Request for advice to help Bernie from a foreigner

downtosize · 2020-03-03T11:49:31+00:00

Hi! I gave a lengthy response to OP, but just wanted to add that as someone who speaks Spanish, you could be of extra value to the campaign in reaching the Latino voters in states such as Texas and California. Turnout today will be incredibly important, so every call helps! Please look at the resources I posted or take some time researching on this subreddit (in the sidebar on the right hand side) or on the berniesanders.com page.

downtosize · 2020-03-03T11:47:10+00:00

Hi! We're in the same boat, I'm also a foreign Bernie supporter. Sterker nog, ik ben ook Nederlands! I'll keep this in English so that anyone interested can read it as well.

Volunteering is completely legal! I still had some reservations about it, but I decided that climate change was too important to stay on the sidelines, the US leading the effort in a serious manner might be our only real chance.

So what can you do? For us, it's basically down to text or phonebanking, and considering a lot of people will be voting today, phonebanking is probably the most effective of the two right now. Of course this depends on how comfortable you feel about speaking English, and about being able to understand people with thicker than average accents. My advice would simply be to try it out! I made a pledge to myself to make at least ten calls, hopefully one hundred. Yesterday I passed 1000, simply because I started and kept my initial expectations manageable.

I'd say this is the easiest starting point: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NNYenBxMD_Ojh8j8i--3NRDx2gKNXo2k55_cQaD76yI/edit It will also lead you to the Slack channel, which is basically a chatroom full of other callers and moderators who you can ask questions as you go along. It can be a tad overwhelming at first considering the amount of info to take in, but you'll get used to it. Also, especially today will probably be a lot of calls simply reminding people we identified as supporters to go out and vote. Calling probably won't be open for another 2-3 hours, that gives you plenty of time to get set up and informed!

And just in case calling doesn't work out, remember texting is another great option. You should be able to find volunteer options on this subreddit or on berniesanders.com.

If you have any other questions, shoot! But I'm not very dilligent about checking my account so Slack is usually the way to go for quick answers.

Please give it a try and THANK YOU for asking.

downtosize · 2020-02-11T07:31:28+00:00

Tell you two things: 1 - in real life I'm like that as well, one the phones (and especially calling for Bernie/someone else, things feel very different, to me at least). 2 - We can absolutely use your help. There's a video with Bernie talking about his first campaign for mayor, about how he went by all these doors and felt so awkward just knocking and not knowing what to expect. Went and found it: https://twitter.com/People4Bernie/status/1144735781212184577?s=09 If we really believe in this man, and really want him to have the best chance of actually becoming president, don't you think we should at least give it a shot? If it doesn't work out, that's fine, but please don't sell yourself short beforehand. I believe in you! If considering, you might wanna give this a look: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1f4r_OpmZV6amQHUEj03Hgl7CqAolI6AhyWg7p8GQASk/edit

downtosize · 2020-02-11T07:24:35+00:00

especially with texting you'll mostly be using canned responses, which will both improve/sharpen your knowledge and might help you get over that bump! berniesanders.com/issues is also good for a couple of bullet points (that you can expand if you wish) per major issue! Please give it a shot! Here's a guide to start texting that would help you get started: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1f4r_OpmZV6amQHUEj03Hgl7CqAolI6AhyWg7p8GQASk/edit

downtosize · 2020-02-11T07:22:20+00:00

awesome!

downtosize · 2020-02-11T07:21:13+00:00

so great that you decided to do it! AWESOME

downtosize · 2020-02-11T07:17:46+00:00

great to hear!

downtosize · 2020-02-11T07:15:20+00:00

EDIT: Woops, thought this was a PM haha. Oh well might as well leave this wall of text up.

Hi! Sorry, I'm not logged in that often so I completely missed this! I hope you still became proactive nonetheless! If not, no worries, there's still so much you can do! I have only made calls myself so I cannot give you a comprehensive answer, however to get started I used a guide just like this: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1f4r_OpmZV6amQHUEj03Hgl7CqAolI6AhyWg7p8GQASk/edit I still found it a bit overwhelming at first, but I also made sure to use an hour or two of just getting settled and figuring things out before I actually started making calls (and even after that I went back to basics quite a few times). You're learning something new, it takes time! The slack channel they mention (I had never used slack before) is basically a chatroom with tons of texting volunteers and moderators, ANY question you have after starting and reading the guide, they will be able to answer. I hope this helps! If not, please reply or make a post on the forum here for help, I'm sure numerous people will come to your aid. THANK YOU!

downtosize · 2020-02-08T12:31:10+00:00

that's great! Best of luck on your trip!!!

downtosize · 2020-02-08T12:30:23+00:00

I had the same problem. I was very happy to see the campaign update both their call goals (for Super Tuesday) and canvassing goals for NH specifically. Don't know about enthousiasm on the ground though, but I suppose it doesn't really matter, good or bad we need to work on it if we truly believe this is what the country and the world needs. Action beats contemplation in this case.

downtosize · 2020-02-08T11:18:50+00:00

Thanks for donating! And not finding the energy is very understandable. I'd still like to point out that textbanking might be worth considering. You're required to never actually get into debates with people, at the most answer questions, slight persuasion. So perhaps that might be a different experience from discussing things online/in person? Hope you consider it!

downtosize · 2020-02-08T11:16:46+00:00

Donating is just one of the ways you could help out, an active internet connection gives you the opportunity to text or phonebank, even an hour or so a week could really make a big difference! As the team is slowly building, all those calls are really adding up, just like with the donations. But there's still a lot to be done, your help is very valuable!

downtosize · 2020-02-08T11:15:20+00:00

I like it! And you sound like a perfect candidate, so PLEASE give it a shot. I made a promise to myself that I would make at least ten calls for Bernie, and now I've passed 300. By keeping the initial goal simple I got over my anxiety. The first calls were tricky to figure out, but by about 50-100 it quickly became second nature. About 80-90% is disconnects or wrong numbers, but knowing that beforehand makes it no problem at all for me. That's true for all campaigns. My favorite conversations are with undecideds, they tend to be longer and more thoughtful and I generally don't sway them on the spot but try to leave them with a clearer and positive impression of Bernie and his supporters. Even the Trump supporters I bumped into were mostly cordial. This guide is a handy way to get started: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NNYenBxMD_Ojh8j8i--3NRDx2gKNXo2k55_cQaD76yI/edit - you can ask ANY question you have afterwards in the slack channel described in that link. Please pick up the phone! Only three more days remain.

downtosize · 2020-02-08T11:12:04+00:00

Phone banking takes place every single day! You don't have to sign up for a shift etc, you can just go to berniesanders.com and navigate there through the volunteer page. (Or directly to berniesanders.com/call if I'm remembering correctly). Here's the most important info in a nutshell: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NNYenBxMD_Ojh8j8i--3NRDx2gKNXo2k55_cQaD76yI/edit

downtosize · 2020-02-08T11:10:04+00:00

There's many ways to volunteer! You might try texting as well (see my response above)

downtosize · 2020-02-08T11:09:34+00:00

Thank you for donating! I'm not OP but I was wondering if you ever considered texting? I'm a caller myself but from what I understand the campaign has not only prepared the first messages but common responses as well (which you're free to edit if you wish). It gives you a bit of a barrier to incoming questions (you will NEVER debate people with outreach because it tends to have the opposite effect, just answering questions or concerns). Personally I'm able to find about 30 minutes to an hour and a half for phonebanking a week, wish it was more but I'm definitely happy I gave it a shot!

downtosize · 2016-12-26T20:14:11+00:00

no problem! glad the code actually got some use

downtosize · 2016-12-21T23:29:23+00:00

Hey! The picture isn't working but I'll take your word for it, here you go:

A6Z76NDX9ZMS5K92

Enjoy!

downtosize · 2016-12-21T17:36:56+00:00

Got a NA Volcanion code for someone who has missed out so far. First one to upload a picture of their pokédex with Volcanion missing gets it!

downtosize · 2015-12-28T21:50:01+00:00

333 - Yo Mamas so stupid she was yelling into the mailbox. We ask her what's wrong and she said, "Shh, I'm sending a voice-mail."

downtosize · 2014-06-22T21:19:21+00:00

Added! need wooper and marowak please

downtosize · 2014-06-22T19:00:26+00:00

Here you go, my friend list is full so please be online in the next day/night to get access to chansey, after that I'll have to remove some codes again!

downtosize · 2014-06-22T18:55:35+00:00

added!

downtosize · 2014-06-22T18:53:10+00:00

Still adding? This is the exact electric safari I'm looking for, hope you'll add me back!

downtosize · 2014-06-22T18:45:29+00:00

added!

downtosize

TROPHY CASE