An Observation...for what it's worth from My Repug NC Neighborhood of about 1,000 homes...

[KoKo]

In all of my neighborhood there is One Obama sign and just this a.m. a Hillary sign went up next door to me on the lawn of my Repug neighbors who've never put a sign out in all the years I've lived next door to them...and never commented on my yard of Dem Signs for every election.

There are some registerd Dems in my neighborhood but I'd say only about 25%. I know because I was Precenct VC for Kerry and still am a VC...but was undecided between Obama and Clinton so I didn't put out any yard signs this year.

Also, I got a call this a.m. from an African-Ameircan Male asking me if I supported Hillary Clinton. At first I thought it was a Robo-Call (have been inundated with them) it didn't have the usual "canned" quality...so I said no...and the person said "Well have a nice day." Very odd..

Then a little while ago I got another call from an African-American Male who started off with "How are you today? (I was thinking it was a solicitation for a credit card or something) but I said "just fine" and then he said "I'm calling for Campaign of Hillary Clinton, can we count on you for your support." I said: "No, I'm voting for Obama." He said, "Obama is a fine man but did you know Hillary is yadda, yadda and I hope you would reconsider your vote." I replied, "No, I've evaluated both of them and I want to vote for change." He said, "Well have a nice day."

I'm wondering why Hillary's Campaign wouldn't be using the standard "Robo Calls" rather than having two real people (and why African-American males) call and query me about my vote. Is it Mark Penn's polling operation thinking with my zip code in a heavy Repug Area that they want to see how Hillary is doing here?

In conclusion....I think there's something significant about my next door neighbor suddenly putting up a Hillary Sign when they are Repugs or maybe Indies..the day before the election, that there are only two Presidential Primary signs up in my whole neighborhood (while there are many for local candidates) and why I would get two phone calls from African-American Males working for Hillary asking how I will vote unless I fit the Demographic for Dem females that's crucial to her winning.

Just passing this along....in case there are any serious political wonks who might be interested.

[John Q. Citizen]

1. I find it interesting that the one tried to switch you over. It's a waste of time at this point,

no one switches their vote because of a phone call.

Now if you had said you were undecided that would be different.

Do you know your neighbor with the sign?

[JimGinPA]

2. Thanks For That Report....

It's been fairly quiet here from people actually on the ground in NC & IN.

K&R

[faithfulcitizen]

3. interesting...I'm in IN & haven't gotten 1 call. I get an SEIU mailer from Obama everyday though.

I wish they'd stop wasting their money on me-I'm in the bag! :) Not one mailer from Clinton.

[KoKo]

4. Oddly enough, which may tie into my post, I haven't gotten any literature from Obama

...finally got a robo-call from a local asking me to vote for him yesterday, but I've gotten two mailers from Hillary and Madeline Albright and Evan Bayh (about a month ago) ..plus other assorted friends of Bill. But, nothing in the mail from Obama...but I told you I'm in a zip code that votes heavy Repug.

[Jersey Devil]

5. It could be for GOTV purposes - here's what we do locally

In our local Dem campaigns we get the voting lists for each district and about a week before the election (or less) we call them and ask for their support for our candidates. If they say "yes", they support our candidates, we mark the name(s) on the list.

Then on election day we have someone at each polling district mark off the names of people as they come in to vote. At about 4-5 pm the list is then handed off to people who have volunteered to make calls and they call all those on the list identified as supporters (or as Democrats) and tell them something like this: "According to our list you have not voted yet and we are just calling to remind you it is election day and every single vote counts, so would you please go vote as soon as possible?"

Well, sometimes they'll tell you they just got back from the polls and sometimes they will promise to go out and vote right there and then, with a somewhat embarrassed apology that they hadn't voted earlier.

My guess is that you got those calls for that reason.

[KoKo]

8. In NC you are not able to interact within a certain perimeter of the Polling with Voters

It varies from state to state as to whether it's 100 feet or more...but I've voted up and down the NE Coast (including living in NJ) and never seen anyone doing what you say at the polling place where I've monitored ..

In my experience what you describe here would be illegal. :shrug:

:i]"Then on election day we have someone at each polling district mark off the names of people as they come in to vote. At about 4-5 pm the list is then handed off to people who have volunteered to make calls and they call all those on the list identified as supporters (or as Democrats) and tell them something like this: "According to our list you have not voted yet and we are just calling to remind you it is election day and every single vote counts, so would you please go vote as soon as possible?"

[Jersey Devil]

9. They don't call from the polling place

We have people come and pick up the lists at the polling places and then deliver them to the homes of the callers who call from their homes. Of course no one calls from the polls.

[noel711]

6. Before the PA primary, I got calls too....

Several calls from Obama camp, including robo-calls from Michelle and Barack (but my daughter and I were squealing with delight.. even robo-calls.. we are such winkies...)

And of course there were several from the Clinton camp, and I"m ashamed to admit that
I.. kinda made the caller uncomfortable.. I said: "You sound like such an intelligent young woman, and motivated... but why are you supporting Hillary when Obama is really the paradigm changer.."

Crickets.. I got crickets.. and then a little voice said: "Thank you. Remember to vote." Click.

My daughter said: "That's not nice." but giggled.

and signs are deceiving... there were many more yard signs for Obama in the Allentown neighborhoods I drive thru.. but Allentown went Clinton.

[KoKo]

7. I always look kindly on those willing to put yard signs up...because

I've learned it does in these hard times ...kind of cause friction with neighbors. But, then in my neighborhood of a thousand...there are so few that even say hello. We all go our own ways with jobs and kids and daily life that we just don't have the time, anymore. :-(

[AllentownJake]

10. LOL

When the Clinton supporters called me I told them I was undecided so they would spend time talking to me if I had a few minutes instead of them having the time to call another person. :evilgrin: They also called back than wasting more time :evilgrin:

[Dems to Win]

11. I read somewhere that Obama's campaign said that

"Clinton won the yard-sign race in Iowa, hands-down"

I don't think yard signs do much to change votes or indicate level of support. Particularly for national candidates. Local candidates might use them to create name recognition.

[davsand]

14. "50% of candidates who have yard signs do not win."

An old running joke for us. I have a friend (a former local Dem Party Chair, I might add!) who absolutely HATES yard signs. He swears those yard signs do nothing for a campaign except eat up money and time.

I disagree with him on that, but I do think that yard signs are not always the best predictors of any given election.



Laura

[KoKo]

20. So...it's better NOT to do Yard Signs.....I guess I could see the logic of that...

What I found here in NC is that Professionals: Doctors, Lawyers and Real Estate Folks all sign up as Independents or Repugs rather than Democrat. Because they've learned that Democrats don't get "BUSINESS" it's only Repugs and "unaffiliated" who go to church every Sunday...join the Wednesday Morning Prayer Breakfasts and the Chamber of Commerce that get the jobs and business contracts. If you are "Small Business" and DEM ...and came from "somewhere else" and don't do the ABOVE...you will find it hard row to hoe...to survive. We managed to do it...with contacts from our past life before the SOUTH...but it's not easy and I wouldn't recommend it. Join that church and sign up for it all...your life will be Blessed... The other way...is just so hard.

[davsand]

12. If you are ID'd as a supporter the campaign works harder to "turn you out."

Most of the organized campaigns are run that way. You get polled (or even solicited) at some point or another by the campaign volunteers, or if you make a contribution to the campaign you get designated as a supporter that needs to be encouraged to vote. GOTV (Get Out The Vote) efforts really would be more properly called GOMV (Get Out MY Voters) because you really don't WANT the other guy's voters to go vote.

My guess is that you might get a robo call on election day from the Clinton camp, but most likely you will not be hearing from a real human because you are not anyone they want to have voting. They will devote volunteers to the people they want voting.

On a local level, if a candidate comes to your door they might take notes on a walk list that indicates if they think you will support them in the election. We call it "plus minus zero" designations with the "zero" being the other candidate's supporters. Again, on election day the "zeros" are not the people you want to turn out. The Plus voters, however, are the ones you call and offer to drive to the polls.

A for "poll watchers" it varies from state to state, but it is fairly common that the election judge will "announce" your name when you sign in. Depends a lot on the location how strict they are about doing it, but a lot of campaigns will station a person in the polling place with a list of voters from that particular precinct that is a "plus" list. As those names are called they are marked off as having voted. The lists get picked up at various times of the day and the people who have NOT voted yet get called by a human.

Here in Illinois, Poll Watchers are NOT allowed to interact with voters at all, and they are not allowed in the polling places without the appropriate credentials from the local parties. I can guarantee you that somebody with Obama's campaign is on top of it for your area because I worked with his Senate campaign GOTV here in Illinois. These guys KNOW what they are doing

Your local laws probably vary, but a lot of this stuff does seem to appear in races across the nation.

Have fun tomorrow!


Laura

[Bucky]

13. While interesting, I wouldn't write it off as a gimmick.

Campaigns get a lot of help from a lot of workers. They sound like they were polite (an absolute must in phonebanking) and sincere. Given the demographics of the North Carolina party, I'm not surprised you got two black men calling you. I've never known a political campaign to do demographic screening on their callers (altho my experience is limited to organizing in Democratic campaigns). If the party is, say, 40% African American and the volunteers are representative of the party, then you have a one in five chance of being called by two blacks in a row. If you've volunteered in the past, your number will be on all sorts of call lists, so getting called twice in a day isn't odd either.

[KoKo]

21. Thanks...I didn't think it was a gimmick...I thought it was Pollsters...

who had targeted me as part of Clinton Campaign....That they were both African American call a Repug Zip Code did seem a little odd, though...for Clinton.. :shrug:

[Texas Hill Country]

15. how do you know they were both from Clinton?

[KoKo]

18. I only know what they told me as an "introduction" to their speil...

but I didn't detect anything that made them seem as other than a questioner for who they were paid by.

I didn't ask either: "Who is Paying You!"

I thought it would be rude.

[OzarkDem]

16. Your "change" comment was interesting

So odd that you reject the successes of the Democratic Party (Congress, WH and state leaders) in leading our country during the 1990's.

Blind loyalty to a vague concept of "change" without understanding the huge success of the "change" Dems brought the last time they led the US shows a real lack of good judgement.

It separates those who rely on talking points and marketing to make a judgement vs those who do their homework on the issues.

Just sayin.

[KoKo]

17. It was a quick answer to get him off the phone...are you questioning my credentials as a Dem?

:shrug:

[writes3000]

19. Please ignore that condescending, insulting post.

It's obnoxious.

[OzarkDem]

23. Its an honest, legitimate question

one that deserves an answer. We are all members of the Democratic Party, and the last time something like this happened it cost Dems the WH.

[OzarkDem]

22. No, just your support for the party in general

and the good record they have of solving the country's problems. It serves no purpose to discredit their accomplishments.

[GoldieAZ49]

24. Probably Indies, pattern of prefs is now Hillary, McCain

party affiliation doesn't matter with the choice between McCain and Obama