what are you going to do? I'm not saying this to brag or to embarass others. I'm sure that many have been more involved. I just hope that by relating my experiences others will be more likely to get involved, b/c we need to win in Indiana and North Carolina. So here's my story:
I made fifty calls to Indiana today. 25 to the South Bend area and 25 to the Indianapolis area (I know that you are only provided with the number and the first name, but I like to look up the area codes to know where I am calling). I unfortunately did not get any Obama voters or talk to too many people, but I did have two very intersting conversations.
The first call was to a woman who is supporting Barack Obama, but is giving birth on Tuesday, so she will be unable to vote. I told her about early voting, but in her condition she thought it was best not to risk it. She was a very kind woman and we had a great conversation. She's having a boy btw.
The second conversation I would like to relate was not even with the person I was calling, but her husband. I asked for Holly and was informed that she was not home. Her husband then asked who I was and I told him that I was with the Obama campaign. He next related to me that he had not decided but that he was concerned about the relationship between Wright and Obama. In my mind, I said "OMG! This shit again!" But I listened to his concerns and I related to them. As Obama just said today, people have a right to question his judgement on this issue. So I told the husband that I see nothing wrong with him being concerned about Wright, but Obama and Wright have very different beliefs on the policies of this government. I also said that "we all know somebody who has said something stupid, but we don't necessarily cut off all ties from them b/c of it." It was at this point that he said to be "are you in sales?" When I told him "no," he said that "well, you are very good at it. If you were I would hire you." I guess after the first couple of hundred calls you start to get the hang of the whole phonebanking thing. I don't know if convinced him, but I bet he has a more positive opinion of Obama than he did when he woke up this morning.
As I said above, I did not write this diary, b/c I wanted to show how cool I am. I just wanted to take the fear out of calling. I've talked to many people who don't want to call, b/c they don't want to deal with rude people. Well, I am here to tell you that the rude people are very rare. In my fifty calls, I did not speak with one rude person. I did speak to some who did not wish to talk or were busy, but nobody was rude about it.
So please call. A list of 25 names takes less than an hour. The campaign provides all the information that you need and the network is very fast. Hopefully, you will have as much fun calling as I did. Remember we have less than 48 hours to win this thing.
CALL. DONATE. Volunteer.
Thank you for anything you can do, even if it is offering good wishes.