My wife wants to volunteer but has a Visayan accent

[FreakinDJ]

Yes she is an immigrant to this country, but she has become completely invested in wanting to see Bernie win. I looked on Bernie's site and found a couple of phone banking parties in our area, but when I suggested phone banking she became apprehensive about her accent

She wants to bring food

and she is a hell of a good cook

What do you guys think

[Kip Humphrey]

1. volunteer by all means in whatever way she is comfortable and can have fun!

Volunteering for Bernie will provide a great and rewarding experience. The most important aspect to volunteering is to have fun! Having fun is contagious. GO FOR IT!!!

[roguevalley]

14. keep her in her comfort zone because this should be a great

memory for her. She probably gets enough crap for her accent. Good memories for both of you. Hug her for me.

[Liberal Jesus Freak]

2. Great idea!

Everyone loves to eat...especially good food

[Cleita]

3. Accent is the least of her problems. We are a country of immigrants

and are used to different accents. What's important is for her to do her homework so she can answer questions.

[FreakinDJ]

4. She is no stranger to doing homework

she has a BA in architecture

She stumbled onto Bernie of her own accord by reading up on him over the internet. I was busy working 7 days a week, 12 hours a day for a project from Sept to mid January and she filled the time by reading up on Bernie.

She does have the unique viewpoint of having lived in a country fraught with corruption and cronyism.

[Cleita]

5. She will do fine especially if there is tasty food involved.

[Rhiannon12866]

6. I worked on my congressman's campaigns and there are other jobs besides phone banking

There was a great deal of paperwork, stuffing envelopes for those (including me) who went door to door and one guy was running the copy machine both day and night. I also made it a point to bring cookies since the dedicated folks there (lots of college age kids) got hungry, so food would definitely be appreciated. I'm not sure what your operation is like, but I'm sure whatever she's available to do would be appreciated.

As for phone banking, the last time I did this (2014), it was pretty discouraging. Since so many now have caller ID, the vast majority on my lists just never bothered to pick up the phone - and these were supposed to be "likely voters." Kudos to your wife for being willing to pitch in! Most of those who actually pick up the phone aren't expecting a long conversation...

[sarge43]

11. I did data entry, getting all phone bank results into the 'puter.

When I volunteered I was up front about my people pleasing abilities - just about non existent.

In short, there's much more to do to help out than man the phones. All help is welcome.

[Rhiannon12866]

17. I totally agree! There is always so much to do in any campaign

And obviously a presidential campaign is a huge enterprise, much more so than the Congressional campaigns I worked on. I guess my point was that making GOTV calls are unfortunately becoming less and less relevant with the widespread use of caller ID. When I made calls in the 2009 race, I got a lot of hang ups, but in 2014 practically nobody even bothered to answer.

[sarge43]

18. Here in NH during primary season I no longer answer any numbers that aren't on my contact list.

After third time of telling a campaign my intentions and "please take me off your contact list", I go to the nuclear option.

Phone banking soon may be obsolete.

[Rhiannon12866]

20. That's my impression, too

After calling number after number and getting no answer, I began to wonder if there was much point in it. And I imagine most of these are land lines which are decreasing in number. We have caller ID at home and I ignore those calls from Idaho or Louisiana where I know I don't know anyone, but the candidate's name does appear on the GOTV calls I've gotten and those on the list are supposed to be "likely voters." However, mistakes are made, will never forget when I was going door-to-door for my congressman and some guy threatened to run me over with his car! When going door-to-door, I've learned that it's best to travel in pairs...

[sarge43]

21. Travel in pairs

Even then -- still remember the dog that damn near nailed my partner and I. We made it back to the car just in time. GOTV isn't for the faint of heart.

[Rhiannon12866]

22. The first time I did it, I lucked out, was sent to an area that was mostly senior citizens

My grandmother lived in a retirement community, so I spent a lot of time there and understand where they're coming from. And they vote! We even made it a point of offering rides to the polls. It was none of my business how they voted, but they did know that their Democratic congressman cared enough to make sure they made it to the polls...

[sarge43]

24. Seniors generally are the best bet.

Here, on the other, is rural NH. We have places that only God and may be the sheriff office know about and, sorry to say, we do have a meth problem, and a few of our Swamp Yankees are still coming to terms with 19th century; so checking off all the names could get dicey.

"Think we should knock on the door?"

"Even if there were one, no."

[Kalidurga]

7. I think it is sad she worries about her accent.

It's kinda like people think you are dumb if you have a hillbilly accent. It's hard to fight feelings you get from other people from way back when you were very young. And I am sure now that she is where most people are native English speakers it's that much harder to overcome. I think phone banking could be good practice. That's what my French teacher said anyway speak out loud often it helps.

[LiberalElite]

8. IMO, so what if she has an accent -

how clearly does she speak English? She could just go for it and attend a phone bank and see how it goes. If it turns out to not be a good fit - there are other things she could do.

I Googled "volunteer Sanders" and found a web page form for volunteering that lists (besides the phone work) "texting other volunteers or supporting volunteers....data entry, tech support..." Or if they're giving out leaflets maybe she could do that with another volunteer.

Another volunteer form lists other possibilities in addition to phone banking: https://go.berniesanders.com/page/s/work

[FreakinDJ]

10. Your right I did miss spell it

Visayans

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visayans



or more accurately she is Cebuano

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cebuano_language

[LiberalElite]

12. Ok - a couple minutes later I revised

my OP because it seemed a tad obnoxious. I think your wife should try the phone banking and see how it goes, and if it seems not to work out, no worries - there's other ways to help.
P.S.: We all have accents.

[immoderate]

9. Jump in!

I can't see how she would do any harm. And everybody is, and should be, welcome.

--imm

[Depaysement]

13. Everybody has an accent

She's welcome to the fight and tell her we are happy to have her.

[SheilaT]

15. If her accent is so strong that people have difficulty understanding her,

then she needs to do something other than phoning or going canvassing, unless with some other volunteers.

And yes, bringing food to the volunteers is always welcome.

[mak3cats]

16. Completely off-topic: I used to belong to Mensa...

...and I'm ashamed to say I had to Google "Visayan" because I had never seen the word before. Learn something new every day!

Thanks for increasing my vocabulary!

[swilton]

19. Any campaign would be lucky to have her

Food is always welcome for the campaigns - primary days and other days. Those going door to door welcome snacks, especially in the cold weather. Then there are refreshments for campaign meetings.

Campaigning with a Visayan accent imho is a plus because it is evidence that the Sanders campaign welcomes and is represented by all voices.

The Sanders campaign is characterized by authenticity; your wife's contributions will be welcome as a sign that the campaign walks the talk.

[cui bono]

23. I don't think phone banking would be a problem

When I did it last weekend all they wanted us to do was ask the person who they would be voting for if they voted today and then we said thank you and that was it. Then we recorded their answers so that the canvassers would know who to target. I got into a couple longer conversations but it wasn't even about issues. One was the husband of the woman I was calling and he's Republican and he and I joked back and forth a bit and the other was a man who was doing flooring at the time and wanted more information so I was getting his email address to email him some info later. That is unusual though. In fact, you get quite a few wrong numbers. So it all helps and there isn't much talking necessary if she is concerned about that.

But we're Democrats, we don't have a problem with accents! And the call list is registered Dems so unless you get a spouse that's a Repub you only get Dems. If she thinks people may have trouble understanding her then I know food would be welcome. They had stuff for making sandwiches, chips, cookies and coffee and water at the event I went to and I offered to donate some money for it when I left but one of the women running that even refused it. I said next time I'd make some scones to bring and she said that would be great! It was at the CA Nurses Assoc. but I don't know if they sponsored it completely and they bought the food or if they just donated their offices and internet connection.

.