Phonebanking for the first time since the Kerry campaign

[LittleClarkie]

I think it's going to give me flashbacks. I hope I don't get verklempt.

I volunteered for two shifts this weekend to fill a state assembly position vacated by our new county executive. I figured I'd at least had done that sort of thing before, and many people aren't comfortable with it.

Not that I relish being a political telemarketer again. Pisses people off.

[sandnsea]

1. First thing I say

"Is this a good time" Gives them power over the conversation so they don't feel intruded on anymore. Most of them are happy to hear whatever you have to say after that, and give you an earful too! hehe But you probably knew that already. Good luck!!

[TayTay]

2. Good for you!

It's not my favorite job either because of that fear of 'bothering people' and getting a bad reception. Good for you LC. Let us know how it goes.

[globalvillage]

3. Oh, man.

I HATED phone banking. But I was pretty good at it, and it's important work.
Looking back, I kinda miss it. For Sen Kerry, we called from the union offices in downtown Pittsburgh, and I would always go to the church across the street in my Kerry gear before we started. Somehow, I thought that would help.
Wow, that brings back great memories of more hopeful times.
Anyway, can't wait to get to work for Mr Casey.
Good Luck, LC.

:yourock:

[CBHagman]

13. Is that available as a sticker, globalvillage?

I mean your Santorum message. I'll get back on the bus to Scranton in a heartbeat if I can plaster that message all over town. :evilgrin:

[ray of light]

4. good for you! really am proud of you for taking action.

Hey..I did the canvassing last fall....loved having the repubs slam the door in my face.

[whometense]

5. I hear you.

I just responded to an email for Uncle Teddy's reelection campaign. Looks like I'm gonna be joining you. I HATE phonebanking. But anything for Uncle Teddy, right??

[rox63]

6. Is anyone actually running against Uncle Teddy?

I haven't heard that he even has a rethug opponent.

[TayTay]

10. No, but, it's Uncle Ted.

I mean, anything for Uncle Ted. I am going to be collecting sigs for someone and then going to my caucus and trying to be a delegate to the Dem Convention in June. (I have a shot. This is awful because it means that my town committee is dead and needs reviving. If it wasn't dead I would have to run for delegate slot instead of show up and get in. Sigh!) Any one else in a position to be a delegate? Nice company, good box lunch, interesting people show up and give speeches, particularly in an electin year. I think both Sens will be there as well as the rest of the Cong. delegation Might be fun.

I love Uncle Ted. I would phone bank for him (and probably will.)

[ginnyinWI]

7. I phone-banked too--same place, but on Monday

It was at a Labor office, too. I hate it, and it always gives me a headache. But the usual around here is to have political positions go unopposed around here--only a Republican is even on the ballot!

Our guy got 36%, more than they expected. Sigh. We've got to get working on running more Dems. Before the presidential election they'd have Dem meetings and only about seven peopls came. Since the election, we've had a healthy group of around 50 people. So finally we have the muscle to do at least something. Sigh again. This is why Sensenbrenner still reigns.

[whometense]

8. That's depressing, Ginny!

But at least it explains Sensenbrenner.

I didn't realize you lived in such a heavily rethug place. Condolences.

BTW, it feels kinda silly to phonebank for Teddy. WHo opposes him, anyway, except for the likes of Corsi?

[ginnyinWI]

9. yeah our county is red!

We are a suburban, bedroom-community county for Milwaukee for the most part. Wisconsin went for Kerry largely because of Milwaukee and Madison, plus one blue area between Madison and the Mississippi river, which is blue for a few different reasons, including a university and being an area of artist colonies. That's where Spring Green is--where Kerry did his debate prep).

But the rest of the state is---stupid! We saw some Kerry-Edwards signs in our county, too, but it went Republican, two to one. :(

edit: the funny thing is, we were told during the general election that we were the third most Democratic county in Wisconsin! It just shows you how powerful those two major cities were in determining which candidate got Wisconsin's electoral votes. We have probably the third largest city in the state, and it has a large Latino population, so that's why we are third most Dem. But still not enough to make a majority.

second edit: Ok one more area is Dem, and that is NW Wisconsin--they are David Obey's district. I think it's because of dairy farms--but it's a very sparsely populated area. Our Dem reps have the Western half of Wisconsin, plus Madison area, and Milwaukee area. I'm sure I've told you more than you care to know, so I'd better quit! :)

[whometense]

16. Nonsense!

No such thing as too much information! :-)

[TayTay]

11. Teddy needs the help.

He's earned it (and it's good practice and never take anything for granted and several other aphorisms that apply here now.) And beside,s his nephew is running the campaign and he needs the experience. (Just got the e-mail. I want signs for Teddy. Then I want to take one of the Ted signs and place them on my Rethug Brothers truck. Hehehehehehe)

[ginnyinWI]

12. I don' t know if anyone has listened to cspan callers lately,

But there seems to be an organized attack on Teddy. They go on and on about how he is a disgrace, how we should have term limits on Senators, how he's an embarrassment, etc.! Somebody has noticed he's up for re-election, and are taking these Alito hearings as an opportunity to try to get him. Do you think we need to worry? He's the only Dem I've heard attacked this week by cspan callers.

[TayTay]

14. Oh Uncle Ted is the Rethuglican Poster Boy of Hate

They hate him above all others. Uncle Ted is the most popular pol in the state. He has favorability ratings in the 60% (and it's hard support. Teddy's worst race was when wh whomped Mitt Romney in '94 and that was 58% to 41%.) Sen. Kennedy will be okay. He doesn't even really have an opponent.

[rox63]

15. Teddy can take it

I think he kinda likes being the target of all that rethug venom. It tells him what a good job he's doing. :)

[LittleClarkie]

17. She and I both. But I liked the candidate's take on the whole thing

He said that he ran because he didn't want the Republican to run unopposed. He made the guy have to work alittle bit, and improved his vote in the area from the last time he ran for the same seat from 29 percent to 37 percent.

He called it a moral victory. I dunno, I was hoping for more. He is a longtime resident of the area and a teacher, and the other guy is sort of a carpetbagger.

There was a dispute just before the election because the Republican's voting address was a vacant lot. They gave it to a Republican DA to investigate, who appointed a special councel so as to avoid impropiety, who said that since the Republican plans to build a house on the lot, it was okay.

It was weird. The news of the Repub's voting address broke just before the weekend of the election, and by Monday the local newspaper was explaining that the Repub had been cleared of wrongdoing. The story made it sound like the Dems were being unfair. Maybe they were. But I can't excape the feeling that if the same story came out about a Dem, that it wouldn't have been cleared up that quickly, and the newspaper wouldn't have been so quick to help. Our newspaper is supposed to be liberal, but sometimes I wonder. The editorial board is, but the owners aren't.

Eh. This weekend the Dems in the city next to mine, still in Sensenbrenner land, are meeting for breakfast. We met a Dem candidate last time, who's running against one of Delay's proteges. The idea is for us to get comfortable with each other so that when we need to organize for a campaign, we'll be halfway there. I thought it was a pretty good idea.

Soon it will be time to campaign for Sensenbrenner's replacement. We may not actually defeat the bastard, but damn it, we're going to make him SPEND SOME MONEY to keep his ass in his seat!

[whometense]

18. Good for you!!!!!!!!

I'd donate money to take his ass out of that seat!!! I hope you can find a good candidate.

[LittleClarkie]

19. You mean that? Here he is

He's a local university professor. This is his second time at bat. Every time Sensenbrenner has an outburst I advertise this guy's website. I think donations are going pretty well, but he probably could use more.

www.bryankennedyforcongress.com