Tuesday night I made calls from the comfort of my own laptop at home to South Dakota
through MoveOn's hub dialer for Democrat
Rick Weiland. In this three-way race the difference could come down to just hundreds of votes. Before I tell you the nuts and bolts of the hub dialer (which, despite the inevitable glitches, was far and away the best phone banking experience I've
ever had) I want to tell you what I kept in mind every time I spoke with a fellow Democrat.
As I made these calls to progressive Democrats
I imagined I was talking to YOU, my fellow kossacks.
I thought about all of
you, and how you represent a great swath of like-minded people I was pining for when we moved to a somewhat remote and red part of California. Every single one of you I've met in person has been easy to talk to because of our shared values. Whoever I spoke to on the phone was just like a fellow kossack I hadn't yet met, and I already knew we were going to have something in common to talk about. And this made the time go quickly and pleasantly.
I got so into it I screwed up once and introduced myself as smileycreek instead of my actual first name. Oooops!
Most of the people I spoke with sounded older, so after several of calls I started to specifically imagine I was talking to one of these two people, both of whom I loved before I ever met them:
How could you not smile when imagining it's side pocket or maggiejean on the line?
More beneath the twisted orange phone cord about how phone-banking technology has improved and made calling so much easier.
Check out upcoming Call From Home shifts right here.
This was, by far, the simplest and easiest phone-banking technology I've ever used. Gone are the days of pawing through lists of voters, manually dialing number after number, only to hang up and dial again after countless answering machines and disconnected dial tones. Better yet, with MoveOn's hub dialer system, the person you're calling sees a local area code on their caller ID, not the number of someone calling from out of state, making it more likely they'll pick up. Nice.
Once you sign up for a shift you're directed to a brief training video you can peruse in advance. Be assured: You will only be talking to registered Democratic voters. You will have a script to work from. A 10-minute training call is also held at the beginning of each calling shift that gives you the political background of the race and, if you need it, instructions on logging into and using the hub dialer. Once you've used the system for about 10 minutes, it all falls easily into place.
The nuts and bolts of how my shift went
I used a headset, which made the process easier because you never hang up your phone or dial any numbers other than the first one to the hub center itself. While the hub dialer searches out a live voter for you, which takes 20-40 seconds, an orange spirograph flower spins on your computer screen and you get some weirdly calming boop-boop-boop music. When you hear the beep, the voter's name along with your script, pops up on your screen. You've got a live person to talk to! Yeah, my heart pounded like crazy the first couple times I talked to someone, and I stumbled a bit. At least they could tell it wasn't a robocall!
Lots of times the voter you're trying to reach isn't home. That's okay—you just mark "Not Home" on your computer screen and the the hub dialer goes back to work finding you a live voter. People hung up on me ... a lot. That's okay—nobody cussed me out or was rude. People were wary. When they said, "Who are you?" I imagined them as side pocket, or maggiejean, then smiled and told them my name, that I was a volunteer, and continued on with the script. If someone doesn't want to talk to you, just thank them and move on. You're looking for someone you can actually talk to, and they are out there. On to the next call with a minimum of hassle.
Working with the script
First, ask for the voter.
Identify yourself as a MoveOn volunteer calling folks in South Dakota with a one-minute survey.
Launch into the first survey question:
First, if the election for U.S. Senate were held today, would you vote for Republican Mike Rounds, Independent Larry Pressler, or Democrat Rick Weiland?
If they say Rounds or Pressler, thank them kindly for their time and
move on. The hub dialer spinning flower comes back on your screen until it finds you another live voter.
If they say Rick Weiland thank them enthusiastically and then ask them to pledge to vote for Weiland on November 4: Can I count on you to vote this year on November 4 no matter what?
At this point you might wonder, why would someone promise a total stranger anything? But every person I spoke with who was voting for Weiland easily pledged to vote. And this matters. People are far more likely to follow through on an action if they've promised someone, even someone they don't know.
Next you ask if they'll be voting by mail, voting early, or in person on Election Day. Each step of the way you're cementing their decision and building their commitment How will you vote? When and where will you vote? How will you get there? A call that goes this far is fun. You're on the same side, working together now.
If the voter says "undecided," this is when you actually get a chance to persuade someone. An undecided Democrat may just need to know the players and the stakes. The script gives you a couple of paragraphs to read, but this is where I found I could go off script and have a conversation about the upcoming election.
After your shift is over, you can call back into the training call line and talk over your experiences.
There were glitches, as there is with any technology. I did get the occasional answering machine and just clicked on Next Call. Sometimes it wasn't clear if someone had answered the phone or hung up immediately on me. I just clicked on Next Call. Twice I was logged out of the dialer system, and just logged back in and clicked on Next Call.
Personal Statistics:
In 75 minutes ,I spoke with 56 people.
Five voters pledged to vote for Weiland (one already had, by absentee).
Six voters were undecided, but willing to listen.
One voter was somewhat maniacally for Pressler. I thanked him and, you know, moved on.
Group statistics:
99 volunteers were on this hub dialer shift.
419 voters pledged to vote for Weiland.
Best call of the night
For me there's always that one call that makes the shift worthwhile, where you get a real connection going.
I spoke with a woman who sounded very weary. When I read her the three names she said, "the Democrat," and then added mournfully, "Not that it ever does any good; it's so red here the Republican always wins."
"I know just how you feel!" I said. "But this time it's a three-way race, and Weiland, who is a real progressive, is closing in fast. The Independent who's running, Pressler, was a Republican senator. The race in South Dakota could be decided by just a few hundred votes. Your vote, and the votes of your friends and family could make the difference, not just in South Dakota but in Democrats keeping the Senate!"
When I asked if she would pledge to vote for Weiland she said, "I'll try." When I asked what time she would vote she said, "I'm a teacher, so it'll be after school." So I went back to talking about the three-way race, and how Weiland stands for increasing the minimum wage and investing in education, and how Weiland had closed to within four points, and how the only way we could surprise those Republicans and win the race right out from under their noses was if every single Democrat decided this time will be different. I was getting pretty enthused, and she caught my energy and ended up chuckling over how the Independent candidate was "mucking it up" for the Republicans. She then strongly pledged to definitely get out and vote and to also talk to every Democrat she could about how important this race was.
She had gone from apathetic to engaged.
I had two calls like that. Two people who had the why bother mentality and who were, at least for a few minutes, a little more fired up about our chances and definitely pledged to vote.
THAT'S what it's all about!
So—I hope I've convinced you that this phone-banking process is streamlined, but with room for you to personally connect with another Democratic voter. The hub dialer system, while not glitch-free, saves the enormous time and frustration involved in winnowing through lists to get a live voter on the line. It's easy, it's fun, and who knows? Those 419 pledges my group elicited last night might be the margin that puts Weiland over the top.
You may be more excited about another race—check out who's available for you to make calls for. And go ahead and pick a kossack to picture to in your mind while you're making calls.
Check out upcoming Call From Home shifts right here.
Feel free to ask me any questions in the comments.
