Monday, January 18, 2010

GOTV

So I used what I think is the DNC website app to call Democratic voters in MA and remind them to vote. The website gives out names in batches of like 25, maybe, and a called a few batches. First of all, people in MA are much more friendly than people in CA, Nevada, Iowa, or any of the other states I've GOTVed people. No one hung up on me! People told me to have a good day! Most bizarrely, though, was the huge number of hardy old people I got to chat with. For some reason, in the third list almost everyone was over 75, and almost half were over 80, with 3 in their 90s!! All of the people I called in their nineties were totally sharp, new about the election and were excited to vote for Martha Coakley. I asked everyone if they needed help getting to the polls, and one chipper sounding 92 year old told me it was just a few minutes away, and as long as the sidewalks were clear, she'd walk. While I'm all for promoting self sufficiency in people's 10th decades, I didn't really like the idea of encouraging this lady to walk anywhere in the winter, and urged her to take the number of the van that could pick her up and give her a ride. Another lady told me that she thought she could probably get a ride from her retirement home, but some of her friends couldn't, so maybe she'd call a van. Way to go older people of Massachusetts!