In a reversal, former Vice President Joe Biden's presidential campaign is set to begin in-person canvassing.
The Biden campaign will "dispatch several hundred newly trained volunteers to engage voters across Nevada, Michigan, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania" this weekend and is expected to expand the effort into other battleground states, The Associated Press reports. The Biden campaign confirmed it's "expanding on our strategy in a targeted way that puts the safety of communities first and foremost and helps us mobilize voters who are harder to reach by phone now that we're in the final stretch."
The campaign previously held off on in-person canvassing efforts amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and Politico's Alex Thompson observed this was a "huge reversal." Biden's team had criticized President Trump's campaign for its in-person canvassing efforts, and a Democratic National Committee spokesperson in August slammed them for "risking the lives of their staff, the lives of voters, and risking becoming a super spreader organization during the middle of a pandemic."
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Biden officials on numerous occasions had also downplayed the importance of in-person canvassing, with Biden national states director Jenn Ridder telling Politico in August, "Our response rates on phone calls and texts are much higher and people are not necessarily wanting someone to go up to their door right now."
Thompson notes that some of the safety measures announced by the Biden campaign "go beyond" what the Trump campaign has implemented. According to AP, in addition to providing volunteers with personal protective equipment, the Biden campaign will also check their temperatures and have them complete a symptom questionnaire, and the campaign will additionally text voters telling them to expect a knock on their door.
AP writes the reversal comes "amid growing concern" from Democrats who fear that by not conducting in-person canvassing when his opponent was, Biden has been allowing Trump to have a "significant advantage."
