(POL) Republicans paying group to phone folks repeatedly, as Democrats???

[SirFozzie]

The Do Not Call list does not apply to political calls, sadly), but the fact that they try to make the calls look like they're calling from the Democratic candidate (they don't identify who is paying for the call AS required by law at the BEGINNING of the call, but instead say they're calling with information about the Democrat candidate in the various races) and the repeated annoying behaviour (if you don't listen to the message, they immediately re-call you, one woman got called TWENTY ONE times!!!).. yeah.

And apparently, the group that the RNC hired is doing this across the nation, here's just some example of stories...if true, and the fact that it's happening in many different places makes me believe it is.... so incredibly asshole-ish.

http://www.wmur.com/news/10237386/detail.html -- New Hampshire, where last election, some folks at the New Hampshire Republican Party were convicted of jamming the Democrat's phone banks, in an attempt to disrupt the Get Out The Vote Campaign.

http://www.pioneerlocal.com/elkgrove...206-s1.article -- Chicago area.

http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/...l/15898729.htm -- Philadelphia

http://www.boston.com/news/local/con...the_campaigns/ -- Mentions incidents in Conneticut and North Carolina

[cartman]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

The Do Not Call list does not apply to political calls, sadly)

At the federal level, no, but some states (New Hampshire is one) do have laws that consider non-profit and political calls as having to honor the Do Not Call list.

[SirFozzie]

and the Republicans say since their national group is paying for it and not the state group, that they're legal. *sighs*

[Solecismic]

It's actually illegal to robocall someone in New Hampshire who is on the National Do Not Call list.

That hasn't stopped some of the candidates, unfortunately. Both sides in our nationally-watched congressional race (you'll hear a lot about the shocking slide of Charlie Bass tomorrow night) and the Republican candidate for governor, who is trailing, 70%-20% in the polls.

I don't think I've ever come to hate politicians in general as much as I have the last few weeks. The commericials are 90% negative and the fliers we receive daily aren't even fit to leave out on a table where the toddler can see them (he reads now).

For the first time in more than a decade, I'm wondering if I'm even going to bother to vote.

[finketr]

yet another reason i'm voting for no incumbents this year.

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

It's actually illegal to robocall someone in New Hampshire who is on the National Do Not Call list.

That hasn't stopped some of the candidates, unfortunately. Both sides in our nationally-watched congressional race (you'll hear a lot about the shocking slide of Charlie Bass tomorrow night) and the Republican candidate for governor, who is trailing, 70%-20% in the polls.

I don't think I've ever come to hate politicians in general as much as I have the last few weeks. The commericials are 90% negative and the fliers we receive daily aren't even fit to leave out on a table where the toddler can see them (he reads now).

For the first time in more than a decade, I'm wondering if I'm even going to bother to vote.

Yeah.. the VA race for Senator is quite a joy to watch...

ugh... a good way to disenfranchise voters for sure...

[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

It's actually illegal to robocall someone in New Hampshire who is on the National Do Not Call list.

That hasn't stopped some of the candidates, unfortunately. Both sides in our nationally-watched congressional race (you'll hear a lot about the shocking slide of Charlie Bass tomorrow night) and the Republican candidate for governor, who is trailing, 70%-20% in the polls.

I don't think I've ever come to hate politicians in general as much as I have the last few weeks. The commericials are 90% negative and the fliers we receive daily aren't even fit to leave out on a table where the toddler can see them (he reads now).

For the first time in more than a decade, I'm wondering if I'm even going to bother to vote.

That's what a lot of em want, Jim, because they're hoping you're so pissed about the pressure that you don't go out and vote, and the election comes down to who has the most plentiful and rabid faithful.

In other words, neither side can count on the independent voter for a vote, and at least one side (wouldn't be surprised to see it the other way too), would rather you didn't vote at all rather then vote and not be sure of who you're voting for.

[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

It's actually illegal to robocall someone in New Hampshire who is on the National Do Not Call list.

A quote from the WMUR.com article, the National Folks state that the law just does not apply to them

Martha Child, an independent who generally votes for Democrats, said she received five calls from the National Republican Congressional Committee in two days despite having her number listed on a federal "Do-Not-Call" list.

On Friday, a spokesman for the NRCC said the group did not violate the law.

"Because we're not a state entity, that law does not apply," said Alex Burgos.

[cartman]

It's kind of ironic that the position that the NRCC is taking is very similar to the ones online gambling proponents are taking about the location of the servers.

[Coder]

My memories from living in the States are almost all positive, but one thing that stood out for me during the elections in '96 is the terrible terrible way of running for office.. all I can remember is the negative ads.. I can't recall any of the "This is what I stand for", only the "Mr X of the X party wants to pee in your pants and poop in your ear"-kind of ads running both on TV and on the radio.

The only time I actually laughed at it was when they were voting whether or not to have Tift County remain a dry county, and the wife of a pastor was arrested after being caught driving around town at night removing all "Vote NO"-signs

[finketr]

Originally Posted by Coder

My memories from living in the States are almost all positive, but one thing that stood out for me during the elections in '96 is the terrible terrible way of running for office.. all I can remember is the negative ads.. I can't recall any of the "This is what I stand for", only the "Mr X of the X party wants to pee in your pants and poop in your ear"-kind of ads running both on TV and on the radio.

The only time I actually laughed at it was when they were voting whether or not to have Tift County remain a dry county, and the wife of a pastor was arrested after being caught driving around town at night removing all "Vote NO"-signs

there is one candidate here in peoria that i can recall that hasn't run a negative ad yet...

he's even had a "I voted against him in the last election but when I had a problem i went to him and he helped solve it." ad...

kid's young... he was elected to the school board as a write-in candidate when he was ~19.. and is now our state representative at 25, or so

[Coffee Warlord]

Was at lunch last week. 5 commericals during whatever was on TV.

All 5, negative campaign ads. All in a row. Fucking disgusting.

[NoMyths]

I did just come home to find that Senator McCain left a message for me. He wants very much for me to vote for homosexuals to have to wear the blue hat for homosexuals to not be allowed to marry. I am going to have to dissapoint the senator, I'm afraid, but he didn't leave a callback number for me to inform him personally. Alas.

[Klinglerware]

Yes, in NJ, the republicans had robo-calls masquerading as Menendez callers. Same deal--if you hung up, you automatically get called again. If you listened all the way through, the robo-call bashes Menendez in the end. So I think the strategy here is supposed to be a "win-win" since in theory:

- the multiple "pro-Menendez" calls will piss you off
- the anti-Menendez message at the end will reinforce your newfound hatred of Mendendez, once you listen to the whole ad.

In theory, pretty brilliant. But, let's see if there is a backlash, now that these tactics are now widely reported.

[larrymcg421]

This Supreme Court race here in Georgia is one of the most negative I've ever seen. It's so negative that I almost have a hard time keeping track of who let rapists walk free or who told their dying mother to fuck off.

[Honolulu_Blue]

The race for the Governor of Michigan has left me confused. At this point, I am pretty much convinced that the challenger, Dick De Vos, has sent every able bodied worker (at least enough to fill Comerica Park 10 times over) to work in concentration camps in China. As for Governor Granholm, I'm certain she either ordered a hit on two kids to be killed in front of their parents or even did the dirty deed herself. That part is unclear.

All I know is that "in 5 more years.... I'll be blown away."

[SirFozzie]

and then wedensday, folks will be wondering why there's such low turnout.. *sigh*

[larrymcg421]

The problem is that the negative ads work. If one side is attacking and the other side tries to ignore it and stay positive, we all know who is going to win.

Part of the reason Dukakis lost is because he did not respond to many of the attacks against him, and the ones he responded came way too late. Clinton made sure not to make that same mistake and was very aggressive.

We only have ourselves to blame for letting the negative ads affect our votes.

[bhlloy]

Working in the market research industry the big problem is the DNC list does not apply to market research polls, and a lot of these "robocalls" are masquerading as such. One of the ones out there at the moment that the GOP have released (in Missouri I believe) asks you to press 1 if you are against gay marriage and abortion, and 2 if you support it. If you press one you get a recorded message bashing the democratic challenger. Boom... it's technically a poll.

Of course this completely ruins the reputation of genuine market research polls, who are quite happy to abide by the DNC list (although they don't usually to avoid biasing the results, if you ask a genuine market research company to never call you again they will comply), and have one of the most comprehensive codes of conduct you will ever read.

The market research and public opinion organizations are doing a lot to try and stop this kind of crap, and some state prosecutors are going hard after people who do violate the state laws (I think a GOP hired firm lost a big case in New Jersey in the last couple of years and had to pay big for it) but in a lot of states it's not illegal.

What is illegal btw, is for anybody to automatically dial a cellphone number or any number where the recipient pays for the call. So if anyone ever gets a robocall on a cellphone, the company that makes the call can get some huge fines for that if reported.

[wbatl1]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

This Supreme Court race here in Georgia is one of the most negative I've ever seen. It's so negative that I almost have a hard time keeping track of who let rapists walk free or who told their dying mother to fuck off.

Amen to that. And they can find the WORST pictures of each other. In one, Hunstein (sp?) looks like the devil herself...

[Vinatieri for Prez]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

The problem is that the negative ads work. If one side is attacking and the other side tries to ignore it and stay positive, we all know who is going to win.

Part of the reason Dukakis lost is because he did not respond to many of the attacks against him, and the ones he responded came way too late. Clinton made sure not to make that same mistake and was very aggressive.

We only have ourselves to blame for letting the negative ads affect our votes.

Yep.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

This Supreme Court race here in Georgia is one of the most negative I've ever seen. It's so negative that I almost have a hard time keeping track of who let rapists walk free or who told their dying mother to fuck off.

She let the rapists walk, he stole his dead mother's money.
Or at least I think that's the basic claims.

This race had also made for some seemingly strange political bedfellows (Bernie Marcus & Sonny "Liar" Perdue) which has me scratching my head even more than the charges/countercharges/denials.

[timmynausea]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

The race for the Governor of Michigan has left me confused. At this point, I am pretty much convinced that the challenger, Dick De Vos, has sent every able bodied worker (at least enough to fill Comerica Park 10 times over) to work in concentration camps in China. As for Governor Granholm, I'm certain she either ordered a hit on two kids to be killed in front of their parents or even did the dirty deed herself. That part is unclear.

All I know is that "in 5 more years.... I'll be blown away."

We watched Jeopardy a few days ago and literally 95% of the ads were negative political ads, mostly regarding Granholm or Devos, but also Sandy Lipsey took $5000 worth in trips to Milwaukee and other tropical locales on the public's dime. The only one that really outraged my girlfriend and me was some bullshit about "Head On apply directly to the forehead." We are voting no on the head on proposal.

[Axxon]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

She let the rapists walk, he stole his dead mother's money.
Or at least I think that's the basic claims.

This race had also made for some seemingly strange political bedfellows (Bernie Marcus & Sonny "Liar" Perdue) which has me scratching my head even more than the charges/countercharges/denials.

That first paragraph is just plain funny if you haven't seen the commercials before. Makes you wonder how you make that choice. Do you have an internal dialog about which is worse, letting rapists walk or robbing corpses. Might be the only time I could understand saying screw it and voting party lines.

[clintl]

This kind of tactic should be a crime.

[stevew]

I get double pounded by both Ohio and PA adds. Thank god Santorum basically gave up in our market. I really haven't seen many Swann vs Rendell adds....I pretty much think that Rendell is going to win going away?

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by finketr

yet another reason i'm voting for no incumbents this year.

+1.

[larrymcg421]

Originally Posted by clintl

This kind of tactic should be a crime.

It might be. The Dems have filed a cease and desist letter and asked for a federal investigation.

[JPhillips]

Suppressing the vote has been a part of the Republican game plan for years. They have a reliable motivated base and higher turnout just means a bigger chance that they can lose. There really is nothing that they won't do to win an election.

[panerd]

I got three copies of a large photo flyer about how all Jews should vote for Republicans. First of all I don't give a fuck, second of all I am not Jewish, third do you have to send me the flyer three times in one day?

Living in a pivital state, I had 10 pieces of junk political mail today alone. I was thinking about pulling a Kremer and giving it all back to the people gladhanding at the polling places, but I think my anger really doesn't need to be directed at them. What a complete waste of money. (By both sides) I can't imagine any voters can be that ignorant to have their minds changed by junk mail.

[larrymcg421]

Originally Posted by stevew

I get double pounded by both Ohio and PA adds. Thank god Santorum basically gave up in our market. I really haven't seen many Swann vs Rendell adds....I pretty much think that Rendell is going to win going away?

Yeah, most recent poll shows Rendell up 58-35. Swann is doing worse than Santorum.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by panerd

... third do you have to send me the flyer three times in one day?

Just out of a marketer's curiosity: Were all three addressed identically?
Same spelling of the name, same middle initial/no middle initial, same address?

[panerd]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Just out of a marketer's curiosity: Were all three addressed identically?
Same spelling of the name, same middle initial/no middle initial, same address?

Upon closer inspection, two were exactly the same and one was a little different. One talks about how they kicked Lieberman out of the party because he was a Jew and the other two are about how Illinois and Minnesota had the audacity to have people in power from the Nation of Islam.

But to answer your original question they were all addressed to "The Panerd Family" with the same exact same address. And apperently they are from the Republican Jewish Coalition.

[Glengoyne]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Suppressing the vote has been a part of the Republican game plan for years. They have a reliable motivated base and higher turnout just means a bigger chance that they can lose. There really is nothing that they won't do to win an election.

Hear! Hear!

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by panerd

Upon closer inspection, two were exactly the same and one was a little different. ... But to answer your original question they were all addressed to "The Panerd Family" with the same exact same address. And apperently they are from the Republican Jewish Coalition.

Hmm ... sounds like they need a little work on their mailing list. Two different pieces I can understand (probably a postal delay that caused them to show up at the same time) but double mailing the same piece is really wasteful if it happens on a large scale.

The really odd (although occasionally fun to figure out) part is how you ended up on their mailing list at all. Not being Jewish makes you a rather unlikely intended target for the mailer

Donated to any Jewish causes/charities in the past couple of years? Donated to/ worked for any Jewish candidates? Live in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood?

[Ryche]

I get to listen to these complaints all day tomorrow. Going to be a damn long day.

[MrBigglesworth]

Originally Posted by Glengoyne

Hear! Hear!

Well, at the moment there is only one party actively trying to defraud voters and only one party that got felony convictions for voter suppression from the last mid-term elections. I won't opine on whether it is an act of desperation to hold onto power or an ingrained part of the GOP election culture. Either way, it's pushed me away from the GOP. This will be the first election that I ever vote straight Democrat in the big elections. Before I've voted for Ridge, Santorum, Specter, etc, but the GOP, from corruption to incompetence to midieval human rights to general nastiness have rendered me unable to push the button for a single person with an R next to them. I'll even be doing a little work for Joe Sestak tomorrow because Curt Weldon is so terrible, even though that's not even my district.

[Butter]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

Yeah, most recent poll shows Rendell up 58-35. Swann is doing worse than Santorum.

Good thing Swann gave up that day job.