I was all for Oprahs rally with Obama, but I have to admit

[Lucinda]

if they gave my name, and phone number to some yahoo at a political rally, I'd be really, really pissed.

[sandnsea]

1. I guess you never phone bank?

It's all about "yahoos" calling people they don't know.

[Lucinda]

6. If it was with numbers of people who wanted information, that's different. But if it is

from the information that you HAD to provide to get a ticket, without consenting to it being used to call, I'd be very, very pissed.

[sandnsea]

We use the voter registry

They might use names of people who had signed up at previous SC events. They get names from a variety of places. That's the way campaigning works.

[Lucinda]

13. Voter registries are just fine. My comment was about the possbility of using

the numbers of people who had to provide them to get free tickers.
I wasn't clear enough about that in my OP.

[proud2BlibKansan]

26. Not all states require voters to declare a party when they register

Missouri doesn't. So they spend the time from one election to the next figuring out who the Democrats are in every precinct in the state. I went to a DFA meetup last month and a party rep was there who asked each of us to write down the names of 20 Democrats we knew who lived in Missouri. That's how they know who to phone bank and who to mail campaign lit to.

[frazzled]

16. You clearly have never lived or campaigned in an early primary state

Each of the candidates' organizations gets voter lists that consist of people who voted in the last Democratic (or for Republicans, the last Republican) primary. The main job of a campaign is to call these voter lists, name by name, to "ID" their voters: i.e., to find out if someone is a supporter, a "leaner," a supporter of another candidate, or an undecided.

People in these states are used to getting these calls--from every single campaign--for months on end.

Near the last days of an election, the campaigns use their lists of identified supporters, garnered from these ID calls, to "get out the vote"--to make sure that every person they have identified as a supporter gets to the polls. On election day, you may call a person back 3, 4, or even 5 times to ask if they have made it to the polls yet--right up to the closing time.

This is how campaigns work. This is how they are won. The people in those states understand that.

[Lucinda]

20. I'm not talking about the people who are on those lists. I was referring to

people who had signed up for a free ticket and MAY be receiving calls without giving permission for their numbers to be used.

[frazzled]

21. huh?

It's not clear to me that people had to give their own phone numbers, and so what if they did. Who are you worried would call you? The Obama campaign? Wouldn't you expect that if you attend a rally for a candidate you might get an email or phone call following up on your support? If you are a Democrat (or Independent who voted in a previous Democratic primary--if you can do that in S.C.; I don't know their rules) you are on that list anyway.

Any time I buy a ticket to the symphony or the opera or a play, I always get phone calls from those groups as follow up. Annoying as it is, I don't blame them for trying to snare a sympathetic person into more purchases or a donation. Every time I give a donation to Doctors without Borders or some such group, I get emails and calls from them asking for more. That's how politics and nonprofits work.

[BeyondGeography]

2. SC voters = yahoos

[Colobo]

4. I noticed...

[Colobo]

3. It's called phone banking.

[madrchsod]

5. yup never give up your phone number.

some calls are cold calls others are from a list. thats why i like us cellular, no phone calls from people i do not know

[Lucinda]

7. I should have been more clear in the OP. My number is never given out. They did

require that info for the free tickets, and if those numbers are being used, I think it's terrible. I have no problem if someone has provided the number asking to be contacted.

[sandnsea]

9. They aren't calling each other

Did you ever have a teacher who told you to put on your thinking cap?

[Lucinda]

11. All the people that provded their numbers online for free tickets aren't at the same rally.

And I think just fine, thanks.

[sandnsea]

12. The ones in SC are

And I'll just leave it at that.

[jefferson_dem]

8. A South Carolinian at an Obama rally = yahoo

Aren't you special?

[Lucinda]

10. Yes. I am, actually.

Thanks for noticing.

[FreeState]

14. Its very lazy ineffective phone banking

these are non trained Oprah fans who do not know how to effectively phone bank - its nothing more than a publicity stunt IMO.

Whats the point of the phone banking? To get them to the polls and arrange car rides? How are 36k non trained people going to arrange rides to the polls etc? Oh thats right they are not. How are these people going to make follow up calls or even report who needs one?

[frazzled]

19. Get with the program

Every person was given a script and four names. The callers read the script: no training necessary (except not to be rude, never stray from the script, don't argue with a voter). According to the article, the script was geared to get them to identify the four classes of voter that EVERY campaign uses to I.D registered voters who voted in the previous cycle.: supporter, leaner, non-supporter, undecided.

The information gathered from those lists is invaluable to later efforts to get out the vote (as well as internals).

I've done tons of phone banking in campaign offices: it takes 5 minutes of explanation to get volunteers to do it fairly well (though, admittedly, there are always some idiots who need to be supervised--something that couldn't happen in this context).

Personally, I think it was a pretty brilliant idea--if only for othe reason that once you get someone to volunteer even by making a few phone calls, you have that person themselves committed: they will show up at the polls themselves.

[proud2BlibKansan]

27. And yet another who has never worked on a campaign

My local party started calling months ago. This far ahead of an election, you call to find more volunteers and to identify issues important to the voters. Right after Christmas, they will call to remind them to come to the state caucus. Then in June they will call again to remind them to vote in the primary and to ask for volunteers. And after the primary in August, they start calling for the November elections.

I am a precinct captain. I am expected to contact every Democrat in my precinct at least 4 times before Nov 08. If I was in SC, the names of the Democrats who went to this Obama rally and live in my precinct would be added to my list.

It's called data management. :)

[FreeState]

28. I've phone banked numerous times thanks n/t

[ronnykmarshall]

15. Was it mandatory?

When I went to a Clinton rally in West Hollywood it was optional.

[jefferson_dem]

17. No pressure...just a little friendly encouragement.

:spank:

[ronnykmarshall]

24. A spank on the ass?

Hell, I should have gone!

:evilgrin:

[Lucinda]

18. It was for a while...and if you do still signup via the webpage it wont process

without a phone number. Though one could always be made up. :)

[zulchzulu]

22. Phone banking is a critical part of campaigning in a political race

If you've given your number out to a political organization at some point, your number is on a list.

A tip: if you ever get called by a Democratic phone banking volunteer, do not ever say you are undecided. Either lie that you are a Republican or demand that you never be contacted again. They just cross your name off the list.

Either way, phone banking is much more effective than canvassing, which is walking through neighborhoods knocking on doors. You do get eye contact that way though, but most people don't answer the door...

[NoPasaran]

23. Unless you're testifying under oath, you're not required to be truthful about your phone number

Just sayin'

[proud2BlibKansan]

25. So I take it you have never been to a candidate rally or worked on any campaigns?

The whole point is building a voter data base. The people who work for the party spend YEARS doing this. In fact, Howard Dean has been praised for the streamlined process the party is using now.

You bet they want to know who you are. That's politics :)