A surprising take on "phone banking"

This election is our job ... finding the right action fit is key

Week 9 flipbook … click image to open flipbook

Each of us is part of Team Democracy, regardless of whether we are democrats, republicans, or independents. This election is too important to play party politics. Here’s my game plan for the next 9 weeks:

• Daily social media posts to Substack Notes and X/Twitter (@jwycoff) of interesting stories, ideas, images and memes with pointers to some of the best political commentators I’ve found.

• Saturday emails with a flipbook collection of the daily posts as well as any news that needs to be highlighted. Flipbook for Week 9 is at the top of this post.

• Researching interesting questions. This election is my number one priority. If you have any questions, feel free to drop them in the comments section and I’ll do my best to find an answer.

I hope everyone who cares about this election finds some way of contributing … even beyond money. I have used my introvert tendency as an excuse to rule out “phone-banking” … until my friend Elaine wrote about her experience. Now I’m at least considering it. Over the next nine weeks, I will be gathering and sharing ideas about what people are doing to support this election.

Even if it’s just chatting with your friends and neighbors about what’s important to you and them in this challenging time. There’s no need for conflict. If, on November 6th, we better understand each other and feel our common bonds more strongly, and have gained respect for each other, we will have won, regardless of the actual voting outcome.

And, should the outcome go against democracy, we will need each other more than ever.

THE JOYS OF PHONE BANKING … from Elaine:

Here’s my evolving experience as I keep doing this. For many of us, the idea of being rejected by strangers is anxiety-provoking, even if we know these interactions are brief and without consequences. There are many immediate hang-ups (as I’ve done many times when I heard something like a telemarketing pitch coming on). There are wrong numbers and answering machines. All of these take no more than a few seconds before you move on with a click. Let’s focus on the bugaboo: the rude folks. First of all, not as many as I’d expected; second, you can hang up immediately, because it’s not a good use of your time to waste it on the unpersuadable; thirdly, we all know, deep down, that it’s not personal. They are trapped in a world view that I believe is unhinged from reality, and they are acting the roles their persuaders have conned them into. I just happened to be in their field of vision for a moment.

Now let’s talk about the others: so many are thrilled and relieved to hear someone is doing this work, and want to voice their hope and fear for the alternative (some of these folks may accept our invite to start volunteering themselves). Others are partly or greatly uneducated about the issues and are willing to hear some information. I’ve had folks who started out neutral who warmed up considerably, and some who didn’t necessarily come around right away, but have some new info to consider. I’ve had long conversations with polite Republicans, who while we didn’t agree on much, thanked me for taking the time to discuss the issues with them. At the very least, I gave them the chance to see that progressives are not “Unhumans” (the title of the upcoming book that JD Vance has written the forward to).

I’ve started to approach this kind of like a video game: how many (estimated) points can I rack up today? I’ve also started to view it as a wondrous blessing: where else would you get to talk briefly with a random cross-section of Americans about what they’re concerned about? It can be surprisingly intimate. Another value of what you do is that you're entering data on these folks that will streamline future contact (if any).

If you’re worried about doing it for technological reasons, here’s how the Dialer works - very easy. And no, your personal phone number is not revealed. Scale to Win Dialer

Some tips and tricks that are dawning on me:

1. Smile and brighten your voice - you are not dreading this interaction, you’re looking forward to it! 😄

2. I skip the initial script. I say, “Hi, is this ___? My name is Elaine with the Democrats calling voters about the election this fall. (Here’s where I skip the intervening script about Kamala). I go straight to “We’re taking a survey on what issues are the main concern for voters now. What would you say is on the top of your mind?” I usually get them to list 3. This does 2 things: signals that I’m here to listen as much as to talk (many are desperate to be heard) - not only does this create a bond, but I genuinely am curious to learn what’s going on for folks. The second is that I can tailor my talking points to the 3 areas they’re concerned about. If they’re patient, I may go beyond that, but that’s my start.

3. Validate as much as possible. “That’s a good point.” “I’m glad you brought that up.” “That has been so hard on people, hasn’t it?” “I can see why you’re concerned about that.” “Thank you for teaching me about that; I’ll research it further.” 

4. Make your counterargument gently. “Let me run this by you - did you know that…?” “Another reason that this happened is because…” “What the Republicans aren’t talking about is…” “Well, actually, here’s an example of when one of Trump’s economic policies failed (tariffs) - and he’s said he’s going to do even more on them next time around.” 

5. Make it personal. "Here are how some women’s lives are already being threatened in abortion ban states (refusing to care for women with miscarriages and ectopics). Think of the women in your life: sisters, girlfriend, Mom, daughters. Can you imagine what it would feel like to watch them suffer and worry that you could lose them because common-sense medical care isn’t available nationwide?”

6. Since I skipped the Kamala spiel early on, I make sure to mention her name positively several times. Many folks don’t even have an idea who’s running. We want to cultivate name recognition. 

7. Close with gratitude, no matter whether it feels you persuaded them or not. A lot of what a person remembers about an interaction is not the contents, but the tone. You want them to be surprised by how nice and interested this progressive stranger was. “Thank you so much for your time.” “It was a real pleasure talking with you - thanks for sharing your viewpoints.” “You expressed yourself quite eloquently - I appreciate you taking the time to do that.”

I hope this has whetted your interest in doing this if you’re not already. You can find opportunities here. https://democrats.org/take-action/

I found Elaine’s explanation empowering and compelling. I am seriously thinking about doing this. Anyone interested in forming a phone bank support group?

Anyway, please leave comments, questions, and how you’re finding your fit for being part of this election.

Vegas odds, week 9