Though I’ve contributed to Obama’s campaign, I hadn’t yet given much of my time other than talking to friends and family about why I think he’s the best candidate. Like a lot of liberals out there I was starting to have pre-election jitters so I decided to make some Get-Out-the-Vote calls for Obama’s campaign.
The website is remarkably user-friendly and after clicking ‘make calls,’ you have a list of 50 voters within seconds. I decided to begin with voters in Pennsylvania because, after listening to a recent This American Life that featured some Democrats for McCain in PA, I was even more worried that the Keystone state might go red after all. After dinner, I dialed for Colorado. The calls tonight were not intended as efforts at persuasion; the goal was simply to provide registered voters with polling info and encourage them to vote. After introductions, the script suggests you ask them who they plan to support; if they say McCain or Other, you thank them for their time. If Obama or Undecided, you ask them if they plan to vote, do they have the polling info, specific questions like when they will vote [apparently these type of questions prompt them to formulate a specific plan and leads to greaer success in getting-out-the-vote] and then thank them for their time.
However, for the most part, my calling was an exercise in leaving messages: I would kindly introduce myself, provide the info, and then encourage them to ‘have their voices heard.’ I did talk to some people, perhaps a dozen out of the 60 of so calls I made, though most of these weren’t the intended targets, such as the parents of young voters. By far my most interesting call occurred when I tried calling Lisa, who, I was told, wasn’t home. Seizing the opportunity, I asked the roommate what plans she had for tomorrow. She wasn’t sure who she was going to vote for. I had found one of the mythical undecideds. I asked her why, and she responded that, “she was pretty conservative.” On what issues was she conservative? She was pro-life. I said I understood her position and that my parents in Tennessee feel the same way, but then I offered that I was impressed with Obama’s efforts to find a middle ground on this divisive issue; that no one is in favor of abortion, and that people on both sides of the aisle can work together so that there are less unwanted pregnancies. He went on to talk about the economy and national security as well. She understood what she wanted, but she just wasn’t sure who or what policies would get us there. Sadly though when I asked her how she would make up her mind by tomorrow, she offered that she might simply not vote at all.
The few assigned voters I reached had already voted, and when I asked if they would mind sharing who they had supported, I received rather surly responses and sudden goodbyes. I was only asking because it was on the script so I began simply thanking them for their time.
As the night wore on, I begin to appreciate how much both campaigns are inundating the people on these call lists, and I grew more and more hesitant to continue calling. I felt as though I was intruding in these people’s lives. I also worried that my calling for Obama might somehow sway voters toward McCain ought of spite; nonetheless I soldiered on assuming that the Obama campaign knew what it was doing. I would later discover from Obama’s website that by 9pm CST, volunteers had made more 710, 761 calls today alone.
One mother in PA–I had been calling for her son–expressed her frustrations saying I was the tenth call she had received that night, though I seemed to be the first live person to whom she had spoken. Apparently, the McCain campaign had put the robocall machine in overdrive. However, from the Colorado callers to whom I spoke, I garnered that there was significant overlap between the lists being given to Obama volunteers. One voter I reached, my last call of the night, told me I was about the 20th Obama volunteer who had called her. Twenty might have been hyperbole, but even 3 is too many; it just comes across as pushy. Having already voted for Obama, she was pleasant and even glad that the campaign was working so hard. Other people were much less pleased. One woman screamed for me remove her name from anything having to do with “Barack f***ing Odama [sic].”
Did I make a difference? I’m not sure I did, but I’m glad I made the calls. Introducing myself to strangers, even over the phone, is not my forte so I was proud of myself for overcoming that hurdle in order to contribute. Also, who knows. Maybe one of these people didn’t know where their polling station was. Now they do, and that information could be factor that gets them into the voting booth.
