Politics calling: How do you like those nasty telephone calls

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I have a place in NC-11, and when I'm there I've been getting this crap non-stop from Charlie Taylor, at all freaking hours of the day - and you have to listen to the whole damn thing to find out it's Taylor as opposed to Shuler that is calling to wake you up and piss you off. Calling folks late at night and pretending to be somebody else is just a damn crank call, and when that somebody else is your political opponent - it's just disgraceful. The GOP has hit rock bottom with this BS. If the GOP (and I should limit this to Taylor, but the article indicates it's happening else where as well, though I have no 1st hand knowledge of it) is willing to use tactics like this, nothing is too low for them.

Politics calling: How do you like those nasty telephone calls from the campaigns?

by Philip Elliott, Associated Press Writer
published November 1, 2006 6:14 am

WASHINGTON – Press one if you think they're dirty tricks. Press two if you think prerecorded telephone messages are devastatingly effective, especially during the final days of a close campaign.

In at least 53 competitive House races, the National Republican Campaign Committee has launched hundreds of thousands of automated telephone calls, known as "robo calls."

.........

They can single out single women, absentee voters, independents and party faithful with tailored messages, but they also can frustrate voters. Sometimes, the latter is their goal.

Bruce Jacobson, a software engineer from Ardmore, Pa., received three prerecorded messages in four hours. Each began, "Hello, I'm calling with information about Lois Murphy," the Democrat running against two-term incumbent Rep. Jim Gerlach in the Philadelphia-area district.

"Basically, they go on to slam Lois," said Jacobson, who has filed a complaint with the FCC because the source of the call isn't immediately known.

FCC rules say all prerecorded messages must "at the beginning of the message, state clearly the identity of the business, individual, or other entity that is responsible for initiating the call." During or after the message, they must give the telephone number of the caller.

"The way they're sent is deceptive. The number of calls is harassing. The way her stances are presented in these stories is deliberately misleading and deceptive," said Karlyn Messinger, another Murphy supporter from Penn Valley, Pa., who filed a complaint with the FCC.

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"They are violating the regulations that were set up," said Jen Psaki, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, who said the DCCC employed one robocall this cycle and paid $500 for it.

"I think the real point here is that the Republicans are using a desperate campaign tactic that is misleading, at worst violating the law and at best is a page out of Karl Rove's playbook," Psaki said. "They clearly are attempting to mislead voters."

Democrats argued that that's the strategy.

"Because they are getting so many, they are only listening to the first part of the message," said Amy Bonitatibus, a Murphy spokeswoman. "They're hoping to turn off our base. ... These are pretty much dirty tricks by the Republican Party."

The NRCC, the GOP campaign arm for House candidates, has spent $2.1 million on such automated calls nationwide. In Illinois, at least three versions of a phone message target Tammy Duckworth, the Democrat in a tight Chicago-area race, and her positions on taxes, Social Security and immigrants.

.......

In North Carolina's 11th Congressional District, Republicans are going after challenger Heath Shuler, whose campaign said the calls are coming as late as 2:30 a.m.

"Calling people up, making people think it's me when it's actually them — it's acts of desperation. ... I think it's part of the corruption in Washington," Shuler said.

That campaign funded two robocalls during the primary but isn't looking to use any more.

"You can't combat a bad robocall message with another robocall message," said Shuler spokesman Andrew Whalen.

It's not just the campaign committees. Outside groups also are joining the fracas. Common Sense, a nonprofit group based in Ohio, has expanded to four other states to help conservative candidates this cycle.

http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061101/NEWS/61101011&SearchID=73261760668623

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I e-mailed DeVos' campaign to say I was not going to vote for him because of those annoying calls.

I hope a great many more people do something similar to the politicians that spam us with robocalls. Maybe these punks would stop bothering us if we did.

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Sounds like a cry-baby article.  You know, if you look at your caller ID, and there is no name and/or phone number listed, just don't answer it.  And, if you don't have caller ID (which means you are more technologically backwards than this old man), just pick up the phone and say hello only once.  If there is no response, or you hear the computer click on the other end, just hang up.  It's not rocket science, and it's not a big inconvenience.

Get 3 robocalls like this in one night, all after you've gone to bed - and then repeat your cry-baby line. I think you might find it to be a bit of an inconvenience. Oh, yes - caller ID only works if you are awake to look - of course, after the phone rings for a bit - you will be, and most likely pissed off enough to find out who the unknown caller is. Which the GOP is introducing as their opponent - swell.

Sound good to you MODU.

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Sounds like a cry-baby article.  You know, if you look at your caller ID, and there is no name and/or phone number listed, just don't answer it.  And, if you don't have caller ID (which means you are more technologically backwards than this old man), just pick up the phone and say hello only once.  If there is no response, or you hear the computer click on the other end, just hang up.  It's not rocket science, and it's not a big inconvenience.

Get 3 robocalls like this in one night, all after you've gone to bed - and then repeat your cry-baby line.

You are making it sound as if I never get calls at night.  Just learn to ignore them.  It's not hard.  The first step would be to put a cordless phone with a caller ID display in your bedroom (if you need one in your room to begin with).  If it is no one you know and not the hospital/police, just answer and hang up real quick.  Or, be like me turn off the ringer at night. 

1- I still work, so I have to get up in the morning.
2- I have kids in college, so no, I can not turn off my phone at night - and if I get a call - I have to look at it to see if one of my children is involved.
3- I, like many people. have a hard time getting back to sleep once I'm awakened.
4- A politician or a political organization that is running a campaign to disturb people at night in order to create misplaced anger at their opponents has no place in this country. It's dirty and it's beyond disrespectful to the voting public.

That you would even remotely defend a practice like this is unbelievable.

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I never said I defended the practice of robo-calling.  I'm just saying that the article sounded like a cry-baby piece, and normal people have ways to ignore the calls and live their lives in peace.  For your kids, put your cell phone in your room at night and have them call that line if it is an emergency.  Politicians will not be dialing it.  That is what I had my security personnel and instructors do back when I was managing the campus.  It's an unlisted number, so no one will be calling it at random.  That will solve all your night-time issues right there.

Christ MODU, what the.......

Politicians playing dirty tricks like this should be shamed into stopping - not accomadated by changing our lives. This is the GOP's doing - they should be made to stop - pure and simple.

Anyhow, my primary residence isn't in NC-11. I was just down there for a long weekend. So I'm sleeping soundly again, even if other folks around the country are not - thanks to the GOP.

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 There isn't anything you can do right now to get them to stop calling

Ah, but there are things I can do to stop it from becoming a common practice and see the scum bag that made the calls go down. I can raise awareness of how shamelessly Charlie Taylor is running his campaign - and in doing so, hopefully see that such disgraceful tactics are not rewarded with victory. I hadn't raised a finger for his opponent (it's not the district I vote in or spend most of my time in) up until this point. He just picked up some serious cash to get the word out about this.

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 There isn't anything you can do right now to get them to stop calling

Ah, but there are things I can do to stop it from becoming a common practice and see the scum bag that made the calls go down. I can raise awareness of how shamelessly Charlie Taylor is running his campaign - and in doing so, hopefully see that such disgraceful tactics are not rewarded with victory. I hadn't raised a finger for his opponent (it's not the district I vote in or spend most of my time in) up until this point. He just picked up some serious cash to get the word out about this.

Well good.  Break out the computer and start typing up letters to the editors of all the local newspapers and inform them of the abuse of the do-not-call legislation which allows politicians to make calls during the election cycle, and that there must be enforcable time limitations for when the calls can be made.  Do not make it partisan, because once you do, it will be ignored, and nothing will be gained.  If you want, post it here, and we'll help you tweak it for optimal impact.

Ah, right now the goal is to make Charlie Taylor pay for waking me up with robocalls designed to sound like they were being placed by his opponent. The GOP has also earned some of my anger by backing these tactics elsewhere (but I'm not sure if they are as out of hand elsewhere - so I'm willing to wait and see, when I posted this I was wondering if anybody else had a story to tell about getting these calls late at night - so far - nothing).

It's hard to go directly after a politician without sounding partisan - regardless of what that politician has done or how much they deserve it (and Charlie Taylor deserves it in a huge way). So, I'm just going to go after Charlie directly and honestly and let the chips fall where they may. If folks think it's partisan to get really pissed because a politician was making robocalls to my house after midnight, let 'em.

Thanks for the offer to help edit my subpar writing - and I agree with you that politicians are abusing the do-not-call legislation. I have a member of my family that edits books and teaches the English language for a living, so I'm fairly well covered if I want to send a piece out on the topic - which I just may do.

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nlm, you'll enjoy this. 

My sis-in-law was talking to me yesterday, and mentioned how she was woken up at 3am the other morning by an automated phone call from a special interest group trying to convince her to vote against the marriage protection act which is on our ballot.  She copied down the information from the phone call (she's one of those people who keep a pen and paper next to all of her phones) and called the group back first thing in the morning demanding an apology. The group apologized and contacted the "free" service they were using for their calls, and that company also turned around and apologized to her as well.  Sees that the person which updated the clock on their system for day light savings time screwed up, and reversed the AM with the PM.  They were getting complaint calls all day.  hahaha

Ha,

Hey, I got what I wanted - the screw ball that woke me up with these robocalls got toasted. As for the rest of them - I hope the laws change in the future and that those that violated the law (if they did with some of these robocalls) pay a price.