Political Calls

So what happened recently in Loudoun County. Simply put, two Republican candidates had a primary and one won. Mick Staton goes on to compete against Herring to represent the 33rd District in Richmond.

So, what is it like to make phone calls for a political candidate? Curiosity got the better of me so I got into it. Actually, someone else got me into it but that is another story. I made a couple of calls and managed to get an arrangement for my modest volunteer effort. A date and time and location were set and I turned up.

It was the typical one to two floor office/industrial mix area with a brick exterior. Campaign signs adored part of the outside and there were a few cars parked in front of the entrance. I knocked and someone came to open it. We introduced ourselves and talked a bit. The head honcho introduced me to a couple of other people and gave me a bit of orientation on the phone list, codes to write depending on the result of the call, the call script for interaction with a real human being as well as one for the answering machine. The last thing was a comparison table between their candidate and the other.

The scripts themselves were simplicity itself although I changed it a bit to suit the way I spoke. The rules were to try to find out if the callee would be turning up to vote and supporting their candidate or not. You write down the result code on the phone list and went on to the next number.

The first thing that struck me was that many phone numbers were wrong numbers. Some of the data was old and people move within Loudoun county a lot as well as move out of the district or the state. Well, obviously the database needs to be updated after all this is over so that things can be more efficient in the future. I hope they're listening...

The phones were kind of neat. They were brand new and were VoIP phones. They were connected by computer LAN cable to a network switch on the floor. The cables were all taped down by some type of duct tape to the carpet so we wouldn't trip over them. There were chips and soda if you wanted it. The atmosphere was basically relaxed since everyone was a volunteer. Nice people too.

So, what were the more interesting calls like?

Me: Hi, I am .... calling for _candidate_ for Senate for the 33rd district. _candidate_ is the _list of qualities_ candidate in this race.
Callee: Oh really! _CLICK_

Me: Will you be voting in this primary?
Callee: That's my business.
.....

Me: Hello, may I speak with _John Doe_ please?
Callee: _String of Spanish phrases_
Me: I see. Thank you.

Anyway, it was an interesting experience although as a geek I wish they were more efficient though. I also found out that not all callers were necessarily from this district or county. It seems that many volunteers may actually support someone not in their district if they agree with their positions.

Well, the election will be on the 31st. I hope that all of you in the 33rd district will go out to vote regardless of your party affiliation and enjoy your rights as American citizens. There are too many people in this world that can't even voice an opinion without being afraid for their lives.