Another night phone-banking for Dems in PA
Hi All,
Tonight was my 3rd time doing this, and it went great! I want say at the start that I'm hoping the following partial re-counting (bad pun? intended) of the evening's calls will motivate people here to give it a try themselves. It really is rewarding for its on sake! All you have to do to join in the fun is swing on over to swingleft.org, and choice the state where, when and how you'd like to plug-in. There are both calling and texting options (though the latter tend to fill-up).
OK, do I didn't keep an exact count, but out ~22 calls I had just 4 GOP (only 1 hung-up, the others politely letting me know). Had a few others that hung-up immediately.
However, the thing I'm really chuffed about were the ones who were great.
There was super nice Taylor, who was wary at first, but once she realized I was a human and not a scam was happy to talk and easily had 3 friends she could name get to go w/ her to the polls. Then came Jen who was at least as nice as Taylor, maybe more, who rattled off the names 3 friends she'd be going to the polls with. There was Melissa w/ her baby, Warren (just I asked off-script) that I could hear babbling (on her lap, I supposed), who said she'd been called 3 times this week, and yes had a plan to vote w/ her family, but said that was the first to ask her about volunteering herself! At which time, to my disappointment, I realized I didn't have an PA specific volunteering details to give, so I sent her over to swingleft.org, as well when said she might even like to try making calls herself.
There was Rodney, a middle-aged man as he told me (like me) and of color, I thought (not like me), who was super chatty. Told he his whole house was voting and that was he was talking to his whole neighborhood about voting, even the youth, and that his polling place was around the corner. He told he was passionate about voting after years of thinking it didn't make any difference, even the local, down-ballot stuff and years when there's no presidential candidate at the top of the ticket. To which I said right-on! When I asked (since he was so chatty) about volunteering, he said he'd been a poll worker w/ his wife for years. He and a couple others sincerely thanked me for calling them, which was both unexpected and really made my day.
Then at the end, on my last call of the night there David, also wary at first, but by then I had mastered the script well enough to stress the word "volunteer" in the "Hi I'm Al, a volunteer from the Pennsylvania Democratic Party" sentence that comes right after they acknowledge they're who the script says is being called, and to ask follow-up "How are you today" sincerely, like I would when asking someone I knew & cared about. He response was about the lateness of call (before 9 pm, here on the east coast. I immediately apologized, but surprisingly we still was wanted to talk. When asked about his support for Joe & Kamala, he told that he was an independent, but was definitely voting for Biden. "I'm going do the right thing" as he put it. Then, unbidden, he launched into a speech about how despite being conservative socially, fiscally and otherwise, that he just couldn't understand how intelligent, educated people could support Trump, when he's clearly so incompetent. Oh, and sure he was telling all friends the same thing, and was thinking of volunteering. Phew! For my part, as a reward, I suppose for listening patiently, I got to inform him of something he didn't know, namely that this year in PA one can vote early.
That's my story of tonight's adventure in phone-banking.
Cheers,
Al
= new reply since forum marked as read
As we used to say in Philly.
You are so fantastic! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! 
Last edited Sat Oct 10, 2020, 01:13 PM - Edit history (1)
heard it in Philly and out west, too, back in the day.
here's a another, tonight was 'kick ass'!
