I'm completing the first week of my Second Annual Liberal USA Tour and writing this diary on Sunday while I ride Amtrak up to New Hampshire. I spent the first week of my liberal tour in Our Nation's Capitol, and every day or two I'll share something about my liberal experiences on this trip. I'm looking out the train window as this fall season progresses, and I'm struck by how the electoral landscape seems to be mimicking the natural landscape as we head into a time of peak color change this fall.
It's not the cold snaps that are changing our political landscape from red to blue. It's the volunteerism of liberals like us for our grassroots candidates. It's the tenacity of Democratic candidates who continue to campaign hard even in the uphill battles so that we leave no Republican unchallenged. It's the corruption of radical Republicans who put their own self-interest before that of our country. And the best thing is, we can help bring about peak color change from red to blue on November 7 by volunteering for our candidates and issues.
My experience phone banking for Webb is below the fold.
One of the things I did last week on my Liberal USA Tour was stop by the Jim Webb for Senate office near DC in Virginia. The Webb campaign is running coordinated campaigns in each of the congressional districts, so if you live in or near Virginia you can find an office to volunteer in that's close to you. The office I went to is about two blocks from the Courthouse metro stop. If you have any trouble finding the building you can call the campaign number and they will direct you there.
Even better, if you can't make it by a Webb office to telephone, you can sign-up on the Webb homepage to make telephone calls from the convenience of your own home. http://www.webbforsenate.com/...
And if you're one of those people with more money than time to contribute, you can also give the Webb campaign a contribution here, https://secure.webbforsenate.com/page/contribute?source=front&subsource=text
When I arrived at the second floor suite where the phone banking was taking place, I was surprised by the number of volunteers and the positive energy in the room. Wednesday was one of the most perfect weather days I'd seen in a long time, yet these dedicated volunteers were sitting inside making calls and doing data entry.
The volunteers I met represented the diversity of our Democratic Party. The age diversity was surprising to me from grandmothers to high school students. I met a grandmother whose daughter had gone to school with one of the Webb kids. A college student who was in grad school, and several high school students.
I was introduced to Sarah, who was one of the persons who knew everything that was going on in the phone banking room. Sarah showed me the script and went over how to complete the calling sheets. They were really easy to use and everything was bar coded for easy data entry. I really liked the fact that you could see the fruits of our labor on the phone being entered into the computer almost immediately, instead of languishing in a large stack of paper to be eventually entered into the computer.
I made phone calls for the couple of hours that I had free. My first call resulted in a hangup as I was still getting used to the script. After you make a few calls, you get used to the script and get an idear of what wording works more naturally for you in conversation with the voter on the other end of the telephone. After that initial phone call I had great success with the list I was using. A couple of the people committed to Webb, and others who were reluctant to voice by name a candidate they would vote for, did indicate that they always voted for the Democrats on the ticket! Go Team!
Phone banking at the Webb office was a great way to spend the afternoon and my thanks goes to the very friendly staffers and volunteers for all the work they are doing.