To the Editor:

About those phone calls -— you know the ones I mean — an unknown person is calling, and it’s clearly a political call. Well, I’m one of those people!

Let me tell you about my calls, why I call, and what they’re about. You might want to take my calls. 

I know that many of you say you’re sick of politics so just tune out “all things political.” You only think you tune them out. There is no escape from TV ads or stuff roaring through the ozone and coming to you via the internet. Some of that information — realized or not, true or not — sticks in some back corner of your brain. 

I’m a precinct chairperson and am usually calling simply to let you know about an event or meeting that you may not have heard about or noticed in the community calendar sections of all our local news papers. Sometimes both of our local major political parties spend expensive but worthwhile, dollars on printed ads, flyers or posters. You may not have seen any of these in the media or on our internet contact lists either, so we (helpfully and hopefully) phone you to invite your attendance.  

In the first words out of my mouth I’ll tell you who I am, that I’m local, I live near you, and why I’m calling. If you don’t hang up or otherwise dismiss me, I promise you my conversation will be short and to the point.

Most of my calls are usually only to the people of my party. Closer to the election, I may call you to remind you of what our new North Carolina laws require of you so your vote will count, I’ll call you about dates, times and places for early voting. Sometimes I may even be calling some of you who are registered as unaffiliated (aka, independent) voters.  

That said, let me remind Independents that you set yourselves up to hear from both Democrats and Republicans, so you might want to rethink your registration (there’s a deadline for changing that too). We may think we have a pretty good idea of which party you favor, but we’ll hedge our bets and call you just the same.

Of course, if you really want to chat I’ll advocate for my party. That is entirely up to you. Unless I’m phone banking for a candidate (a whole other type call), my opening words are simply “Hi, I’m Shirl, and I’m your East Franklin precinct chairperson for the Democratic Party. I’m calling to let you know that we’re having an event” — a breakfast, a dinner, a BBQ, our annual precinct meeting, or a whole party gathering such as county convention or to meet a candidate. Just be nice! Listen, and say “thank you.” (I’ll bet my Republican counterpart agrees.)

It’s important to learn and know, even if you think you know it all — indeed, that is something none of us can do. That said, I’ll be calling soon!

Shirley Ches

Franklin