Musings: Shoe leather gives way to ring tone of politics
Making sure voters return their absentee ballots is an endeavor that draws various results. Credit: AP / Seth Wenig
Three weeks before Election Day, I received a new responsibility from my candidate’s organizers. No more going door to door.
On that day at the campaign office, I started calling my party’s voters who requested a mail-in ballot. My job was to see if they had received it, to find out if they had mailed it back, and to encourage them to vote for our candidate.
We were given the names, ages and phone numbers of the voters. I was given a script — but I could be flexible with what I said. I’d stop by the office when I was free, usually for a couple of hours. I also wrote postcards and added stamps for mailing.
So off I went to the phones! Some voters were in their early 20s — probably college students who would not be home around Election Day. They answered the phone enthusiastically.
Most were elderly, which was not surprising since they were mailing in ballots. And they were a pleasure to talk to.
One fellow, 93, responded, “Of course, I’ll be voting for him. I’ve known him since he was a little boy.”
Another man, 86, sounded as though he were in the huddle of the Giants football game, apologized and said, “Let me lower the sound on the TV.” When he returned, I told him I was watching the same game. We talked 90% football and 10% politics.
I called about 30 people each time, but only a dozen or so would answer. Five people thanked me for reminding them to mail in their ballots. One woman asked me if I had had lunch yet.
Several people had recordings that said something like, “If you leave your name and purpose of the call, I’ll see if [the person] wants to talk to you.” I did, but nobody wanted to talk to me.
Undaunted, I was eager to talk to Robert, a 100-year-old voter, until a woman on the other end informed me that “Robert passed away this week. But he had a good run.” I offered my condolences and moved on.
After a while, the “not at home” voters outnumbered those who answered the phone. Soon enough, I was done. No more calls. I made my contribution, however small. Now it was up to the voters.
— Saul Schachter, Sea Cliff
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