Reply #9: Empathy for the caller

[Lady President]

It sounds like you did have a bad caller, but as someone who makes these calls, I know how hard it is.

Many people don't seem to realize that we don't have contact with the candidate and make unreasonable requests, like haircut suggestions.

Some are completely misinformed. I had a person yell at me because he felt Kerry hates gays. Huh?!? I explained Kerry's record, but the guy just hung up on me.

The nicest, but most difficult calls are to people who are disgusted with Bush and want to talk about all his flaws. I can understand wanting any opportunity to be heard, unfortunately I always feel like I have to watch the clock.

It's not an easy task to make these calls.