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I spent two hours last night making get out the vote calls in my district, in a Democratic headquarters building that had no heat — with two other people. That's not enough. Because you know that somewhere out there, in someone's house organized through church there is a GOP phone tree of folks making calls, with potluck dinner and fresh cobbler out of the oven…and a heckuva lot more bodies than we were able to muster last night.
The Democrats, even after the mess that was the 2004 election, and even knowing that they needed to work on GOTV efforts, are still disorganized. That's the bad news.
The good news is that with all of the calls that I made yesterday, there was not one — NOT ONE — person who was pissed off at being bothered or who was yelling at me for calling on behalf of Democratic candidates. A lot of folks told me how fed up they are, how disgusted with the Bush Administration and the Republican rubber stamp Congress…and how they were planning on voting when our early vote begins on October 18th here.
This is a vast difference from what I got making Kerry campaign calls, let me tell you. People are motivated to get up and go vote — and, if one 89 year old woman that I spoke with yesterday is any indication, they are pretty damn sure they won't be voting for Republicans.
That's the good news.
This is a race to the finish between now and November 7th. They have a more organized ground game, we have the momentum and enthusiam and anger at our backs. But we need you. Please sign up to make some get out the vote calls in your area. Or distribute some flyers. Put a sign or two in your yard. And please get involved in your local Democratic organizations. Every little bit helps, and I know what the folks who read here are capable of — and it could be an awesome thing to behold if we all pulled together on this for the next few weeks.
The big issue for a lot of the folks that I spoke with yesterday? The mess that is Iraq. The WaPo is seeing the same thing with the consultants and focus groups that it interviewed. The election is going to come down to one thing, and one thing only, though: whichever side turns out its voters best has the greater chance of winning across the board. (See this if you don't believe me.)
Had enough? Haven't we all? Then let's DO something about it. Get out the vote.
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Mornin’, Christy!!!
Hey, groovy graphic!! Can I borrow it?? Need to put a GOTV promo up at a party website.
REDD!
Rayne at 1 — you are more than welcome to it. :)
It is 54 freaking degrees in my house right now. Brrrrrr…I hope that the burned out part in our heater arrives today, because I am sick of freezing. Pardon me while I go grab a blanket…
Just finished reading the late nite thread. Very amusing. Made me decide to buy Sullivan’s book.
Christy, you’re an inspiration.
For anyone in the DC area, please help GOTV for Jim Webb. That race may decide the Senate, and northern Virginia is the key. I’m maxed out on $$ to the campaign (and just hope my husband doesn’t stumble across my credit card statement).
GO WEBB!!!
I was out on the streets yesterday for Ned Lamont – and except for two of us, no one else showed up.
I, too, found that Iraq is key – and many undecideds, leaning toward Ned.
HELP HELP HELP
That’s the best thing you can do right now!
BTW, FirePups, in case it’s not obvious, if you’re not comfortable on the phone there are LOTS of things you can do to help.
Like bring an electric heater or two if they’re needed.
- Stock the refrigerator with soda, make coffee. Cookies are good, so are other snacks (things you can eat with your fingers easily between calls); folks who are on duty for 2 to 8 hours get the munchies.
- Offer your free cell phone minutes.
- Do literature drops — simply go to assigned houses and leave literature at the door. Good exercise.
- Similiarly, offer to drop yard signs.
- Run errands, like picking up literature at the printers’ or run signs between candidate campaigns and the local party office.
- Offer to help update websites with GOTV event info.
- Offer to drive folks doing literature drops or canvassing. Buy purchasing cards for gasoline and donate them to other drivers (my kids’ school sells them, they make 4% on the cards — it’s a win-win.)
I’m sure you can think of more…or simply ask.
Did 2 hours of lit drop last night, will do more this evening — that’ll mean we’ve covered voter guides to key precincts for pre-indentified Absentee Voters. Next up in my county: literature drops for other voters, which will require LARGE amounts of people because every Dem voter will get literature.
I think I need new walking shoes. Now.
Moveon Phone Banking -
walk the walk – it’s keeewl!
http://pol.moveon.org/phone/volunteer/c4c.html
Per lina above -
Mehlman has given up on Ohio – will spend that money in Virginia – go dogs go
Rayne at 7 – Yup — I brought a batch of cookies with me when I went to call yesterday. There are so many things that need to be done — including giving folks who need it a ride to the polls — that there is a job that should fit your personality. The important thing is to just DO something.
Must watch You Tube video: (you won’t be sorry) Put Another Ribbon on That SUV:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmsOIjzQ1V8
cbl at 8 — we got some word yesterday that there is a rumor that the RNC and the RNCC is pulling funding out of WV as well to direct it elsewhere. Their internal numbers must not look so good for a lot of their incumbants — and the challenger numbers must be tanking — if they are pulling funding this early here. It’s a good sign.
Tonight I finish calling to line up my Election Day poll-watchers and GOTV callers. On a related note of inspiration, d r i f t g l a s s was brilliant yesterday. (And being an optimist myself, I especially appreciate the material.)
christy – thanks so much for this post. your example of making gotv phone calls is a real inspiration…. here i am sitting at home nursing a wicked sore throat – when i could be making phone calls from home.
thanks for the motivation… just a little more coffee, before i switch to lemon tea with honey, some advil and then i’ll be ready for the phone calls. (moveon makes it easy to do from home).
I’m splitting my time between phone banking for Ned and Chris Murphy. I too am frustrated with how few people I see volunteering. Chris Murphy only has two phones for phone banking in Waterbury!
cbl, CHS — the problem with all the news about RNC/RNCC pulling money is that we don’t have concrete evidence, do we?
Have to continue to slog away, concede nothing. This state, for example, is supposed to be blue, but it has trended red over the last two decades, and an on-going population crash could be depleting our ranks (I see hard evidence of this while knocking on now-empty homes). Far too many of the entrenched, old school Dems continue to think they’ve got it in the bag here, and are not lifting a finger to help. Last night we had only 6 people on literature drops covering an area of 50,000 voters. Very sad. And NOONE phonebanking.
If the Repugs pull national money here, they’d still have a larger ground machine already in place and funded by local party. We cannot conceded anything; the chatter from media about the national money only buoys our spirits for a moment and then it’s back to work.
[p.s. Thanks, Christy, I’ll post the pick ASAP!]
Christy,
yes, good news indeedy
Mehlman concentrating on MO., VA., & TN
and oh yeah, about that post -
Sistah Redd Testifyin’ !!! Amen Sistah !!!
cfeddy — does the Murphy office have high speed internet? If so, they only need a router, PC’s and headsets to use Skype to scale up their calling capacity. A volunteer could offer to loan a router and cable (8-port runs about $50 if someone wanted to donate one); other volunteers could simply bring their laptops if they are Skype-compatible, loaded with the free Skype software, and make free phone calls anywhere in the U.S.
If Murphy had high-speed and two phone lines, they should be able to scale up to 4-8 more lines using Skype w/o problem.
Bigger challenge is the volunteers. ;-)
George Allen in Jeopardy? Veterans Weigh In.
Hi Guys,
Spazeboy and I are just about to leave to cover the first of three CT Senate debates in one week. This one will be live-streamed at 1p Eastern on http://www.nbc30.com — Shown locally live at 1p and rebroadcast at 7p
The second is being taped Wed afternoon for broadcast Th night, and the third is Monday evening live.
Just beware — the moderator for this one is Tom Monahan, totally in the bag for Lieberman.
Tim has set up a debate central at nedlamont.com
We’ll let you know how it goes!
Rayne,
Well that sounds great, and I will bring it to their attention. I sure would rather call from home if possible, and use my drive time for more phone calls.
Christie, I can confirm what you are saying. And it’s nice that they know you are a Democrat when you knock at the door or call them at home because people WANT to vent. They are so angry. Give them an opening and they will go on for a long time about all of the $%^# that has been bothering them. I’m guessing they wouldn’t be having that conversation with a Republican.
I am trying to organize a post-canvassing party at my house next week. The town I live in is huge and as far as I know, I’m the only canvasser for our congressional candidate who came out of nowhere recently to tie her GOP opponent. GOTV is so important this year. It really can not be overstated. If you are determined to make a change this year, there is simply no excuse to staying home on the weekends when the weather is still nice enough to walk for your candidate. Indeed, those who do nothing, assuming someone else will take care of it will have no one to blame but themselves if we lose Nov. 7. The voters are low hanging fruit this year. We just have to go collect them.
It’s not just people that need this election to change our government :
Why the Frogs Are Dying
Climate change is no longer merely a matter of numbers from a computer model. With startling swiftness, it is reordering the natural world.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15…../newsweek/
I’ve responded to requests for volunteers to the democratic party on the internet twice in the last week. So far, no one has contacted me.
I went to my representative’s office this past Saturday to volunteer – it was closed.
.
OT — oh, I so hope that Josh Marshall tippy-toes backwards and notes this bit reader DK posted about Mehlman, from an interview with Blitzer:
But Stayman didn’t really know why he was “released”; he’d been kept on after his term expired, but never mentions that he’d been told he was terminated for cause.
We can already see that Mehlman lied and continues to lie about anything Abramoffian…
But we can also see he’s acquainted with the Hatch Act.
Bet you this termination of Stayman falls squarely under the Hatch Act. What a coinky-dink!!
pluege @ 23
did you go to the district office or the campaign office?
pluege at 23 — I had the same problem here, and finally caught the Dem office open when we were driving by one evening and made my husband stop while I ran in to talk with them. Unfortunately, because of disorganization issues, it can be tough sometimes to find a way to help out. If you can’t find something local, MoveOn is doing phonebanking as well, and you can find info. on their website how you can do that from home. Several folks who read here have been doing it and tell me that it’s easy and also fun. Sorry you are having a tough time connecting with someone in your area — I’d try the Congressional candidates campaign office phone, leave them a message saying you went by to volunteer and that you want to help but they haven’t been there, and see if you don’t get a call back. HTH!
cfeddy — try the Skype at home if you’d like; be aware that on caller ID systems, Skype calls come through as some nonsensical number like “0123456″. Some callers may not pick these up; leave a message stating what you are doing and that you’ll call back in a day or so. Chances are better they’ll pick up the second time.
pluege — Try MoveOn’s phonebanking, or drop me an email if you’d like and I’ll track down a DFA person in your area who can get you better guidance on phonebanking details. [rayne_today -at- yahoo.com] It’s a function of inadequate local party funding and institutional machinery that you aren’t getting through. You might also call your state’s party office, explain your situation, and ask if there is a campaign you can assist. Don’t be put off; quite often the lack of warm bodies merely means you are VERY MUCH NEEDED to be that warm body.
MSNBC: Saddam verdict coming November 5, according to what the chief investigating judge told the AP.
Gosh, who could have anticipated the timing of that?
To the phones!
my least favorite part of the week – having to sign off -my Monday day job – no toobz, no bobblehead teevee
but listen to your Aunties Rayne & Redd – get out there dogs – lots to do – and Karl is counting on you NOT doing it
Have A Progressive Day !
FWIW, I saw something pretty important in Northwest Connecticut yesterday.
loads of Ned Lamont signs.
and Chris Murphy for Congress as well.
I flew to NY for a conference (where I am now using their wireless Internet to ignore the opening speaker) and drove through NW Connecticut with my wife, daughter, and her fiancee, looking at autumn leaves.
We looked at a lot of Ned Lamont signs. Oh, sure, we saw two “Joe” signs the entire day, but we saw dozens of Ned Lamont signs. So someone has been out there getting the word out.
We also saw lots of red Chris Murphy (D) signs and lots of green signs for his opponent, incumbent Bush-facilitator Nancy Johnson (R). So we know that Murphy has a real presence as well.
But it was remarkable to see no Joe, and loads of Lamont.
Keep at it! G-O-T-V!
Somewhat OT
I was driving along Route 7 in Loudoun County Virginia this past weekend (Major communting route for the high tech corridor) and saw some signs in the median strip.
The first said: Had Enough
50 feet later: Corruption
50 feet later: Vote Democratic
It was so simple and effective, and stategically placed. Loved it!
I’m scheduled to make calls Saturday morning at the new MoveOn office in Bethesda, MD.
I have to say that the whole attitude during the signing up process has been MUCH more positive than when I made called for Kerry in the final days before the election. The Kerry folks I interacted with, both before and during the time I spent for them on the phone, made me feel like I was a sort of necessary nuisance to them and that I was lucky to get to glimpse the inner workings. I’ve run volunteer programs. That’s not how you do it.
The MoveOn folks, including the lady I spoke with on the phone yesterday, have been lovely and have really made me feel welcome and needed.
I’m looking forward to Saturday.
Well, Arianna has pi$$ed me off this morning – she’s got an article — Let’s help NED LAMONT — and I think, ‘Great, she’s going to rally the troops!’ Instead it’s more like a hit piece, about helping to write his concession speech ahead of time. If she was trying to help him, it backfired… 3 pages of comments that are mostly depressing. We don’t need this kind of garbage!!! GO NED!!!
pluege @ 23
Who is your candidate? Maybe we can help make the connection.
COLORADO BOB @ 22
It should surprise no one, then, that brother frog is blue.
Stop the madness. Thanks Colorado Bob.
Our Diane Benson fund is up to $2,800.73. Thanks to all pups for helping Alaska go blue!
I worked on the Lamont campaign just before the primary. I contacted them recently, asking them if they wanted help right now. They didn’t seem very interested in out-of-staters assisting them. My friend in New Mexico also emailed them, asking what she could do, same response.
selise @ 13
Sorry you’ve got the sore throath; me too. Was wondering if you’ve seen CT Bob’s video of his Scheslinger interview. It would be helful if we had a WORD transcript of the middle portion where he talks about Lieberman and his lack of integrity — I’d like to create a post that we can spotlight to CT media.
New thread, gang.
Karen at 37 — I think the Lamont campaign is trying to concentrate on calls coming from inside CT. Lieberman is getting so much out-of-state support, and folks in CT have been bristling at it — so I think they are trying to keep calls going from inside the state where they can on this one. We have the same insular issue in WV this close to the wire as well, with a couple of out-of-state GOP 527s trying to buy a couple of the races here. Blergh.
People calling on behalf of Ned should be quoting that article in the Hartford paper in which Joe could not say that he wanted the Dems to take over the Congress this year. I also think that should be the subject of TV and radio ads. Too many Democrats believe Joe’s claims that he will caucus with the Democrats. If you read today’s Krugman column in the Times, you’ll see Paul’s not buying it, and neither am I. Joe should be asked this question every single time he appears in public.
Peterr @
28
The prosecution of Saddam is the ONLY upside outcome from Bush’s Iraq adventure. And indeed Saddam:
imprisoned and tortured thousands of Iraqis
killed thens of thousands of Iraqis
waged an unprovoked war of aggression against a much smaller nation.
To oust and prosecute Saddam, the U.S. under the leadership of George W. Bush
detained and harshly interrogated tens of thousands of Iraquis
waged an unprovoked war of aggression against Iraq
touched off events that have lead to the deaths of 665,000 Iraqis.
And that adventure has cost
300 billion near-term dollars
two trillion dollars in the long term
30,000 severely wounded soldiers
3000 dead soldiers
the respect of the world
the loss of habeus corpus
the loss of freedom from warrantless search.
Heck of job, Bushie!
karen allen @
37
I saw Aldon Hynes at a recent DFA meeting in NJ. He sorta said the same thing. “Stay home and help your local candidates.” Maybe they feel they got burned by so much publicity from the bloggers that showed up to help, including me. We looked like interlopers. In any case, I’m sure they have enough volunteers or they would be asking again so take his advice and help a local candidate instead.
Ned Lamont for Senate
This is it. The first day of the campaign’s last leg.
For eight months we have worked our tails off. We’ve worked them off for an endeavor almost every pundit, politician and political prognosticator believed was quixotic … at best.
And here we are, twenty-two days out, on the brink of effecting real change at home and abroad.
Today at 1 PM, Ned Lamont (Proud Democrat), Alan Schlesinger (Republican) and Joe Lieberman (Lieberman) take the stage in the first of three debates between now and election day.
You can follow the action, live, right at this link:
http://www.nedlamont.com/debate1hq
The link above provides an opportunity to watch the debate live, follow campaign festivities on the ground, and includes several opportunities for meaningful participation.
scarecrow @ 38
scarecrow… if you’re still around… yes, i did watch ctbob’s most excellent interview. i could do make a transcript today (i would rip an mp3 first – easier to work with) if you are still interested, send me an email…
GOTV!- I’ve been helping a bit at both the John Hall for Congress office in Beacon, New York and the Kirsten Gillibrand for Congress office in Rhinebeck, New York. Both organizations are very good at giving volunteers effective work and are glad to have as many volunteers as possible. An article in Congressional Quarterly this week figured Gillibrand’s race against incumbent John Sweeney is now a toss-up. That’s a move from 19 points down last month. John Hall’s race was rated leaning slightly Republican last week, but again the momentum was with Hall against the incumbent, Sue Kelly. John Hall has a phone system where you can make calls from your own home.
Volunteers are the key to victory.
http://www.JohnHallforCongress.com
845-831-1735
http://www.Gillibrand2006.com
518-697-3720
OT
Why do Loserman have as much support as he appears to??? What are these polls I am seeing reflect?
I have emailed several campaigns and offered to work… even spoke face to face with John Hall and gave him my card and never received a call or an email. This baffles me. Is this lousy organization skills, poor memory, lack of interest?
Thank you to all the phone bankers out there! I’m going for the local youth vote here, and have registered every 18 year old left-leaner I can get my hands on. http://www.rockthevote.org. From login to printout, it only takes about 3 minutes per person and in California, we still have until Tuesday to get people registered.
Dear DefJef at #47,
Maybe the campaign is over-worked. That’s why it makes sense for you to call again and help out. If I knew how to contact you I guarantee you’d get a call.
In the meantime, Talkingpointsmemo today covers both the Gillibrand and Hall races.
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.c…..010377.php
EPU’d for sure, but fitting:
Mysterious campaignin’ ways….
Had only a short time to converse w/ my thoroughly-Repub. dentist today… Made the most of it, apparently, so forgive me this lil’ personal pat-on-my-own-back – HAH!
Started out nudging him with a gentle comment about these being very unsettling times in the nation. All of a sudden, a wide-eyed dentist, pouring forth agonized 1/2-sentences of agreement. (He knows I’m a librul thru & thru, so no-harm no-foul on my part.)
Short, promising end to sorta long story: very energized dentist scribbled down huffingtonpost DOT com to add to his “normal” reading matter of Catholic newsletter, because we BOTH were in total agreement about tv news being a big wasteland (ESPECIALLY FOX, tee hee), news stories being suppressed & spun (e.g., Wolfie covering maybe-robber’s truck in puddle instead of war etc.), trust violated…, yahda yahda.
He acted as if he could hardly wait to get home to Ariana’s TLC & headlines, and Google.
You’ll have to trust me – let him ride with the training wheels for awhile; it wasn’t time to tell him about FDL, & might never be, but I do think he’s “ours” for this fall’s election. And, ahem, this is a nice talkative dentist, heh heh. And this is Ohio.
EGAD! Folks, Christy’s right. DON’T BE SHY out there. Tact and even feigned compassion are good, but GO FOR IT! And you don’t need to spell everything out for people; often a groan and rolled eyes are the perfect way to end a sentence. The natives, they be restless, the times’re ripe for change!
GO FOR THE GOLD! aaarrrrrwrufff!
p.s., no. just a cleaning & checkup today. You think I’d be nuts enuf to do that before facing his shaky-handed drillin’ machine?!
sunday afternoon was my 1st time making calls at a home in my area! we called on behalf of sherrod brown with moveon members. it was an experience! now that i’ve a bit of experience under my belt i feel confident to do it again so i signed up for more calls. in my small way i’mdoing what i can while i can. ok fellow FDLers lets get busy lol
Thank you, juslin.
We never know what we can do unless we try.
My heart used to pound in my chest, if I simply rose to ask a question in a crowded room.
It helps a lot to feel the strength of the FDL community behind me now.
Sherrod’s a good man. Good luck to him, and ALL of us! We need him in the Senate!
I have to say that my experience has been the same as #23 and 47. I’ve emailed my interest in volunteering and would be happy to drive people, disribute literature, register voters, etc. But no response. I have had emails from MoveOn.org, but wasn’t free on the dates. Also, I’m not sure I’d be too great at the phone banking thing.
Perhaps it is because I live in Los Angeles and there aren’t any competitive races here???
For now, I’ve just had to be content to send $$ to the Act Blue site or candidates themselves. I know money helps, but it feels a bit passive.
todd #53 (and DefJef #47, too) — can you contact a DFA group in LA area and see what they’re doing? Check either through Meetup.com or through DFALink.com for groups closest to you (I’m sure there’s more than one). You could also check in Meetup for other progressive groups to see what GOTV they are doing. Either email the organizers through links at the site, or post a message on their message boards/forums with your contact info. Also check Do More Than Vote (http://domorethanvote.org/) and Craigslist, too (I post my events on Craigslist via Meetup).
Don’t give up; the fact you can’t reach people or that people aren’t calling back is generally an indicator of a people shortage across the US, not a sign of disinterest. Believe me, I would KILL for more volunteers on the ground here — but I can’t be at the telephone all day to take messages, I have to be out doing GOTV when I’m not working. This is a fundamental problem between Dems and the Republican opposition. GOTV for Repugs is a business; they use money to buy the groundgame they need…but that can be rather corrupting, yes?
Lastly, there’s the 100actions.org page — it’s chuckfull of things you can do on your own to help realize the 50-State Strategy. You can also check event listed there to see if there’s anything nearby with which you can help.
Hang in there, please. Don’t give up, be determined. It took me doing exactly what I’m encouraging you to do way back in 2003-2004 — and now I’m part of a new local Democratic team. It feels GREAT!!