With every additional chime as the telephone rings, the simultaneous urge to run away as fast as possible and to pick up the phone in order to scream at the cheery voice on the other end grows stronger. That phone’s ringing a lot more than it usually does – multiple times per day, every day, sometimes even on weekends. And the person on the other end of the line isn’t a friend, or a relative. It’s not a stranger calling to say you’ve won the lottery. Actually, they’re not even trying to sell you anything. They’re trying to get something more important than money from you – your vote.
It’s primary season for midterm elections in the United States, and in some states rivalries between candidates have reached an all-time high. But the candidates have not yet entered into the election ring, the bloodbath of mudslinging and slander that will develop once each party’s candidates for election for governor, senator, or representative are chosen. Instead, it’s a carefully orchestrated volley of propaganda, from signposts by the side of the road, to flyers handed out at sidewalk sales, to a never-ending barrage of phone calls.
Right now, these candidates are fighting simply for their party’s nomination. They want to convince voters that they’re better, not only than whichever candidate the rival party may choose, but than all of the others attempting to secure their own party’s nomination. And they can’t use the same tactics as in a general election, because when the dust settles at the end of the summer, the party has to get behind whichever frontman or frontwoman they’ve chosen, and it’s a little difficult to convince voters to support someone who’s had their dirty laundry exposed by a member of their own party.
So for those in each race, instead of focusing on what’s wrong with the other candidates, they must concentrate on why they’re the best for the job – at the very least, try to do so. And in order to do this, they employ brigades of staff and volunteers, whose sole task for days on end may be to make phone calls. Calls to loyal supporters, yes, but also to every other constituent who represents even the slightest chance at one more vote.
In order to gain their full support, candidates have to make sure voters will get themselves to the ballot box for the primary elections in the first place, as these elections, taking place on dates which vary by state throughout the summer, usually attract low turnout as compared to general elections in November, not even taking into account the lower turnout in any midterm election. So the purpose of these calls is not solely to gain votes; it is to encourage voter turnout in the first place.
However, winning votes is the goal. And to accomplish this goal, Republicans and Democrats alike will ring every voter in their district (for representatives) or in their state (for governors and senators) that is registered as a member of their party, and most will also contact voters registered as independents. In a state like Connecticut, for example, where as recently as 2004 unaffiliated voters comprised 44% of all registered voters, candidates must attempt to garner as much support from these independents as possible.
In my household of four people, three are registered voters (the fourth being a disenfranchised fifteen-year-old). Two are registered as independents, part of that 44%. The third is registered with one of the two major parties, but switched party affiliation several election cycles ago, having registered initially with the other party. And those lists of voters – let’s just say, candidates don’t always use the most updated versions. Consequently, we’re experiencing a torrent of phone calls.
It’s 10:19am. Ring, ring. First call of the day – from the office of Dan Malloy, Democrat, running for governor. An hour later, there’s another from Linda McMahon, Republican candidate for senator. By noon, it’s the team of Jim Himes, incumbent representative of the Fourth Congressional District. Less than five minutes after that one, the phone rings again, calling from the office of Ned Lamont, the other Democratic gubernatorial candidate. And so on.
By five o’clock in the afternoon, as government offices begin to close, we breathe a sigh of relief. Today alone we’ve answered seven calls. Tomorrow there will be more. One might think that each candidate would call once; but they call multiple times, asking on various occasions for each of the registered voters in our home, and sometimes even for constituents who either don’t live here anymore, or are not permitted to vote. The housekeeper who worked here three years ago, the former residents who lived in this house before my family did (nearly two decades ago, come to think of it), even a few times – accidentally, we hope – for that fifteen-year-old who’s not allowed to vote yet. At least for that one, they have an excuse – attempting to indoctrinate the young, perhaps. But a couple of days ago, there was a call for the dog. Now, we really hope that was a mistake.
We wait with bated breath for August 10th, the scheduled date for primary elections in Connecticut, after which a few days of relief may come. But we won’t be left in peace for long – soon we’ll be hearing from candidates for the general election, which will be just around the corner.
