Anyone who has spent any time knocking on doors for Obama, or making calls for Obama, or even driving around town with an Obama bumper sticker on their car, has a story to tell.
This one's mine.
In a former life, when I graduated from high school and before I understood the importance of getting a college education, I was a telemarketer. It was the first job I was offered, and, as it turned out, I was really good at selling.
It didn't matter how poor you were. It didn't matter that your credit was terrible. If you had a credit card number, I was going to get it.
I don't feel good about what I did. I took advantage of ignorant poor people, allowing them to believe they could buy the government foreclosed home in their neighborhood for "pennies on the dollar" even if they had no job, no savings, and no credit.
What can I say? I was young. I needed the money.
Fast forward 12 years, and I'm back on the phone, selling a product. Except that this product is easy to sell and it won't cost you a dime.
And while selling this product to enough people won't buy me a new car, it will save my country. And that's worth even more.
This weekend, I made two kinds of calls: get out the vote calls and volunteer recruitment calls. The GOTV calls are easy.
"Hi, my name is _______, I'm a volunteer with the Obama campaign, and I was just calling to let you know you should have received your absentee ballot, and I wanted to make sure you'll be voting for Obama for president and the rest of the Democratic candidates."
Volunteer recruitment calls are tougher. You have to persuade people that even if they're tired after a long day of work, that even if they've got kids to feed, that even if they're working two jobs, that even though the polls show Obama will handily win our state, they still need to give just a few hours of their time to help.
One of the first calls I made was to a middle-aged woman who quietly listened to my pitch and then replied coldly:
"We don't vote for Obama in this household."
And then she slammed down the phone.
You might think that moment would have discouraged me, but in fact, it did quite the opposite. Because in that moment, I thought that woman was going to feel awfully lonely on Election Day.
And I was going to make sure of it.
And so it was for her, that cold-voiced middle-aged woman, that I continued to make my calls to all those other households.
A journalist told me she wasn't allowed to volunteer -- conflict of interest at work and all -- but she'd be happy to bring dinner to the volunteers one night.
An older woman who could not easily leave the house said her son and his girlfriend were staying with her, and she was going to send them to headquarters to volunteer.
One man said he would love to volunteer and asked if he could bring his wife. In fact, that happens a lot.
"Honey, it's the Obama campaign! They need us to volunteer. We're going on Thursday night, okay?"
One man said he had a busy schedule on Sunday -- he's a pastor, so Sunday is his busy day -- but he'd love to come volunteer in the evenings during the week.
And on and on and on.
They thanked me for calling them. They were excited to help. Some wanted to talk to their neighbors; some would rather do data entry.
One man told me, "I'd love to volunteer, but you probably shouldn't let me talk to anyone. I just get so angry at these undecided voters. I mean, what the hell is their problem? How can they even think of voting for McCain?"
But he's still coming to headquarters to help.
And on and on and on.
After a few hours, the paid staffers started to marvel at my phone skills. While they were struggling to get people to volunteer, I was writing down name after name after name.
I filled three pages with names of people who want to help.
So, my cold-voiced middle-aged friend, your household may not vote for Obama. But this country is made up of households that do vote for Obama. That will vote for Obama. That have already mailed their absentee ballots or stood in long lines for early voting...for Obama.
So, be angry if you want. Wave your stilly McCain/Palin sign on the curb if you want. Email all your friends and family the latest Fox "News" smear if you want.
But on Election Day, you and your ever-smaller circle of friends are going to be very lonely.
Because in this country, we will vote for Obama.
Yes, we will.
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Update:
Some people have requested tips for making these calls. So here are a few things to keep in mind:
People are easy to persuade. You just have to have the right tone of voice. Be authoritative. Nice, polite, friendly -- but authoritative. Like you're not asking if they want to help, but when they want to help.
Don't ask them for a huge commitment. Just get them to show up. Tell them you just need an hour or two. Just for one day. Then, when they show up and find out how easy it is, they'll want to come back.
This is the script I use:
Hi, is this Blank? Hi, Blank, my name is Mouse and I'm a volunteer with the Obama campaign. How are you today/tonight?
This question is important, because it forces them to answer you (usually with a "fine" or a "good" or even "great, how are you?") This way, you make them feel comfortable, like they're talking to a friend instead of a telemarketer.
I'm great, thank you for asking. I'm calling you because we're reaching out to supporters to ask them to volunteer just a little bit of time to help us get out the vote between now and election day. Could we get you to come help us out this week or next weekend?
I don't start by asking them to do a specific task; I just get them interested in helping.
If yes:
Great! We could really use your help knocking on doors or making calls. Which day works for you?
Get them to commit to a day and time. Then one of the staffers will call them to confirm.
If no:
Well, I know you're busy -- we're all busy, right? -- but even if you could just give us an hour of your time, it would really to make sure we win this election and give Obama a strong mandate to implement the changes we need in this country.
At that point, they'll often agree to volunteer. If they don't:
Well, let me give you our contact information, and if you do find some time and want to help, you can come in. Do you have a pen? Okay, write down this address and number.
The act of making them write it down is important. They'll have the information right in front of them, and as they write it down, they might change their mind and decide to volunteer.
And for anyone living in a solidly blue state, don't let them use that as an excuse.
Yes, it looks like Obama will win this state, but we all know by now that every vote counts, and we need to make sure we give him a mandate to implement the changes we need. So it's not enough to win; we need to win big.