A little over a week ago, Tracy Warner of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette got a little taste of why Indiana Democrats are optimistic they can hold the narrowly-divided State House this year (one of the Democratic Party’s top redistricting priorities this election cycle):

More Indiana legislative districts should be like House District 31, which includes all of Blackford County and much of Grant County.

The district is split between Republicans and Democrats, and winning for either party is far from a sure thing.

Last weekend, visiting my hometown of Hartford City, I saw incumbent Democratic state Rep. Joe Pearson going door-to-door in the 90-degree-plus heat, seeking to win votes and, perhaps more importantly, encourage his supporters to make sure they cast ballots Nov. 2.

And that, in a nutshell, is the most basic way to win a campaign: by going out, meeting people in their communities, and asking them in person what issues are important and what they think should be done.

Last cycle, Rep. Pearson defeated an incumbent Republican by 468 votes out of more than 20,000 cast, but both parties are expecting much lower turnout this year because it’s a mid-term election cycle.

That means if Rep. Pearson goes out knocking every other day when the legislature’s out of session – in 90 degree heat or otherwise – he can personally speak to a huge portion of the people who will cast votes on Election Day. And with accurate data and targeting, he can talk to an even larger portion of the Democrats and persuadable Republicans and Independents he needs to win this fall.

Add in Rep. Pearson’s friends, family members, and local Democratic volunteers helping him reach out to potential voters, and it becomes clear how a well-run field program and a hard-working candidate can make the difference, even against a big-money smear campaign funded by the Republicans.