Earlier this week, I was on a conference call with the National Call Team from the Obama campaign to review nationwide phonebanking strategy for the next few days. At the request of the campaign, (c)all-stars from around the country spent the latter part of the week dialing into caucus-goers and voters in LA, ME, NE and WA, and bringing home every challenge we have faced since Super Tuesday!
Yesterday was a particularly special victory. In the morning, I wrote:
Maine will caucus today and its going to be a tough one for us, which is why we still need your help connecting with supporters there and getting them out to caucus/vote.
And call we did -- making over 40,00 calls from all around the country on Sunday -- and win we did, too!
Tomorrow is Tuesday, February 12, and a chance for our second trifecta this week, when DC, MD and VA hold their primaries. These are biggies, folks -- especially MD and VA. We have lots of dedicated kossacks doing their thing on the ground in these states, but they need our firepower, our phone power to back them up NOW.
So let's have another great night today and fly through as many names as possible before closing down at 9PM EST. If just 1000 Obama supporters on DailyKos were to each make just twenty phone calls -- that's about an hour's worth of work for each of us -- we could could get it done in a the blink of an eye. We have only tonight and tomorrow to make a clean sweep of the Potomac Primaries, so let's put our ethusiasm and talent to good use. Yes. We. Can.
In order to begin calling, just go to the campaign's state-of-the art online calling tool.
You get twenty names at a time, an outline of scripts for your particular state and more. You can easily open the backgrounder and issues pages simultaenously to have all the information you need at your fingertips. Also, the home page of the website has a link to FAQ's for DC, MD, and VA, with great information like polling places and times, the fact that VA is an OPEN PRIMARY, and that voters MAY need ID in DC and MD but WILL need ID to vote in VA!
And finally -- and this is muy, muy importante people -- if you speak Spanish, you can begin calling into the great state of Texas by linking to the campaign's Spanish-language calling tool directed specifically at TX. If you want to get jazzed about TX, have a look at Kath25's great diary from the other night, with an on-the-ground report about Texans for Obama and the gargantuan grassroots organizing going on across the state. Also, be sure and check out the great endorsements that Obama has secured over the last day or two -- all across TX!
There has been a lot of discussion here recently as to whether we can bring in the hispanic/latino vote in TX. I am bilingual and bicultural and feel absolutely secure in saying that we have an excellent chance of capturing a large swath of this vote -- if we do our job between now and March 4. The campaign is doing it's part -- in terms of advertising, direct mail, endorsements, events and free media -- but we are the person-to-person outreach of this campaign, and in a culture in which personal relationships are paramount, canvassers and (c)all-stars are the front lines to success!
If you've never done it, it's easy and it's fun to phonebank , and it WILL make the difference we need NOW.
Obama supporters maintain a critical mass on DailyKos and we have the opportunity to make a huge contribution via online phonebanking over the next few weeks, as the number and schedule of contests allows the campaign's and our efforts to be more focused and protracted.
So make brew yourself a cup of tea (it's freeeezing today in NYC) or pour yourself a glass of wine, change into your jammies, settle onto the sofa, and make some calls now - please! Phonebanking remotely can be lonely sometimes, so please introduce yourself and comment below to ask and answer questions, share your experiences and encourage others to join our effort tonight. Let's celebrate our community, have some fun, and CHANGE THE WORLD!
Thanks to kath25 for cartoons and creativity.
Yes. We. Can.
Si. Se. Puede.
Unfortunately, I need to go out for several hours today and won't be able to answer questions and comment as readily as I have been over the last few days. But we do have some regulars "attending" our phonebanks now and lots of folks with lots of experience -- and enthusiasm! So if any of y'all can cover me from about 5:30 - 8:30PM EST, I would be much obliged (I'm practicing to talk Texan :) I will be back later to dole out mojo and cheer us on as we bring it home for Barack in DC, MD and the Commonwealth of Virginia!