal get-out-the-vote And while campaign season tripling can
groups like MoveOn, use this kind of vote tri- work everywhere, polling place vote tripling
pling. It can work with early voting and with often cannot work. It requires a busy polling
vote-by-mail. Mr. Stanley recently spent several place, so volunteers can reach a lot of people. It
hours calling people who had requested must be a location in which it is legal to stand
absentee ballots to thank them — and to ask reasonably close to the polls. And those pre-
them to reach out to three friends to get them cincts should support your candidate over-
to request ballots. “I think there’s opportunity whelmingly; if not, you risk encouraging the
to vote triple at every step in the absentee other side to turn out.
ballot process,” he said. Democrats can use it on college campuses
Vote tripling is a substitute for what cam- and in many communities of color; Republicans,
paigns usually ask supporters: Please pledge in rural areas. But rural areas tend to be
to vote, and tell us your plan for voting. A lot low-traffic, and there are far fewer of them.
of people find this condescending. “Effectively, Mr. Reynolds said that in the key swing states
you’re saying, I don’t trust you to vote,” there are nearly 3,000 precincts that are 90
Mr. Stanley said. But asking them to recruit percent or more Democratic, but only 111
friends says that you do trust them, and that that are 90 percent or more Republican.
they’re important. Ms. Gallagher sent volunteers to use polling
Vote tripling is most effective at the polling place vote tripling on about 60 campuses during
place, when people feel moved by the good the Super Tuesday primary. It’s rare to find
feeling of voting. But polling place vote tripling places lopsided enough in a primary, but
may not be widely used this year. Mr. Sanders enjoyed about 90 percent support
Why? Not because of Covid — talking to peo- on campuses. It was chaotic but effective — and
ple outside is not that dangerous if everyone is enjoyable, she said: “It’s one of few experiences
masked and at a good distance. It’s because with voters where you don’t get yelled at.”
campaigns are slow to adopt new ideas. “There’s 2020

Logical Reasoning and Organization:

Shaping an Argument

The strongest arguments allow readers to easily follow lines of reasoning — that is, the
connections between the claims in the writer’s argument and the evidence presented to
support them. With this objective in mind, writers strive to achieve two things: crafting an
argument that makes clear and cogent claims with thorough commentary and explana-
tions of evidence integrated throughout, and organizing that argument in a way that
74

Uncorrected proofs have been used in this sample. Copyright © Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
For review purposes only. Not for redistribution.
03_sheatlc4e_40925_ch02_058_111_4pp.indd 74 8/9/22 2:54 PM