Are You Going to Help?

There's still time to help elect John McCain and Sarah Palin. This past weekend, I made phone calls through the volunteer online phone bank. I admit, I was uncomfortable cold-calling complete strangers on a Sunday afternoon. But it was ultimately a rewarding experience. There were people who still claimed to be undecided. There were also several Republicans who sounded like they needed a little encouragement to go to the polls. I like to think I made a difference.

In the middle of the afternoon, I blegged for advice because I was having a hard time talking to answering machines. As I expected, the wisdom of crowds made things much easier.

Please consider making phone calls on behalf of McCain/Palin 2008 in the next few days. The process is very easy. Sign up at the top link above (I'm fairly certain you don't even have to use a real email addy if you don't want to get GOP emails) and within minutes the website will provide you with names, locations, phone numbers and scripts. (I think the hours are from 9am to 9pm Eastern.)

You generally get to choose the state you'd like to make calls to, so if you have free long distance like me, you can help out with some of the battleground states. My suggestions are Colorado, Ohio, Virginia, and Pennsylvania.

I'm tucking some advice from last weekend under the fold. Read it first and then get calling. I challenge each of you to make at least twenty phone calls. It won't take that long and it may make a difference on Tuesday. I'm going to be calling again this weekend too.

Later: I want to emphasize that you can make calls from the comfort of your own home. This is so easy to do, there's just no excuse for not helping.

Get the names and numbers from the McCain/Palin website. Call in between loads of laundry. Call while you're waiting for dinner to be done. Call after you put the tot down for her afternoon nap. Do what I did and call while you're blogging. I know you guys spend countless hours just sitting in front of your computer. You could use a little of that time to call voters.

On scripts, courtesy of Kat-Mo:

Very simple. Keep the message simple.

"Hi, I'm _________, a volunteer from McCain for President campaign. We're interested in talking to you about your vote and the future of our nation.

[simplify talking points]

John McCain is a proven leader.
He has the experience to keep our nation safe.
He knows that keeping taxes low helps stimulate the economy.
He wants you to keep your own money, not use government to "spread the wealth around".
Please help put John McCain in the White House on November 4th.
Vote John McCain.
Thank you."

Don't worry about the self-important, low-level RNC dweeb insisting that the script is sacred. It's stilted and unwieldy. Nobody talks like the provided script and people react less warmly if they can hear you reading. Memorize, simplify, don't read it; just talk.

Tell them your first name and say you are a volunteer.

On demeanor, courtesy of RayJ:

Smile when you talk. Even if they can't see you they can tell.

Several folks also suggested standing up while making the calls.

On your goal, courtesy of mrobvious:

Just like any sales call, it's a numbers game. Just remember that First Prize is a Cadillac Eldorado, Second Prize you get a set of steak knives, and Third Prize you get sent to Bill Ayers' commie desert death camps.

The point is to talk to as many people as you can handle.

posted by Gabriel Malor at 02:57 AM

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