I have been participating in phone banking as a volunteer here, both locally and nationally and find it a particular easy thing to do, convenient because you can do it from your own home and a good use of my free cell phone minutes. Although tonight I had limited time, I found that I could make 20 phone calls to voters in Louisiana.
I would encourage every supporter to consider signing up, if you haven't done so already. With Super Tuesday now behind me and my New York primary over, I find I can still be involved, excited and inspired in this campaign by making a significant contribution talking to voters all over the country on the phone.
This website makes it easy for anyone to participate. The scripts are there as a guide, in case you are shy about what to say. There are conference calls you can listen to in order to prepare yourself, too. If a voter is undecided or indicates that they have a question about Barack, I find that for me, it is easier if I speak from my heart. I use the scripts as a guide, but usually pick one or two issues that I know are reasons I support Barack Obama for President and present them with all the passion and spirit when the opportunity arises.
Not all voters want to know why I support Obama and not all voters want to talk to a complete stranger. But when they do, it is so exciting! Tonight's calls got me so excited as I had one woman saying she supports Barack Obama "100 times 10%" and another one who proclaimed that everyone in her household was going to vote for him on Saturday. I had an unusual story, too, of an elderly gentleman who is an Obama supporter but wanted to confirm his polling place for Saturday. The website makes it easy and suggests we refer the voter to the website to look it up. I felt in my heart that this man had probably never touched a computer and when i suggested he go to the website, my hunches were confirmed. So I offered looking it up for him and politely asked for his address so I could do the search. He gave it to me, but a message came up saying it was incorrect, so I offered to call him back. I didn't want to lose a potential supporter!
After a minute or two, I realized that the website is a bit particular about how you enter the address and all I had to do was write "W' instead of "West" to get my results. So I called the man back. He was extremely grateful: perhaps a bit too much as he then asked me if I was married and if we could continue talking by phone later on! I have to say that it made me smile, but I politely declined and no harm was done. Regardless of his motives, I truly believe that this man did appreciate my willingness to call him back and it's this kind of kindness that will be remembered in this campaign.
So, I urge all supporters to take at least an hour of your time and sign up for phone banking. Encourage your friends and family to join in, too. You will feel good and know that you ARE making a difference.
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