Now, I'm not one of the most diligent phone callers for the Obama Campaign but I have had fun doing it.
Yes, it can sometimes be frustrating but one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Something I can tell my grandchildren about someday once Obama's Presidency goes down into the history books as one of the best Presidents in U.S. History.
Photo of Obama phone calling voters. If Obama can do it, I figured so can I.
More below the squiggle.
I started by phone calling for President Obama almost by accident. I initially signed up to get email notices at the Obama 2012 web site. Then, I responded to one of the email fundraising letters.
Then, I found the "volunteer" button on the web site and signed up and joined my neighborhood volunteers online.
A few weeks later, I started calling after clicking on the wrong button. I was nervous on my first call. Can I repeat, extremely nervous with a few shakes. But then after the first few calls, I found out that the people answering the phone on the other end of the line were not going to bite.
After getting my feet wet with the first few calls, I could not wait to try again. And again! Hey, I look at me -- I am actually accomplishing something great and useful for the Obama campaign.
Now, I am and old hand of volunteering for political campaigns, going back to the days of George McGovern (In Remembrance Today) but this phone calling for Obama was the easiest campaign volunteering experience ever.
There were some people not home or that had moved but that's to be expected. I just moved straight onto the next call.
I didn't get any hangups or rude calls or I got zero (yes, zero) responses for or any support for Mitt Romney. If I did get any, I was prepared to be polite and on my best behavior.
Every person I got hold of was supporting President Obama except for one who was not voting for President at all. She said she was leaving that section blank and voting for neither Presidential candidate.
The Obama supporters all were glad to hear from me and most very talkative and enjoyed talking to a volunteer from the Obama campaign.
One person I talked to had even volunteered to become the Obama coordinator for her county.
Most of the Obama supporters were voting early, had an absentee ballot or had already voted early for President Obama which was very encouraging.
I set myself a quota for number of calls each day and don't stop until I've completed that quota. So far my family has not complained too much of being neglected since they figure I would just be surfing the Internet anyway for more political news. My family said at least phone calling for Obama was a better use of my time away from them anyway.
Now, I have described my experiences with phone calling for President Obama at the top of the Democratic party ticket but I know many down ballot Democratic candidates need your assistance also. There are local phone banks and block walking for local state legislative races and Congressional races that are just as important as the Presidency. Please try to locate and volunteer locally and as well as volunteering for Obama.
Here's the direct link to volunteer for the Obama for America campaign:
https://dashboard.barackobama.com/...
Don't wait around for someone to call or email you back, just get started from the dashboard. Everything is there that you need to begin phone calling today.
Those are my experiences so far this year. Share some of your political volunteering experiences down below.
7:04 PM PT: Note: I purposely did not list the state(s) I was phone calling into so as not to give a heads up to any GOP lurkers on this dairy.
9:41 PM PT: Update: Thank you all for your interesting stories about phone calling for Obama / Biden. Yes, I want to reassure you that my phone calling for Obama was made from the comfort of my couch at home. Much more convenient than before. I was cozy with my kitties curled up on the couch with me as I called. My daily household duties were not far away as I did wash, dishes, folded clothes, helped cook -- all in between GOTV phone calling. In our household chore sharing household.(My mother taught this liberated Liberal male a thing or two many decades ago.) .
Any time a Romney voter hangs up on you or you get wrong number:
Remember the 47% Romney fundraiser video. And on election Day we are going to wipe that 47% smirk off Romney's face after Mitt and Paul Ryan realize they have lost big time to US.
We are not going to turn over the keys to the White House to Koch Brothers or Grover Norquist or Karl Rove. The enthusiasm and phone calling and block walking of our volunteers will beat their dark money any day.