Canvassing Rules

themurt

With the recent elections fading into memory I was wondering about the old line of how "you never see a politician unless there's an election coming" - is there a rule forbidding political canvassing outside of election time or is it just that they're too busy/lazy to bother visiting the electorate in that manner at other times?
Wouldn't a visit outside of a campaign stick in the memory better than just being another face in the crowd of people knocking on the door the week before you vote?

gilroyb

They canvass before the vote to see what it is you want them to do as an elected representative. They then use the elected term to try and deliver that. If you want to talk to them after they're elected, get in touch with them in their clinic or by email. If a TD canvassed me in the next year or two I'd actually be fairly annoyed they were wasting their time marketing themselves rather than actually doing their job.

themurt

What if it wasn't marketing but more market research - would there be any value in finding out what people wanted by approaching them and maybe talking to people who wouldn't otherwise contact their representative by writing, email, or visiting a clinic? Or is this function better served by pollsters, focus groups and so on?