Yesterday was a great day for progressive action at Daily Kos. This community continues to excel at mobilizing support for the Haiti relief efforts. And all day we saw stories of People Power at work in the MA-Sen race.
In my People Power diary yesterday, over 100 people logged their commitments to volunteer in person in Massachusetts, travel to Massachusetts to canvass and phonebank, and make calls from home using the OFA online calling tool. And many others yesterday put out the call.
I'm in touch with what's happening on the ground. First, the good news: the energy we are feeling is real. Volunteers are out knocking doors all over the state, burning up the phone lines from coast to coast, and doing whatever it takes to turn out Coakley supporters on Tuesday. Second, the reality check: This race is still too close to call. Losing means that everything we did in 2006 and 2008 is put in jeopardy. Three more days - and fellow bloggers here and I will be calling on you to keeping bombing this race with your people power every day until it is over.
Events Today:
Join the 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. EST Conference Calls today with Jeremy Bird of OFA to learn more about what's happening on the ground and what's needed to help win -
On Sunday, supporters from around the country will call in to a national conference call. We'll recognize the top callers from today (Saturday), talk about what we're about to do, get the lay of the land from some folks in Massachusetts right now, and set some big goals for each other.And then we'll get calling.
****
The call-in Number is (712) 432-0075, and the participant code is 404-284.
Please sign up for your call, and submit any questions you'd like: http://ma.barackobama.com/...
Let's finish this,
Jeremy
Jeremy Bird
Deputy Director
Organizing for America
P.S. -- There will also be a conference call at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday. You can sign up for whichever is more convenient for you here: http://ma.barackobama.com/...
Updated: Report from 2 p.m. national conference call - Jeremy Bird says OFA made over 90,000 calls into MA yesterday - wow. Top 5 N2N online callers were from NY(2), MN, CT and CA (the top slot).
Join the N2N Live Chat now on the OFA blog at my.barackobama.com/N2Nchat
Here's what I asked for yesterday
All hands on deck. For the next four days, that's what it is going to take to win this thing. All hands on deck. In an election that looks to be this close, boosting turnout among Coakley supporters is going to be critical. We need to be calling supporters to get them to the polls. Knocking on doors. Reaching as many people as possible with that human touch we know makes a difference.
For the next four days, one thing the Coakley campaign surely needs is as much volunteer labor as it can get its hands on, delivered to the right places at the right times, supported and ready to work. I'm told they are eager to welcome anyone and everyone who can help.
I'm asking you to drop everything and either become a volunteer or help mobilize and support other people to volunteer -- or both. And this is one of those times where you can truly be of service from right here at your computer. This is a call for a massive, digital visibility campaign to recruit volunteers for Coakley's GOTV operation.
Let's call it a Volunteer Bomb.
****
I asked what's most needed in terms of volunteers. Here's the response:
We need all folks to either hit the doors in MA or phonebank from home. Priority is canvassing, especially by former alumni.
Got that? If you did it for Obama in 2008, then let's use that training to deliver for Coakley.
Yesterday, we saw a flood of diaries and comments being posted all over the site from early morning to almost midnight about how our community is stepping up in so many ways to fight for this Senate seat. Last night Populista posted an amazing roundup of the action. And reading all those diaries and comments I felt fired up by the commitment and dedication of huge numbers of Kossacks.
Let's do it again. Here's how you can help:
- Show up and volunteer in person. If you live in Massachusetts, work at least one GOTV shift for Coakley. There are canvasses and phonebanks in MA every day until the election.
Link to find Coakley Canvasses in MA
Link to find Coakley Phonebanks in MA
Some details on events and actions in Western MA (h/t Frederick Clarkson)
Don't wait for a phone call. At this late date, campaigns are not always able to keep up with calling back volunteers and scheduling them. Just go to one of the locations and tell them you are there to help. Sign up at one of the links above though - it's helpful if they know you are coming.
Do be patient and flexible. The field staff may ask you to wait a bit while they get someone free to train you, or to go to another location that has a greater need. They may ask you to do something that doesn't seem to require a lot of skill. There is no more important job in the last days before election than carrying a walk packet or making phone calls. If you can speak Spanish, get coffee, or reboot the router when it goes down -- that's a bonus.
(And if you have been trained on the VAN, have prior experience as a phonebank captain or canvass captain, or have prior field staff experience, you are definitely needed and wanted ASAP. Identify yourself and your city/town in the comments and let's try to get you connected as quickly as we can.)
- Travel from nearby states to volunteer. If you live near Massachusetts, give at least one day of your holiday weekend to travel to Massachusetts and volunteer.
kath25 has a diary up to facilitate travel to MA from surrounding states. If you can go--or you can help someone go--please participate.
Give One Day for Teddy (Out of State Travel).
Day trips are the cheapest and easiest - they mean no need to find or pay for housing. But if you can stay longer, that's even better. You will need to find your own transit and housing if you go - the campaign is using all its resources right now on GOTV.
Sign up at one of the links below - it's helpful if they know you are coming, but don't wait for a call back - just go.
Link to find Coakley Canvasses in MA
Link to find Coakley Phonebanks in MA
- Volunteer from home from anywhere in the nation. You can make GOTV phone calls from home using the online phonebanking tool.
Link to Call for Coakley From Home (Nationwide)
Coakley Phonebanking Background (h/t Populista)
(This also works for Massachusetts residents who can't volunteer in person because of child care issues, mobility issues or other reasons.)
Follow the online phonebanking action on the OFA Phonebanking Blog
In addition to volunteering from home from far away, in many places outside Massachusetts, OFA volunteers are holding phonebanks for Coakley. Check the MyBO events page to see if there is one in your area. If not, you can still use the calling tool to help with GOTV.
MyBO Events Search Page
Here's a list of NYC Phonebanks for Coakley (h/t casperr and mindoca and the NYC OFA crew)
FORT GREENE on Sunday the 17th:
please RSVP at: http://my.barackobama.com/...
MIDTOWN EAST (OFA HQ) on Sunday the 17th
please RSVP at http://my.barackobama.com/...
GRAMERCY on Monday the 18th:
please RSVP at: http://my.barackobama.com/...
QUEENS on Monday the 18th:
please RSVP at: http://my.barackobama.com/...
MIDTOWN EAST (OFA HQ) on Tuesday the 19th:
please RSVP at: http://my.barackobama.com/...
CA Phonebanks for Coakley (h/t knoxville and the fabulous OFACA team)
Agoura Hills on Sunday the 17th:
please RSVP at: http://my.barackobama.com/...
San Francisco on Sunday the 17th:
please RSVP at: http://my.barackobama.com/...
Los Angeles on Sunday the 17th:
please RSVP at: http://my.barackobama.com/...
Los Angeles on Sunday the 17th:
please RSVP at: http://my.barackobama.com/...
San Bernardino on Sunday the 17th:
please RSVP at: http://my.barackobama.com/...
Long Beach on Sunday the 17th:
please RSVP at: http://my.barackobama.com/...
Kenwood on Sunday the 17th:
please RSVP at: http://my.barackobama.com/...
Sherman Oaks on Monday the 18th:
please RSVP at: http://my.barackobama.com/...
Culver City (OFA HQ) on Monday the 18th:
please RSVP at: http://my.barackobama.com/...
San Rafael on Monday the 18th:
please RSVP at: http://my.barackobama.com/...
Santa Clara on Monday the 18th:
please RSVP at: http://my.barackobama.com/...
San Francisco on Monday the 18th:
please RSVP at: http://my.barackobama.com/...
San Francisco on Monday the 18th:
please RSVP at: http://my.barackobama.com/...
Albany on Tuesday the 19th:
please RSVP at: http://my.barackobama.com/...
Culver City (OFA HQ) on Tuesday the 19th:
please RSVP at: http://my.barackobama.com/...
Updated X2 Diary with complete list of all TX phonebanks (h/t v2aggie2) - check it out folks, Austin, Dallas, Ft. Worth Houston and San Antonio.
- Support others who want to volunteer and need help. Can you drive other volunteers? Offer a couch or a dorm room space to someone from out of state? Pay for a motel room, bus ticket, or a rental car? Can you send food to an office or staging location?
kath25 has a diary up to facilitate travel to MA from surrounding states. If you can go--or you can help someone go--please participate here to coordinate:
Give One Day for Teddy (Out of State Travel).
- Help recruit more volunteers. Here's something every one of us with a phone, email account, Facebook page, Twitter Account, or blog can do.
Send the information in this diary far and wide. Call and email people in your networks and ask them to volunteer and to circulate the volunteer ask. Share it far and wide on all social media (tag it with #pplpwr and #masen on Twitter). Committing to recruit one additional person to join you doubles your effort. Recruiting two triples it.
If you are volunteering to GOTV for Coakley today and have a Twitter account, tweet about what you are doing and mark it with the #pplpwr and masen hashtags so we can see all the people who are helping. Check out the feed - it's great: #pplpwr
Yesterday I saw the photos of people phonebanking, I talked to the people running phonebanks here in California, I heard from people all over the country about phone calls and that that person they spoke with who didn't know the election was Tuesday, or where to go vote. I read the story of the family just scraping by who found a few dollars to send including $2 from the diarists son.
The collective power of each of those small actions is amazing - it might just be enough to put this race over the top. But only if we double down today, and every day until it is done.
Thank you to everyone who is working for Coakley today, and if you aren't yet then please join us!