Colorado Democrats launch deep canvassing effort to find empathy, not polarization in politics

Like a typical political canvassing campaign, it starts with a knock at the door. But it ends differently — with a meaningful conversation, rather than a flier in hand.

This is how Colorado's Democratic Party leaders describe their effort to win over voters in the highly competitive 8th Congressional District north of Denver, which pits Republican state Rep. Gabe Evans against Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo .

• It's about empathy and understanding, not sharpened talking points.

Why it matters: The deep canvassing campaign, known as the Horizon Project , is designed to reimagine how the party talks about politics, and officials say it's needed now more than ever in an election season marked by an assassination attempt and doomsday political rhetoric.

What they're saying: "I am a huge believer in dialogue and listening and more empathy in our politics," says Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, a leader behind the effort. "My belief is when people experience that, it is transformational."

How it works: Deep canvassing flips the script when it comes to door-to-door campaigning. Instead of trying to reach as many voters as possible in transactional meetings, it focuses on deeper connections with fewer voters.

• The goal is to create a meaningful relationship, often over the course of a 10- to 20-minute conversation with open-ended questions, to understand voters' values and beliefs.

Between the lines: The state party hired two full-time organizers for the project, in addition to a dozen volunteers, who are targeting 2020 voters that lean toward Democrats but didn't vote in 2022, chair Shad Murib says.

• Earlier iterations saw significant results, organizers said. In 2023, the efforts contributed to the highest-ever Democratic turnout in Colorado for an off-year election. "People are craving the knowledge that they're being heard by their leaders," Murib explains.

The other side: The concept is not novel, nor is it limited to one political ideology. The conservative organization Americans for Prosperity also uses deep canvassing to identify like-minded voters in key districts.

• "You take them through a journey in the conversation — start here and get them to go there," AFP Colorado's Jesse Mallory tells us. "It's a useful tool in a lot of different aspects."

The bottom line: For Weiser, the effort dovetails with his larger initiative as attorney general to shift the current political dynamic to respectful dialogue.

• It's about "how we build more connection in our society, how do people get seen and heard, and how do we turn down the temperature," he says.