Watching the Polls, Working the Phones

With less than an hour left before the polls close, Mark T. Silvestri ’05 sits behind W. Mitt Romney’s desk.

A smiling picture of Ann Romney, the Republican gubernatorial candidate’s wife, watches over Silvestri as he picks up the telephone.

“Is Louis there?” he asks. “Or Linda? Hi, my name is Mark. I’m just calling on behalf of Mitt Romney to remind you to vote today.”

This is the culmination of Silvestri’s political work this fall. After working for Romney over the summer and fall, he now finds himself in the candidate’s office as campaign volunteers use every available phone to get out the vote.

“This is what you call down to the wire, I guess,” Silvestri says.

A few calls later, he looks up from his call list, which targets supporters who the campaign thinks need an extra push.

“This guy said, ‘Isn’t it too late?’” he explains. “I told him there’s still another hour.”

Then, after an uncertain pause, he asks, “What time is it?”

It’s 7:15 p.m. on Election Night.

Romney staffer Paul Minihane sticks his head into the office to offer Silvestri a few words of encouragement.

“Good man,” he says. “You’re doing God’s work.”

Silvestri is going on his thirteenth straight hour of campaign work today. His day began at 6:30 a.m., checking voting machines at the Gund Hall polling place.

It’s part of what campaign junkies call “poll watching.” For example, before voting started, Silvestri made sure all the machines were zeroed out. Then, for hours, as he waved signs for his candidate outside, he kept an eye out to make sure no one was trying to influence voters.

Silvestri, an official with the Harvard Republican Club, organized poll-watching and sign-waving for Romney by club members at the Gund Hall and Quincy House precincts.

For much of the day, he and other Harvard Republicans stood on two cold street corners with Romney signs, waving at passing motorists—even though, he said, “at this point, you’re powerless.”

“I’m actually surprised how many people have approached us,” he said outside Gund Hall. “I expected two people at this location to vote for Romney.”

Late in the day, after leaving instructions at the Quincy precinct for his fellow Republican poll watchers, Silvestri changed into a suit and left for Romney headquarters, located near the Alewife T station.

He had planned to head to the Romney party at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel after a quick visit but wound up sitting behind Romney’s desk instead—where it’s now 7:30 p.m.

After he’s spent about 30 minutes working the phones, Romney staffer Lydia Goldblatt sails into the office, untangling a computer cord with her hands.

“This has got to get over right now,” she says, giving Silvestri directions to the Romney war room in the Park Plaza.

He dashes out the door for the T.

Thirty minutes later, right at the moment when polls across the state are closing, he rushes through the lobby of the Park Plaza and catches an elevator for the fourth floor.

He passes hurried Romney aides in the hall as he looks for the war room, where he introduces himself—and the computer cord.

Then he makes his way to another phone bank. This time he’s on the receiving end as campaign volunteers call in results from across the state.

He’s been working for 14 hours now, and he hopes that, before it’s all over, he makes it to the victory speech.