pre-election phoning - is it going overboard

[goddess40]

We are calling and re-calling people that have said that they are going to vote for Kerry. Some are starting to get angry and demanding that they not be called again.

I'm afraid we will turn off voters by harassing them to remember to vote.

[AlinPA]

1. I have heard the same thing from a number of people around here.

[flpoljunkie]

2. I agree. Remember what happened in Iowa. Harassment will not help JK!

[NMDemDist2]

3. here in AZ on the lists it shows in big green letters "VOTED" so

we can skip over that entry

I am using the online systems though.....

[ewagner]

4. We're running into it

over here too.........

People are getting tired....especially those who are only marginally involved and will do nothing more than vote. We've got to be careful on this/

I spent the day on sign patrol: replacing stolen or damaged sign all over the city....only one or two K/E signs missing....couple really shredded in the wind today...Wow....even a little hailstorm around 1 PM.

Nobody is working harder than you Goddess....you have my deepest respect.

[Aussie_expat]

5. In Florida it is tooooo much.....

I'm getting 3 to 4 calls an evening.

Thursday evening I got Jeb Bush, P. Diddy and Betty Castor all on automated calling systems.

When you are trying to have a little time with your family it is over-bearing and invasive.

I think that most people would call it a big turn-off.

[DireStrike]

6. Aren't they keeping track of who's been called?

Seems that should be one of the primary considerations when looking at/ making up a list of who to call.

[goddess40]

12. There are several groups calling

Not just the Dems, but ACT and MOVEON.org

[sandnsea]

13. Many groups are calling

Kerry campaign, Moveon, local Dems, local Dem candidates, and any organizations like unions, environmental, etc. So it does get tough and too many don't take the extra 5 seconds to empathize with the caller, which usually works and gets them talking more than they would so you can figure out where they're really at anyway.

[Longhorn]

7. I'm sorry but this is one reason I won't do phone calls.

I hate it when I get the calls myself and I REALLY hate it if I get called over and over again.

They need to find a way to record when calls or made to avoid the duplicate calling. When the DNC called me a few weeks ago, I let them know that I had already contributed online and would continue to contribute online so they could quit calling. The next day, I got another call and I told the guy what I had already told the first caller. He apologized and said he would make sure it didn't happen again -- and I haven't received another phone call from the DNC since!

I donate money, help out with mailings (yes, it's not very environmentally friendly but it's less intrusive) and campaign at public events but I won't call and I won't go door-to-door. With my attitude, I'd be lousy at it anyway.

I will say that I've read the positive reports from those of you who DO canvas and make calls and I applaud your efforts. :yourock:

[SW FL Dem]

8. I got a list from my local Dems

I called several of them, but then someone else called me. Many people here are getting more than one call. I don't mind, but the last thing I want to do is piss people off!

[DustMolecule]

9. My 100% Dem 80-something y/o mom in Florida

complained to me today about being inundated with calls this afternoon! She was trying to lay down and rest and the phone rang 4 times - just in one afternoon - with different Dem messages. She was really ticked off.

[zulchzulu]

10. I've been doing database stuff on phonebanking for Kerry

I've noticed the forms that people use to call people are not filled out properly.

Many of the people don't mark the proper codes to let those that have to enter the data make it efficiently done correctly.

Essentially, people get a list from someone in the campaign that has spots where they ask the people questions about who they would vote for and rate what they think of the candidate.

Many times, the forms either aren't marked that the person was home or that they left a message on a machine. Then the list is not updated correctly for the next person to use later.

What happens is that you find comments left on the forms which are either irrelevant or don't make sense. Such things as the person called rated Kerry as a 3 out of seven with the phone number not being correct.

The key thing is for the people assigning phone bankers don't instruct the phone bankers correctly. Usually their job is on the low end of totem pole. What happens is that people get called too much or get pissed when they keep getting called asked the same questions.

[sandnsea]

11. I agree

You should only be calling people who haven't turned in their ballot, or waiting until right before Nov 2 to make sure people have rides, etc., to the polls. That's it. Anything else is overkill, unless you're in a tight, tight area of a tight, tight swing state and they need to make absolutely sure the 1's are still 1's. If that's the case, apologize and just say we know this is annoying but we've just got to keep our eye on every single vote for 10 more days.

That's my 2, anyway.