I just got back from an hour of phonebanking for Barack Obama. Good stuff. Honestly, after the first few calls (when my fear of calling people on the phone threatens to kill me), it's way fun. You get to talk to people. Generally pretty interesting people too.
Today I was calling up supporters to get them to volunteer too, so it was a mostly friendly crowd. But in the winter my family went to Iowa to canvass and phonebank, and some people were pretty harsh. I mean, I don't blame them. People in Iowa get pounded with politics. But honestly, being the first caucus state would be the only reason I would ever LIVE in Iowa.
That's a lie. I was the only one of my family to genuinely like the little town we spent a week harassing. The rest of them were like "EWW OMG WHERE IS STARBUCKS?". Or that was mostly Grace (the thirteen year old), but the general sentiment was the same. I thought it was cool, like in one of those Juno-type movies where nothing really happens but it's great.
Anyways, I've phonebanked before, with some pretty hostile people. But it's fun.
Today this one guy tried to convert me to Ron Paul. That was hilarious. The conversation:
Me: Hi, this is Clara from the Barack Obama campaign, and I was wondering if you wanted to volunteer sometime in the next couple weeks...
Ron Paul Guy: Oh I switched over to Ron Paul
Me: Oh um, have fun with that
RPG: But tell me, do you love the constitution?
Me: [awkwardly] Well yes, I quite like it
RPG: And don't you think this war in Iraq is illegal?
Me: Well, I think there's something fundamentally wrong with it
RPG: If you decide you love the constitution, give me a call
Me: Okay then... I have your number...
I think it's important to be involved. Even that guy (who seems a little out of his mind) at least has an opinion, and is fighting for it.
Apathy and I aren't exactly BFFs.
Clara
No comments:
Post a Comment