Are You Volunteering for Obama? If Yes, how? If No, Why the Hell Not????!!!

[DemoRabbit]

There's lots of ways to do it. One of the easiest is making phones calls to remind people to vote, which you can do right from home. I made a bunch on Friday and am going to do more today.

It feels good to do it. If you have the time to spend here, you have the time to make a few phone calls. Every little bit helps. Think about how many phone calls we could all make if everyone that reads this post just made five calls?

This is something positive we can ALL do to help be sure Obama is elected on Tuesday!

If you don't know - to find things you can do you just have to sign up at http://my.barackobama.com/
Some neighborhoods (like in swing states) you can go out and do things... handing out leaflets, going door to door, etc. But EVERYWHERE you can make volunteer phones call.

Come on guys... WE CAN DO IT!

[liberalmuse]

1. Yes. Today starting at noon.

And probably tomorrow, and all day on Tuesday starting at 9am.

[derby378]

2. Wife is ill, I'm her caretaker...

...but if she's feeling up to it later, maybe we can phonebank or something.

[skooooo]

3. phonebank today!!

:thumbsup:

[Jack Bone]

4. Today in about 20 mins..

Tomorrow @ 3 pm
Tuesday @ 5:00 am poll watching...poll watching is gonna be cool this year..we're going hi-tech!

Indiana's going Obama!

WE WANT PIE!

[cayuga]

5. Poll watching n/t

[LWolf]

6. No.

I save my political time and energy for candidates that I truly support. THAT feels right to me. I don't volunteer or donate to "lesser of two evils" candidates.

My focus is on my senate race, and some local and state offices.

Since you asked.

[NoodleBoy]

14. unyielding ideological rigidness FTL!

[LWolf]

30. willingly ignorant blathering!

"ideological rigidness" tossed out by someone who is promoting partisan rigidness in the form of demanding unquestioning support for party is hypocritical, to say the least.

Not to mention that I don't believe that I mentioned any ideology.

I call it pragmatism. Why would any fan of Obama WANT me to campaign for him, when the best I could do would be a leuk-warm, "at least he's not McCain?" I won't play the fucking fear card.

I better serve the nation's interests further down the hierarchy, working to elect people I can support with enthusiasm.

Whose interests are served by your willingness to spew ignorant judgments?

Or do you really think that we are a dictatorship, in which the legislative branches, and state governments, don't matter, and the only real race is for the executive?

[NoodleBoy]

34. I'm glad you refrain from ignorant judgments,

I think I'll have to tell the City Council Member whose staff I am on that I think local governments don't matter. I should probably let the state legislative candidates I've worked or volunteered for know, as well.

What's your beef with Obama?

[LWolf]

43. Since you asked:

Voting to fund the war in Iraq. Supporting the war on terror, and use of the U.S. military as an instrument of international policy.

Stance on public education; I'm a teacher, and he's right when he says he "sometimes gets in trouble with teachers."

Health Care. I want HR 676. He wants to leave for-profit health care corporations at the table.

Separation of Church and State: I want a much deeper, wider separation than he does.

I could go on; his positions on issues are just too republican-friendly for me. He seems to like republicans better than the left wing of his own party, very publicly distancing himself from one, and embracing the other.

It's the issues.

That said, I spent the first $$ on Obama this morning out of my pocket. Not on his campaign; I sent him a congratulatory note and a book to read, encouraging him to use it to reach out to teachers.

[DemoRabbit]

40. In case you're interested, no one is asking you to LOVE Obama

The phone campaign is actually about calling democrats and reminding them to go out and vote. If you follow the script, the most you say about Obama is "Hi, I'm _____, a volunteer for Barack Obama's Campaign for Change".

[LWolf]

42. Not interested.

I don't know if anyone makes calls like that in my state; if so, I've never gotten one.

Probably because we all got our ballots 2 weeks ago, and have been mailing and dropping them off ever since. I mailed mine 15 days ago.

FYI: The OP doesn't ask, "Are you volunteering to get out the vote?" It asks if we are volunteering FOR OBAMA.

[DemoRabbit]

44. The OP is me

And yes, I asked if you were volunteering for Obama. I happen to think every little bit counts and whether you love Obama or not, you're obviously here and not going to vote for McCain. I'd assume you don't want McCain to win. The way I see it, we should all do our part to make sure that doesn't happen, even if it's just one volunteer phone call. GOTV campaigns are about getting out the vote, so even if you don't love Obama, it's still helpful.

The energy it takes to actually be nasty and argue about volunteering, to me, seems pretty silly... and I'm amazed to see it HERE, in a forum filled with people who are die-hard democrats... the kind of people who spend their time in a forum about democratic politics. If you don't want to volunteer, fine, I just don't see the need to be nasty about it.

[LWolf]

45. I didn't really think

I was "nasty."

I said no, and I gave my reasons.

If you don't want answers, don't ask.

What's the difference in whether you spend time and energy saying "yes," or no?"

Obviously, neither is getting out the vote.

I notice that I was not the only "no" response.

[CitizenPatriot]

7. been volunteering for months

every day until recently when I got too busy with work -- but I have gone to other states, made phone calls, registered voters, and will be working today, monday and tuesday with phone calls, driving to the polls, and videoing the vote.

GOTV!!!! LET'S MAKE IT A LANDSLIDE PEOPLE

I can sense the humanity; sanity and dignity, coming to a white house near you on Tuesday, Nov 4.

[golddigger]

8. NO! And it's none of your business...does that cover it?

[plaintiff]

9. There's no point here...he will get about 30 percent of the vote.

:grr:

[KillCapitalism]

10. Not campaigning directly, but...

I'll be calling all my friends/family/acquaintences I know that I believe who support Obama today and tomorrow. I'm going to drill it into their heads to get to the polls and get there as early as possible. I also want to make sure they have transportation, as I will give them a ride if they need it.

[neebob]

11. No, and this is almost as annoying

as the volunteer who called me yesterday and, after I said yes I planned to vote for Obama and Udall, too, gave me shit about not volunteering.

[greguganus]

38. Same here! Volunteer called me & got mad when I said I wasn't able to help out on Tuesday. n/t

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

12. Nope.

1. I've got better things to do.
2. I'm not all that impressed with Obama.
3. I live in a very blue state and it would be pointless.

[plaintiff]

21. Change "blue" to "red" and I could've written just what you did.

;-)

[tjwash]

28. Obama reminds me of Tony Blair

Young exiting candidate preaching a message of change. He will win in a landslide like Blair, but once he hits office, nothing will change. Once one gets swallowed up by the system, the system takes over.

He just a new jockey on the same sway-backed nag.

[NoodleBoy]

13. no-- I'm volunteering for a house candidate who is the first real threat to republicans in this seat

in years.

[LWolf]

31. Interesting, to say the least,

in light of post # 30.

[drm604]

15. Yes

I've been phone banking.

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

16. Yep, I'm a mapping(GIS) person and helped the campaign rebuild their precinct map data.

[Bonobo]

17. Canvassed in NH yesterday. Looking good on the ground in SW NH. nt

[Le Taz Hot]

18. No, because I've been volunteering for political campaigns

as well as a myriad of social causes from Civil Rights to a woman's right to choose since 1968. I'm tired and I've earned the rest. It's time for the generations behind the Boomers to take over for awhile.

P.S.
I am phoning for the "No on 8" campaign but I'm leaving the rest of it to those who are younger and in better health.

Peace
LTH

[enlightenment]

19. I was at a friend's house last night.

She's 70 and an Obama supporter; she's looking forward to voting on the 4th.

BUT - she got four phone calls last night, in a row, in the space of an hour. ALL of them were from volunteers for Obama's campaign. To top it off, she also got a door-knocker.

So within an hour and a half she was interrupted FIVE times by volunteers for Obama.

By the last phone call she was ready to tell Obama to stuff it in his ear. There is such a thing as overkill.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

23. Man, tell me about it.

I look forward to Unknown Caller losing my number in 72 hours. For months they've disrupted my work, my leisure and my sleep.

[slackmaster]

20. No, and I have two reasons...

1. I'm out of "disposable" money, and

2. My volunteer efforts this election season are committed to a candidate for the San Diego City Council. I don't have time to commit to Obama.

[csziggy]

22. I ended up as team leader so I am coordinating canvassers and phone banks

And yes, there has been overkill. We volunteers have been complaining for a month about the excessive calls and door knocks. We're happier about it this week - I moved ALL my people over to just reminding people to get out and vote and letting them know about early voting locations and times. We also have been offering rides to the polls. Starting today, we will be distributing info about their precinct polling places to the people who have not voted yet.

And I told our volunteers last weekend to tell anyone who is tired of getting calls that the best way to get OFF our lists is to have gone out and voted!

We are still calling the volunteers that are on the schedules but we stopped calling people to ask them to volunteer if they had not done it before..

[Bluzmann57]

24. Tomorrow PM I'm phoning

out of a local Union Hall, both for Obama and some local candidates and on Tuesday, I'm taking a shift at Obama HQ and will likely also stand at a busy street corner a few blocks from my house with signs and supporters all with the support of the campaign(s). YES WE CAN!

[otohara]

25. Poll Watcher

hope the weather holds.

[coalition_unwilling]

26. No -- I seem to curse every candidate

for whom i have ever volunteered

Dukakis--1988
Jesse Jackson--2002
Marcy Winograd--2006

Short incomplete list of victims of my curse.

I do hold an Obama sign each Sunday at the Mar Vista Farmers' Market. But I am not, repeat not, volunteering this year. The stakes are just too high.

[tjwash]

27. Because Cali belongs to Obama...we have been busy getting the "No on 8" vote mobilized here.

nt

[AtomicKitten]

33. I'm working on No on 8 and Yes on 2.

:patriot:

[lonestarnot]

29. Been in the traction off and on all morning.

I think I did the do.

[AtomicKitten]

32. I canvassed in Colorado and Nevada.

Came home early last week when my old, old bird died :cry:, and have been phone banking here in SF since then. Still I feel I haven't done enough, realizing that probably has more to do with the anxiety that is choking me. I feel like I've been holding my breath for about week now.

[kick-ass-bob]

35. Tomorrow. All day. Raleigh NC.

Whatever the hell they want me to do. :patriot:

[Marrah_G]

36. I gave my time to a local progressive candidate.

[gollygee]

37. I did for Kerry

but I'm having a difficult pregnancy this time around and can't do much. Plus I have a young child to supervise.

I will stand in line tomorrow to vote no matter how long it takes. My husband suggested I carry a chair so I can sit down. Otherwise, I'll sit on the ground if I have to.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

39. I'm being a maverick and doin' it in a rogue way

Turning my van into an Obamarama Vote-mobile! Looks great so far!! Can't wait to start driving it around town this afternoon and tomorrow. Supposed to be in the 70s both days and sunny! I'll roll down the windows and play some special tunes kinda *but not too* loud - like
Reach out in the darkness!
Fortunate Son
Get Together

still working on my song list



ADDING
I volunteered at 2 Obama fundraisers last month, too.

[MrCoffee]

41. No, I'm not.