North Carolina is turning blue, and we didn't even have to hold our breath.
It's just 28 days to Election Day, and 9 days to One-Stop Early Voting here in our Tar Heel State.
I've made literally thousands of calls over the past few weeks: persuasion calls, volunteer prospects, "chase calls" for people signing up at voteforchange.com, visibility invites, calls to "sporadic Dems" who vote only occasionally, change crew recruits, information and encouragement to participate in One-Stop Early Voting ... you name the list, I've called into it.
And what I'm hearing from registered voters in our state is that they are fired up and ready for a change.
Last night I talked with a family of five registered voters, plus their patriarch, who refuses to register to vote and doesn't believe his vote has any value. Most of the voters in their household were conservative Republicans, but this year they're united in voting for Barack Obama. They're out canvassing their neighborhood through the Neighbor to Neighbor program available at my.barackobama.com. "We've each bet my dad $100 that Obama will win North Carolina, and we've all got our lists of how we're going to spend that money," said one college-age son.
I also talked with a high school teacher in a small North Carolina town. He's an independent, but he's concerned about the erosion of support for integration in public schools, and so he's voting for Obama/Biden. "I don't want to see our schools slip back into the 'separate but equal' situation we had half a century ago," he said. "And with this push for vouchers, that seems to be where the conservatives are headed."
A married couple about my age were staunch Republicans for many years until two months ago, when they received a bill for the $7,000 their health insurance company said was their fair share after the husband's cancer surgery. "We have done everything you're supposed to do in this country: we've worked hard, paid our taxes, paid our bills, and paid our insurance premiums. Now when it's time for them to do what they're supposed to do, they've changed the rules," said the wife. They no longer believe the Republican Party has their best interests at heart. And they have no idea how they're going to pay their medical bills.
A man visiting his fiancee in Las Vegas told me that he's 100% Obama, because his brother was deployed three times to Iraq and he can't bear to see his mother and father torn apart by worry anymore. "Of course, they supported his decision to go, but how many times can we put them through this? And for what? I don't see any possible end proposed by the McCain people." He's done some canvassing for Obama and will do some more when he comes back home. I don't know how he's doing at the tables in Vegas, but his fiancee is obviously a winner already.
I talked with almost 100 people last night. A couple of people hung up on me. Three asked me to take them off the call list. Everyone else listened ... and talked. They told me their stories, and they asked how they could help. They apologized for giving only money and not time. They asked if they could bring in food or sodas for the scores of volunteers who pour in day after day to walk neighborhoods, make phone calls, and enter data. They told me about the encouraging polls. They shared their worries. But mostly they told me how proud they are of this brilliant Democratic ticket, and why they know they're making the right choice.
Today's code for the Cary, North Carolina, Virtual Phone Bank: [email MsSpentyouth for details on how you can get involved in phone banking for North Carolina -- and get the secret code at no additional charge! Call now! Operators are standing by!]
- Go to our Virtual Phone Bank site and log in.
- IMPORTANT!! Before you begin calling, take out a piece of paper and prepare your tally sheet for the day. Your tally sheet should include: The VPB Code (listed above); total phone numbers you dialed; total contacts you made with real people; total 1's, 2's, 3's, 4's, 5's, 6's, and Decline to States; total who asked to be taken off the list; and volunteer prospects for our upcoming activities.
- Make sure you're in the proper tab at the top righthand side of the page (check the call lists du jour).
- Click on Virtual Phone Bank on the lower righthand corner.
- Enter today's Virtual Phone Bank Code.
- Click NEXT and click NEXT again when that screen opens. Remember that the script you see on the computer screen below the contact information may not match the script you're given in our daily emails. Our apologies for not being able to change that. Please play a little jazz with your script so that you capture the information on the screen.
- Let the games begin!
- If people wish to contact the Cary HQ, they can call us at 919-467-2749 or 467-2706. Our office is located smackdab in downtown Cary at 215 E. Chatham St.
- Send me your tallies and any special notes about your calls by replying to this email before 9 p.m. This allows me to get the data to Cary HQ in time to refresh the database for the next day's calls.
That's how simple it is to win North Carolina, neighborhood by neighborhood. Not even ten steps! If you'd like to be part of MsSpentyouth's neighborhood call movement, e me and I'll get you started today.
Yours for a more perfect union (and unlimited calling plans),
Kim