I've heard some complaints from people who have called an office of the Coburn for Senate campaign to volunteer, and instead of being plugged in immediately with something to do, they either found the office closed, left a message and never got a return call, or were told there wasn't anything for them to do.

If that was ever the case, it is no longer.

The Coburn campaign needs your help over the next week and a half on the phones. Specifically:

Tonight and for the next 7 days at Coburn's Tulsa HQ in Eton Square (8321 E. 61st, between Jason's Deli and Atlantic Sea Grill), from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. to make phone calls to voters. You'll be told who to call and what to say, so it's easy. You'll be getting an inside look at the campaign and how Oklahoma voters are responding to it. Most of all you'll be helping elect a great man who will be a leader and an agent of positive change in the U. S. Senate.

RSVP to the Coburn office by phone at 294-8352.

Having been a candidate, I know how hard it can be to organize and make the best use of people who volunteer for the campaign, so that the campaign gets the most benefit for their efforts and the volunteers have a satisfying experience and a desire to do even more. In my 2002 City Council race, Jerry Riley was my campaign manager, and he did a great job of volunteer coordination -- in fact, I met someone Wednesday night, someone I had never met in person, but who had volunteered for my campaign, who told me how impressed he was with Jerry's professionalism and organization. Terri Cleveland and Susan Hill are another couple of experienced campaign managers here in Tulsa who do a great job of lining up volunteers and putting them to work, allowing the candidates to focus on meeting the voters. This aspect of the campaign is often overlooked by campaign consultants focused on mailers and ad buys, but it's often the difference between victory and defeat.