Last night I volunteered with the Democratic National Committee to call voters on behalf of Harris-Walz. The commitment was from 6-8 pm, EDT. The call started on Zoom and we were told there were over 300 participants, from all over the country. Those who had previous phone banking experience could immediately proceed to a dialer where they could begin making calls to North Carolina, our target state. The rest of us received 30 minutes of training.
In the interest of full disclosure, I had made calls for candidates in the past. However, each organizing group is different, the technology has evolved and, except for one experience, I only previously called Democrats, which is what I am. We were told last night that we would be calling Democrats and Republicans.
After the 30 minutes of training, we were pretty much launched. Like most of us who were either becoming reacquainted –or acquainted –with phone banking, there’s trepidation. What if people are rude? Can you soldier on after multiple hang-ups? Was I already asking for a hostile reception with a call to someone between 6-8 pm, dinner time?
Yes, I had multiple hang-ups. No one was rude. The people I managed to speak to for a few minutes were mostly other Democrats, who were voting for, or had voted for, Harris-Walz, although two of them no longer lived in North Carolina. I did get several Trump supporters who ended the call quickly. But I also got someone who was undecided! For me, it made the whole experience worthwhile when, after my 10 minute Kamala sales pitch, he said he’d “think about voting for the woman.” I must have thanked him at least 4 times.
At 7:50 pm, we were instructed to return to the original Zoom to share experiences. I shared mine and got several folks on the screen to raise their fist in support or pantomime an applause.
As we were finishing, the moderator thanked us all and said he wanted us to keep calling on other phone banking slots. After all, he said, “it’s much better to take action than to agonize over the results.” I agree.
If you’d like to join me, here’s a link to the DNC website for signing up for any of the many, many phone banking options! If you haven’t done it before, just take a deep breath and sign up. It IS much better to take action than to agonize. And you may even get an undecided voter.
Wrinkles Mean Wisdom 
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