Workin’ at the bank
We’re using an automated phone-dialer. I can make about 25 calls before my coherency completely collapses. I’ve made around 100 calls and talked to 18 people. The political science students working in the office tell me that is right on average. Here is the breakdown:
• 8 – Undecided.
• 6 – Solid Sanders supporters. One said she was a working mom and didn’t have time to volunteer for the campaign. Another tried to game the survey by asking me to count her whole family. They were all standing by and willing to come to the phone. One lady said she was wearing a Sanders t-shirt.
• 4 – Republicans three of which wanted to argue with me even though I was reading from a script. One was an outright hater who wanted to know if there was any choice stronger than “strongly oppose.” I also had a guy scream DONALD TRUMP into the phone.
• I talked to a lady who was 103 years old. She verified her age but didn’t have a lot else to say.
The rest were hang-ups, wrong numbers, etc. The same excuses we all make when we get an un-solicited phone call.
I know. I’ve done it. I’ve been cruel. Sometimes I let them give their whole spiel and build their hopes with a few “no kidding”, “tell me more” lines then tell them to forget it. Sometimes I yell a few nasty insults or use the old “Sorry I can’t hear you” bad connection bit.
This is not a pity the poor political phone banker thought. Their commitment to the cause makes them bulletproof to the haters… But it made me wonder what it would be like if paying my bills depended on my success on the phones?
Knockin’ on the door
I’ve been canvassing one time. It was our job to go door-to-door and hand out pamphlets, remind people to vote, ask if Sanders could count on their support, and if yes, could they volunteer? We knocked on 41 doors and talked to about 12 people. Canvassers work in pairs mainly for security reasons but it helps on the sanity side as well.
I walked with a thoroughly enjoyable young fellow just about to graduate from the University of Memphis. He’s all about politics and we thought some heady thoughts. I don’t have an exact breakdown of the 12 people we talked to but most were undecided or Sanders voters.
We talked for quite a while with a Trump supporter who was friendly and engaging. Many times we could tell someone was home but chose not to answer the to door. Kind of like a hang up call on the phone bank and anytime we saw a Sanders bumper sticker we put one of our flyers under the windshield wiper.
The people we met on the sidewalks and talked to through the doors were unfailingly friendly. (The dogs not so much.) If you’ve always thought it was easier to be rude over the phone than it is in a face-to-face conversation, I can confirm it’s true.
