I wanted to share a few details of my first experience volunteering for MoveOn's "
Leave No Voter Behind" last night. Like many other Kossacks, I've signed up to volunteer to help GOTV thru MoveOn. The night of Bush's acceptance speech was designated for phone-banking strong Democrats in swing states to gather volunteer names. The goal is to grow a volunteer force in swing states to help in their local swing neighborhoods-- thru voter outreach, calls, rides to the polls, etc.
Well, in short, I had a blast. It was very theraputic after a week of following the vitriol of the RNC.
Technology today is amazing. If you've phonebanked (or --shudder-- telemarketed) before, the experience was very similar.. but degrees more convenient... done in the comfort of my own home!! The steps were:
- Between 6-9pm local time, logged onto the "Leave No Voter Behind" page
- Reveiwed the script
- Clicked for the first name/phone # (in my time zone.. i was in CA, calling AZ)
- Using my hands-free cell, called the first name on the list
- Followed script on webpage, clicking on person's responses
- After call, clicked to send in info, and then clicked for the next number.
I went thru about 70 numbers in 2 hours. Naturally, the majority were not home, not answering, not accepting blocked calls [I was dialing *67 from my cell], or not interested. But I did get 3 people to sign up to volunteer in AZ!! Yippee! [Better than I was expecting, actaully]. The script was easy to (roughly) follow and there were FAQs. Obviously, it helps to "personalize" your call to make it sound non-automated. In addition to gathering the names of volunteers, the script was marking Kerry voters and Leaning Kerry voters, which I assume will be later used in GOTV calls.
Highlights/Lowlights:
- practicing my Spanish with one call (there is a "Spanish-speaking" box you can check also)
- reaching undecideds (on a Dem list!!?) and putting in a few good words for Kerry
- reaching the woman who said "Boy did you get the wrong house.. we're all Bush people here!!!"
- hearing W's voice from a background TV (more than once) during his speech.... ack!
So, I didn't turn the election around in 2 hrs, but it was fun and very therapeutic... especially after seeing Mary Cheney shut out of that VP family portrait.
Link for more info: http://www.moveonpac.org/lnvb/