I’m Changing Hearts and Votes — You Can Too
How to joyfully elect Biden from the comfort of your own home.
Sick and tired of old-school campaign phone banking? Me too. Thank goodness there’s now a better way.
The dawn sky is dark orange with the smoke here in Northern California, the light a frightening apricot gold. It feels like the imminent climax of the pandemic/political/climate apocalypse and the ruins of the paradise I thought I lived in, bringing intensity to the search for what to DO.
Electing a new president seems like the obvious starting point, but how? I want to do something more than give money to the begging emails flooding my account.
This evening, I think I found it, finally: Phone banking.
Don’t hang up yet! I know, I’m with you — scary, exhausting, transactional and in the end, maybe it swings one vote for every three hours on calls.
But this is phone banking with a difference.
It’s friendly and conversational: You ask curious questions and listen to how people came to their voting decisions, what their hopes and fears are with the coming election. You’ll hear overlaps of feeling, of frustrations and stories from your own life will occur to you as you relax into the conversation. It’s about finding and building connections, and about rebuilding trust between Americans.
There is a light script to help you get started but this is a two-way street where the voter you talk to should be talking more than you. It’s not about reading a set, quick script and talking at voters. It’s not about an ask in return for policy promises nor debating with mic-drop moments. Breathe. It’s a much gentler, more respectful and kinder approach that leads to genuine connections across the country, from metro to retro, from city to rural and between voters of all colors. It’s called “deep canvassing”.
Deep canvassing is much more effective than the average presidential persuasion phone banking and has long-lasting effects. It’s described and backed up in “How do you Change Voters’ Minds?” NY Times article. More in-depth how-to is found in Erica Etelson’s excellent book “Beyond Contempt — How Liberals Can Communicate Across the Great Divide” Karin Tamerius’s Radical Conversation Cycle diagram sums it up:
How practical is this depth-over-breadth approach to actually make a difference?
Consider that Hillary Clinton lost to Trump in Michigan by a 2 person per precinct margin. Think battleground states of Wisconsin, Arizona, North Carolina, Colorado, New Hampshire, Michigan and Pennsylvania and imagine the future…
So, yes, deep canvassing is effective and practical.
Is Deep Canvassing Fun, Satisfying and Not Too Scary?
In other words, will I do it again after the first branding by fire? And the answer is yes.
Yes, because it led to entertaining and surprisingly deep conversations with people I would never normally meet and how sweet is that in these incredibly isolating times?
I talked to a woman in rural North Carolina who is voting for Biden but who feels she can’t talk to her Republican neighbors anymore and didn’t know anything about a candidate for NC state congress who will change the balance of power and help get all North Carolinans medicaid. We chatted about her son who is an invalid and her husband of 52 years who she loves more than she can say. She now will be voting for the congresswoman. Did I change her mind about talking to her neighbors about politics after I shared a story about my best friend who is also a Trump supporter? I will never know. But maybe.
In the end, 65 People’s Action volunteers, most newly trained, made almost 8,000 calls into this swing state in an area where few political operatives venture. Some of the calls lasted an hour. Some were to Trump supporters. Yes, some hang ups and some hilarious stuff too:
Lacy W asked “How are you doing tonight?” The voter said “Old, tired, wore out and ugly!”
Matthew R reported “…. I got an exterminator that found an alligator in the bathtub drain…”
Some of us changed minds a little (and that’s a lot when you think how reluctant any of us are to admit to changing our minds)
Matthew E “Just talked to a “reluctant Trump voter” for an hour!… by the end of the conversation, he agreed that I had moved him from 100% Trump to 95% Trump. Most of the conversation was just sharing stories, connecting. Wild.”
Ali T “… [The caller] was very involved in politics but after moving to NC has gotten disengaged… she said our call motivated her to vote for Biden and sign up to make calls as well!”
Here’s a cheat sheet for how People’s Action version of deep canvassing contrasts with traditional canvassing:
So, are you up for it?
Here’s how to get started with People’s Action Phone Bank and here’s more about the organization. You get a quick Zoom training then you are linked up to a COOL app that dials for you and discards calls that go to voicemail. You wait, you get connected to live people. There is an interactive script to start you off. As you get used to it, you start to listen more, react authentically and well, just have a chat with another person in America no matter who they vote for. It’s part of the healing we all need.
Give it a try. Remember what’s at stake, there is no time to waste. I did it, I’m not all that popular or outgoing. You’ve got this!
Sue Boudreau, M.Ed.
Sue is a science teacher and a Teacher of the Year from a top performing district in Northern California. She has run the takeactionscience blog since 2007, has co-produced the podcast ‘Schooled’ for TinyLabs and is a writer, poet and photographer.
