I'm going back to my days as an active volunteer in party politics. I did a fair amount of door-to-door canvassing--and really did not like it. These days it must be harder given the disrespect for the other side everyone now has.

We were told not to spend much time discussing politics. Greet the people, give them some brochures, get a feel for where they are leaning politically, write the leaning down, move to the next residence. Cover as many houses as possible. I don't recall anyone telling me why we were doing this.

On Election Day, I was assigned to various errands for the party. When I came to the campaign office, I saw the entire bank of 20 or so phones being used by volunteers to encourage people [our soft supporters] to vote. There was an immense buzz in the office--and I was in a little awe of the machine in action. It was then I understood how the different pieces of the ground team work together. But no one really told me this.

You are probably right in that many active party people do not understand what campaigns are really about. Many do the necessary tasks because that is how campaigns have been done in the past.

As for the political writers in Medium, it seems they have no use for my experience and insights. They prefer to believe that campaigns are about convincing the undecided voter.