It’s not easy to get people to go out and vote. Sometimes you just have to get a little creative.
From freezing my butt off in Ohio to the hot spring in Indiana the Obama campaign has certainly been an education. Above all I learned that there is only one mission in any political campaign. An effective volunteer gets other people who ordinarily do not vote to go out and vote for their candidate.
It so happened that a few days ago we were collecting volunteer information while distributing tickets for the Obama speech at Indiana University Southeast. We set up a table just across the street from the County building. Since Indiana has an open primary and early voting, we were pushing to get people to walk across the street and vote early.
Even though people were already out and about, the response was the same that we get when we knock on people’s door, “I think I’ll just wait until May 6th.”
Finally, one young man was standing there giving us reasons why he couldn’t do it. Before I had time to think I stood up and said to him, “Honestly, I haven’t voted yet either. Let’s go over and vote together."
He just looked at me with a quizzical smile and said, “Sure, why not.”
So, the next time someone came up and said, “I’ll just wait …” I stood up and politely asked her: “Ma’am if you will just take a few brief minutes to vote, I would be happy to personally walk you across the street right now. I know exactly where it is.” She smiled and said, “O.K., why not?”
The three of us looked at each other. We were on to something.
We realized that every Obama supporter could instantly become an active volunteer and make a real difference without having to do anything else.
All we have to do is to remember that during our normal everyday interactions there is an opportunity to turn a promise, or a maybe, into a vote. If anyone that we speak with says that they will vote for Obama, then all we have to do is say, “Great. Then let’s do it right now. I’ll drive.”
If they try to say no, use some finesse. Use your enthusiasm to transform the act of voting from just another errand that they have to do into a spontaneous social adventure by making it happen right now.
After all, getting them to promise their vote is easy. Getting them to actually back up that promise with action often involves some creativity and finesse.
