DENVER—Hundreds of Democrats angling for a better view of Barack Obama during his acceptance speech worked the phones Thursday evening on the way to their seats at Invesco Field.
Democratic officials used wooden folding tables to set up a phone bank near two public entrances and asked Democrats entering the stadium to stop and work for a few minutes.
In exchange, they got a chance to win one of 100 floor passes to see Obama’s speech up close.
Party officials say the volunteers made more than 15,000 phone calls, all to Colorado voters not affiliated with either party.
The callers didn’t ask people to vote for Obama, only that they watch his speech.
“I was walking around and saw the phone bank and thought, ‘That’s kind of cool,'” said Wendy Gable of Castle Rock. “It’s a nice little way to do something for the party.”
Volunteers were given 13 numbers to try and forms to show how many people they reached. Volunteers also asked people if they wanted to receive text mesage updates “to keep up with the campaign after tonight,” according to a five-paragraph script handed to volunteers.
For some, it was a new type of voluntee work.
“People (who answered the calls) were very positive overall,” said Kristin Riley-Lazo of Denver. “There was one person who kind of blew me off, but that was it.”
After she made her calls, Riley-Lazo signed to up volunteer for the campaign again in the fall.
Others were seasoned phone bankers.
“I got in today by working like the dickens,” said CJ Cullinan, a registered nurse from Englewood.
Tables at the phone bank station stayed full all afternoon but volunteers started drifting away by about 5:30 p.m. when Sheryl Crow took the stage. The phone bank ended an hour later.
“It’s just kind of a phone thing,” said Katie Maher, a phone bank organizer and Democratic activist from Norristown, Pa. “Everybody’s doing their part, pitching in.”
