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View Full Version : The Fastest, Cheapest, Most Effective way to reach Your Neighborhood for Ron Paul!!!




mkeller
02-13-2008, 12:44 PM
Well, maybe not. But it's pretty close. It's faster than going door to door. And it's cheaper than mailing. It's . . .

Phone Canvassing!

Yes people, it's really effective. If you do it the right way - i.e., not the way they tell you to do it on the official site.

I tried doing the Non Advocacy poll last Saturday, and I got hung up on six times in a row, and then when one person finally took the survey, she turned out to be a Democrat. :( But then I remembered a couple of the members on here recommending telling people up front that you're volunteering for Ron Paul, and saying that you're a neighbor of theirs. I PM'd an old hand on here, and he said the same thing, so I tried it - yesterday evening (between 5 and 8 p.m. is the best time to call during weekdays, I think); using the following as a script:


Hello, is this Mr/Mrs. Surname?

I'm Mark Keller, a neighbor of yours from over on County C, and I'm calling all the people in our precinct to remind them that our presidential primary is on the 19th. And I'm wondering if you've considered Presidential Candidate Dr. Ron Paul?

And it works wonders! I called 19 people, and only got hung up on twice! One couple said that they were voting for Ron Paul, and just about everyone else said they'd consider it (I even nearly converted a Democratic Quaker!).

(On second thought, it might be better to tell them the date of the primary after you find out if they're considering Ron Paul, so that you don't encourage any McCainers to vote. ;) )

If they sound interested, I then ask them if they want any more info. For people who know nothing about Ron Paul, I read the short description of him from his Issues page, and for everyone who wants more information, I either direct them to the website or ask for their address, so I can send them some slim-jims.


So folks, if your state hasn't voted yet, and you aren't a Precinct Leader yet, become one! That's an order! And then call people.

And: being shy is no excuse. I'm rather a shy guy myself, but I survived, and I'm planning on continuing until I've called everyone in my precinct. Also, doing it the neighborly way is much easier than doing the poll. If you survey your neighbors as recommended by HQ, they think of you as a telemarketer, and get mad and hang up. But if you come across as a friendly, sincere neighbor, they're almost all very friendly themselves.

So . . . get started!

Hancock1776
02-13-2008, 02:41 PM
The reason the script on the website is non-advocacy is because telling people who YOU support poisons the polling data.

A mixture of the official site and what you're doing is probably the best course of action.

"Hi, my name is ________ and I'm one of your neighbors down on County Road C, and as a volunteer for one of the presidential candidates I'm just polling the neighborhood about their feelings on the upcoming primary..." resume with the non-advocacy script.

Anything you can do to turn it into a conversation instead of a polling call is GOOD. Just try not to reveal Ron Paul until the end. The reason for the early-stage phone canvassing is to identify people's issues, so you can target the right mailers, slimjims and calls to them later. Make a convert if you can, but the purpose of the first round of calls is to figure out where everyone is BEFORE you try to make converts out of them.