Volunteers in the MoveOn field office making calls to Iowa.
Democrats could lose the Senate this year, simply because the pivotal races are almost all in red states that voted for Romney. If you don’t live in a state with a competitive race, this can feel very disempowering—given that control of the U.S. Senate will affect us all.
But MoveOn and Daily Kos have found a way to mobilize our members, no matter where they live—and we need your help today. Last night, I joined 20 other volunteers at MoveOn’s field office in Berkeley to make phone calls to Democratic voters in Iowa and Colorado. Together, we reached 1,114 voters last night.
There are four such field offices like this in the country (Berkeley, Seattle, Chicago and New York), and if you don’t live nearby anyone can sign up online to make phone calls from home.
MoveOn has targeted voters who usually support Democrats, and have voted in the past—but have not always been good about voting.
In other words, just the kind of people whose decision to vote or not vote will determine if we control the Senate. We are reaching these people, asking them when/how they will be voting (preferably early)—and making them come up with a “plan” to vote by November 4.
Our phone calls to Iowa last night were encouraging. I was surprised at how many people had already voted early, which backs up what Markos wrote about yesterday.
Read below the fold for more details and anecdotes.
MoveOn organizer asks volunteers who has done phone banking before, and gives a brief training.
Rather than simply making calls from a phone, MoveOn uses the same “predictive dialer” system that President Obama's Organizing for America uses in its campaigns.
Your cell phone is connected to an online network that automatically makes several phone calls at the same time, until it reaches a live person.
Why is that a big deal? Because most phone calls get picked up by voice mail, so just calling through a list can be very inefficient. With a predictive dialer, every call that you make will be answered by a person on the other end—which allows you to reach more voters.
Of course, there are some glitches. Because the calls are generated via a predictive dialer, there is a short “lag time” after the voter picks up the phone and you can hear them on the other end. When I started making calls, I would wait until I heard someone say “hello?” on the other end before talking. But I would hear nothing, and then the person would hang up.
So once the voter’s name and the script appears on your computer screen, remember to immediately start reading the script with: “Hello, is [John Smith, i.e., name of voter] there?”
Assume that the person on the other end has picked up, and already said “Hello.” That was a little awkward for me when I started, but once I got the hang of it I was talking to voters.
My phone-bank partner who sat next to me last night commented that even voters who hung up on him because they “don’t like phone solicitations” were very polite. And it’s true. We were calling Iowa voters, and by and large they were all very nice.
The last Iowa voter I spoke to was really sweet. He had already voted early, and even had a Bruce Braley bumper sticker on his car. He was worried about the race, and when I told him I was calling from out of state he said the following:
In Iowa, we grow a lot of corn and soybeans. But we also grow a lot of Republicans, which is scary because the Republicans are bought and sold by the billionaires. Thank you for what you’re doing tonight.
We didn’t have a lot of time to call Colorado, but what was clear in both races—it’s going to be close, and if you don’t live in these states making phone calls is the best you can do.
Phone-banking can be frustrating, but the folks at MoveOn have put in a lot of hard work to make it a more rewarding experience. And once you get comfortable with their system and the script, you will be making a tangible difference in saving the U.S. Senate.
GREAT NEWS!! More and more Daily Kos members are making these phone calls. Not only are we very close to getting 2,000 signups—but here's another great diary from smileycreek about making phone calls to South Dakota from home.
No matter where you live, please click here to sign up and make calls to Democratic voters in the crucial states that will decide the Senate.