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Phonebanking Open Thread |
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We’re gearing up to make calls for Obama here in DC, and we hope you’ll join us from home.
At our house party we’re making calls through MoveOn, but at home I’d encourage you to use the tools provided by the Obama campaign itself.
First, go to your state’s Obama page, which will be the abbreviation for your state dot barackobama dot com. For example, my state’s page is oh.barackobama.com. From there you can create an account (look up to the top right corner for the registration) and get started making calls very quickly. If you have any problems, or if you live in a deep blue state and would like to make calls in another state, email us seminal@theseminal.com and we can help you out.
Feel free to share your experiences, positive or negative, in the comments section. Most importantly, if you make calls, please let us know how many you made!
UPDATE [Alex 6:07pm]: Thanks to everyone who helped out! Here in DC, with Jason, Josh, Ian, myself, and a few friends, we called 200 MoveOn members and 115 Ohio and Virginia voters. We signed up at least 10 volunteers for the campaign and talked to dozens of Obama supporters.
A lot of us felt the same way: we woke up feeling unenthusiastic about the chore of making calls, but once we got going we found our stride and felt a real sense of accomplishment. As I’ve said before about canvassing, individual efforts can seem trifling - but the results of our collective efforts can be breathtaking - as we’ll hopefully see in November.
Once again, if you made calls from home, let us know.
Obviously, most people are not home, but I just talked to my first person. I’m calling MoveOn members and asking them to volunteer for Obama, and so she’s going to volunteer at the Obama office in SC!
Success!
Talked to #2! and success!
excellent–great that you all are doing this. I have to prepare for a class tomorrow, but was making calls last week and excited to do more–and to get out for some door to door canvassing
think about going door to door next week, yeah
Maggie and I have made contact with several voters in Ohio. No McCain supporters yet! More to come…
Another success!
So far, the three of us calling MoveOn members have called 60 people so far. Going quick!
We’re also calling people solely in North Carolina, which is a great thing. Polls are close there, so I’m glad our time is being spent strategically.
After talking to dozens of voters in Ohio I just reached my first McCain supporter. I’m feeling better about Ohio with each call.
Another sheet down!
100 calls made.
this is fairly easy, and I like calling fellow MoveOn members. Obviously, most folks aren’t home, but those that are are usually happy to hear from you.
You all are awesome for doing this work! I thought I could help with calls in Ohio, but this is really hard for me to do. Not sure why b/c I have no problems speaking to audiences of 100 folks or sitting in a room with someone 1 x 1 in a meeting. I just sat there with the list in front of me, unable to make the first call! Yikes!
I appreciate that you are doing this–I will continue to help out in other ways that I can (donating, letters to editor, hosting/attending events, driving folks to the polls and one-to-one in-person conversations.) I guess we all just have to do what we can. Thanks again for doing this to help the campaign!!
Thanks for the support. I think everybody finds different aspects of campaigning challenging/intimidating. I like going door to door best, because that’s what feels most human to me, and I like registering people at intersections the least, because that’s when I’ve encountered the most hostility. That’s why everybody helps out in different ways, and all the things you listed are really important.
Ian Fried has joined us! We’re almost up to 140 calls!
Got another volunteer!
We’re gonna hit 200 calls before 6 pm. Great work!
So, we’re done! Alex, Lauren, Ian and I made 200 calls to MoveOn members. Most folks weren’t home, as it typical with these things, but we did talk to a bunch of people. Overall, I think we got about a dozen people to commit to volunteering on October 11th in Winston-Salem, NC, a key swing state.
I’d call it a success. It was cool to call NC. It’s an important state. The fact that the calls were all concentrated in the same town made you feel like you were making a difference. Beyond that, calling other MoveOn members is a nice touch. Folks were generally happy to hear from you.
Overall, easy, and successful. Hopefully we’ll do another one of these soon.
Way to go, guys! I commend all of you for your hard work and dedication. You’re an inspiration to those of us who haven’t made it out, yet to canvass or phone bank…
Thanks for the tip, I’m using Obama’s site to make calls to support McCain Palin (it works both ways, you know). I might even do the “house a volunteer” thing and try to talk some sense into them.
Go for it. Obama volunteers have McCain volunteers outnumbered by exponents. How many field offices does McCain have in Virginia again? How many in Colorado? And this year is nothing compared to the 2012 landslide when we smack down whatever unqualified clown you guys put up then.