Posted on 11/04/2012 5:04:45 PM PST by markomalley
The Get-Out-the-Vote (GOTV) call center, set up by the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC), was completely full, and additional volunteers had to call from the hallway outside.
Initially, I had been under the impression that the volunteers would be calling voters in neighboring Nevada, where the RJC has a strong organizing presence.
Instead, the volunteers were calling Pennsylvania, which has suddenly become competitive after recent polls showed Republican Mitt Romney pulling even with President Barack Obama.
By the time I arrived at noon, the call center had been open for two hours and the volunteers had made nearly 12,000 calls, en route to a total of 20,000 by 2 p.m. The RJC's Los Angeles branch has made roughly 400,000 calls during the 2012 election cycle, organizers said.
The RJC is targeting Jewish voters, who traditionally vote Democratic in large proportions. This year, support for Obama may fall, due to discomfort among Jewish voters with Obama's record on Israel and his poor economic performance.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
If that’s the DC phone number that calls me 5X per day, I’m gonna kick their asses....
I’m getting 2 0r 3 per day from R support. While I appreciate their work, they need to knock it off. I have already voted and my schedule isn’t necessarily 9-5.
Americans need to Chick-fil-A the democrats top to bottom on Tuesday.
No. And I’m not in a swing/battleground state either. I’m in Arizona. And I don’t hang on the phone long enough to see who the heck it was.
Phone banks are like selling a car to someone with more money than brains. Giving these politicians scads of money to run campaigns is like giving the teenage kid the keys to the car and the liquor cabinet. (I stole that from PJ O’Rourke)
Anyone here ever do one of those GOTV phone banks? Just given how I approach calls from anonymous people to my house, I have a difficult time seeing those phone banks as being anything other than a waste of time. We RARELY ever answer the phone if the call is from a source we aren’t familiar with, even if local.
If you ever do manage to get a ‘live’ person on the line, do they usually hang up? If they support the opposing candidate, do they try arguing, debating, or just engaging in hostilities with you? Do you ever actually change any minds or get someone to vote for your candidate that otherwise wouldn’t have?
I’ve been doing calls for years. Most people are nice, but you do get the occasional ahole, can’t do too much damage over the phone. Some are glad to get a real person to ask questions.
I do phone banks, door to door and poll watching. We get lots of friendlies both on the phone and at the door. If someone who is on the fence asks us why RR? We have answers But no we do not try to debate those who are clearly in the tank for the socialist. They do try to debate us but we do not engage.
BTW, can you give us one hour at a polling place Tues? Hand out palm cards, sign wave, anything?
I call in WI. Yes, lots of answering machines. We used to call Republicans areas which was fine. Recently we are mining Democrat areas - one more way that we show we are on offense. Once in a while you get an undecided and I have gotten them to join us.
Luckily supposedly Romney is pushing more walking outreach this year...think that is more effective.
A friend and I made about 200 phone calls to Scranton today!
While I appreciate the work being done, and understand GOTV, but my gosh 10 calls a night enough already.
Every time I pick up the 202 calls it is either the House or Senate committees trying to raise cash. Seems like the Romney calls are from MA, Utah and local numbers, and a few other random area codes.
I’m dubious about working the pre-election day phone banks in the form of polling folks to see who to call on election day — necessary evil, but I didn’t like the couple of hours I put in in 2008. I worked phone banks for the first Reagan campaign on election day — that was definitely worthwhile. You were calling pre-identified Reagan voters and registered Republicans, asking them if they had a chance to get to the polls yet, and reminding them of the importance. Folks were generally appreciative.
Actually, it was a lot of fun late in the day (fun we won’t have this time even if Romney wins in a Reaganeque landslide): I was still on the phones when the networks called PA (where I was, and where I was calling) for Reagan, so we got to ask folks if they’d had a chance to vote for the winner. Now, they, rightly won’t call any states until the polls close.
For folks who are irritated with “robo-calls”, the newer phone banks at large victory centers have automated phones. It is a real volunteer person making the call, but when they get an answering machine or voicemail, they push a button that leaves a message.
What you think you received as a robo-call may have been a real volunteer calling to talk to you.
Every time I pick up the 202 calls it is either the House or Senate committees trying to raise cash. Seems like the Romney calls are from MA, Utah and local numbers, and a few other random area codes.
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