Is political door-knocking effective?

To the editor:

Over the course of about 12 years I've rallied to the support of various Democratic Party candidates, caucused for a couple of them. I've come to doubt the efficacy of door-to-door canvassing. I even know of a couple of would-be supporters who switched sides on finding me at their door on a cold January evening touting my candidate's virtues. People don't like home invasions for purposes of pillage, selling magazines or selling presidential hopefuls.

And the weather! Our caucus is Feb. 1 and so we find ourselves boosting our man or woman on cold January nights. Wouldn't a nice heated mall or grocery store be better? I once brought this up to a staffer at the Cedar Rapids office of the John Edwards campaign and got nowhere.

Surely, this issue resonates with some volunteers and voters. Do Republicans get out there in arctic temperatures and ring doorbells? I would like to know what people think.

Ann Treanor

Cedar Rapids