Phone Banking for Obama
I did my first round of phone banking for Obama today, and I had a very positive experience. I showed up at the SF Obama headquarters conveniently located one block south from Powell BART, went to the back room under the big sign that said "phone banking", and told the person behind the table that I wanted to volunteer. They took me aside, gave me a 5-minute prep talk about who I'd be calling and for what purpose, and set me up at a table with a bunch of other callers. The most surprising part of the whole thing was the amateurish, hand-lettered signs. The SF office seems to be run on a very small shoestring which is fine by me since it's not like Obama needs to impress San Francisco voters.
Today's calls were made to lists of Obama voters in New Mexico, letting them know that their state has opened early voting. If they'd already voted we told them "thank you" and checked the box to remove them from the list for followup calls. If they hadn't voted yet we'd let them know where their nearest location was. Any monolingual Spanish voters would get a special check for call-backs from spanish speakers. We didn't leave messages on answering machines and we didn't try to change the minds of McCain supporters. The mantra of the day was "there are more Democrats than Republicans in New Mexico, and if we can get them to the polls we can win the state".
The whole experience was very positive. The people I worked next to were a wide cross-section of the city's population - some old, some young, a few couples, one mother working next to her teenage daughter. Everyone was very nice but not too chatty; more focused on cranking through the calls. Sitting next to experienced callers helped me get up to speed on how fast I should speak, when to deviate from the script, etc. Many of the calls rang with no answer or went to the answering machine, but every actual human I talked to was polite. Even the one McCain supporter who ended up on our list was politely curt. "I strongly support McCain and I don't think you want to talk to me." Sorry to bother you sir, have a nice day.
Protip: do not drink a large caffeinated beverage right before your first shaky attempt at a phone bank call. You will come off like a nervously gibbering idiot.
The campaign office manager stopped by later in the day to thank us personally and ask whether we'd be willing to commit to taking more shifts. Obama's supporters really are getting dizziness due to success and not showing up when they say they will. Obama's lead in the polls is creating a complacency among supporters that the advisers are afraid will create a serious drag on fundraising and turnout. Today three out of thirty RSVPs actually showed up. This is not typical. All the popularity in the world isn't going to win an election if we don't get people to the polls. A sign by the door said "November 5: No Regrets". Don't leave yourself spending November 6 wishing you'd done more. FINISH HIM.
Find your local campaign office and do something.
Side note: Phone banking for Obama means using your own cell phone. (Hooray for nationwide long distance and free nights and weekends.) This might be a good idea due to phone bank jamming. Personal cell phones don't use a central switch that can be attacked - they are the DDOS of voter outreach. It's also a cost-saving measure - the campaign can use the services that their supporters have already paid for.
Today's calls were made to lists of Obama voters in New Mexico, letting them know that their state has opened early voting. If they'd already voted we told them "thank you" and checked the box to remove them from the list for followup calls. If they hadn't voted yet we'd let them know where their nearest location was. Any monolingual Spanish voters would get a special check for call-backs from spanish speakers. We didn't leave messages on answering machines and we didn't try to change the minds of McCain supporters. The mantra of the day was "there are more Democrats than Republicans in New Mexico, and if we can get them to the polls we can win the state".
The whole experience was very positive. The people I worked next to were a wide cross-section of the city's population - some old, some young, a few couples, one mother working next to her teenage daughter. Everyone was very nice but not too chatty; more focused on cranking through the calls. Sitting next to experienced callers helped me get up to speed on how fast I should speak, when to deviate from the script, etc. Many of the calls rang with no answer or went to the answering machine, but every actual human I talked to was polite. Even the one McCain supporter who ended up on our list was politely curt. "I strongly support McCain and I don't think you want to talk to me." Sorry to bother you sir, have a nice day.
Protip: do not drink a large caffeinated beverage right before your first shaky attempt at a phone bank call. You will come off like a nervously gibbering idiot.
The campaign office manager stopped by later in the day to thank us personally and ask whether we'd be willing to commit to taking more shifts. Obama's supporters really are getting dizziness due to success and not showing up when they say they will. Obama's lead in the polls is creating a complacency among supporters that the advisers are afraid will create a serious drag on fundraising and turnout. Today three out of thirty RSVPs actually showed up. This is not typical. All the popularity in the world isn't going to win an election if we don't get people to the polls. A sign by the door said "November 5: No Regrets". Don't leave yourself spending November 6 wishing you'd done more. FINISH HIM.
Find your local campaign office and do something.
Side note: Phone banking for Obama means using your own cell phone. (Hooray for nationwide long distance and free nights and weekends.) This might be a good idea due to phone bank jamming. Personal cell phones don't use a central switch that can be attacked - they are the DDOS of voter outreach. It's also a cost-saving measure - the campaign can use the services that their supporters have already paid for.