Interesting e-mail from a reader:
Regarding Romney’s loss, one thing I have not seen mentioned is the robo calls. All this week, the Romney campaign flooded republicans with robo calls. From Monday through Friday we would get literally four to five calls a night. They would come sometimes ten minutes apart. If you did not answer them, they left long messages on your answering machine. I turned off our phone on Weds, but when I turned it back on, on Friday, they were still calling so I turned it off again. This REALLY pissed off a lot of people I talked to, me included–our son works at night a lot and we try to keep in touch via that line so I was especially unhappy.
I can believe it. Tele-harassment is a BIG problem even under normal circumstances - I get 2-3 calls each day. The situation in an early primary state must be miserable. And outraged victims eager to pay their harassers back at the polls.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseOh, God, yes. One day I got an email, a text, *and* a robocall from my car dealership's service department. I haven't been back since.
These calls treat people like cattle. For something as important as choosing the candidate to defeat Obama, I might hold my nose and vote for a robocaller. But for just about any other function, robocalling me = instant blacklist.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThis is Romney's second go around. He has the support of the DC establishment. Reportedly he is the only one with national organization.
So why would they do something this dumb to anger voters? Why would he be unprepared to answer questions about his taxes during the debate? Why does it seem they need a better Cyrano to tell him what to think and say in order to woo the electorate? Why didn't the Republican establishment in DC want to give America a candidate they could believe in?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI didn't experience this, but...wow, what a weird thing to do. Who *doesn't* know that it's not a good idea to spam people with robocalls or long answering machine messages? It's particularly stupid because it helps people remember that politicians exempted themselves from the whole Do-Not-Call program. This is why I tend not to register for any political party; it just gets you harassed.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI made a vow several years ago: If you robocall me, you lose my vote.
I have kept this vow.
I am on the "national political do not call list," so there is no mistaking my wishes.
Political operatives, heed this. Candidates, discuss this with your campaign managers. Parties, get the word out to candidates that backlash could be a big problem for them.
There are lots of ways to reach me with your message without making me hopping mad at you. Send me a postcard, run a newspaper or radio ad, appear on a talk show, knock yourself out. I'm paying attention, fear not.
What is it about robocalling that ill behooves a Republican or a conservative? Well, do you believe that you, an elected official, own my telephone? Last time I checked, I was paying the bill. Do you believe that you, as an elected official, are justified in barging into my home uninvited? Check the Constitution. Do you, an elected official, believe that free speech justifies this? Turn on your brain. The principle of free speech lets you say what you want; it says nothing about a captive audience. Do you, an elected official, believe that this status somehow exempts you from the restrictions others must observe and that you need not respect your constituents' wishes? Well, then, you deserve to lose big time.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI made a vow several years ago: If you robocall me, you lose my vote.
I have kept this vow.
My hope is all candidates robo-call you and you stay home, thus preventing your stupid vote from cancelling out an informed vote.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseInformed vote = vote for Mitt Romney (in case you didn't get the memo).
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYa, if he's on the do-not-call list he must be stupid, right Bill? And who could possibly be informed without 4 or 5 helpful robocalls each evening?
Bill, your keen understanding of human psychology and public persuasion demand that you help out the Romney campaign. You could get in there and ramp up those robocalls to about 20 a night, thereby ridding your candidate of millions more votes from the uninformed. Go Bill, your candidate needs you!
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI think BillReilly should post his home phone number here on NRO so we can all call him and wish him a good morning, good afternoon, good evening, and good night.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseBe sure to include lots of information in those phone calls. Because he may not yet have received enough information by telephone to be considered informed or qualified to make a decision.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWe're getting Romney robocalls here in Nevada. One recently interrupted a homework session with my daughter. We have a caucus here, which is way too time-consuming for young voters, so I wasn't going to vote anyway. I guess the old fogies who enjoy the robocalls are the same voters who have a full day to kill at some caucus.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThis is actually why I'm not more involved (physically) in politics. They always only want volunteers for either making phone calls or going door to door, both things that annoy the heck out of me when people do it to me, and I therefor don't want to do it to other people.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseToo much money can get a campaign into as much trouble as too little. People get sick of non-stop political TV commercials, too, and sometimes take it out on the worst-offending (i.e., best-funded) candidates.
So far my robocall count here is Florida is light: one from Florida state Attorney General Pam Bondi endorsing Romney, and one from Gingrich endorsing Gingrich. Lots of TV ads for Romney in the expensive Miami market. None for anyone else yet. Mitt's are all feel-good pro-Romney ones focusing on him and his family.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI doubt too many robocalls drives many votes away, but it is also true that robocalls -- even those with recordings by famous people -- do not convince many voters. Multiple calls will not be more convincing.
The one effective use of robocalls is to remind people to vote -- once!
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI, too, find robocalls extremely annoying, and do not feel kindly towards candidates who use them. Yet there must be some research that shows they have a net benefit to the candidate, or surely they would have disappeared by now.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbusePerhaps there's a net benefit, perhaps not. But my thinking is, the campaign manager gets credit with the candidate for doing everything possible, and convinces the candidate it's a good thing, necessary, inevitable, everyone does it, etc. Candidates themselves never hear about all the votes they lose or the ill will they build up (harder to measure, but real) by robocalling. Campaign managers don't care. But dare I hope that this development will make the point?
And seriously, there is a voluntary Political Do Not Call List. People can sign up to be on it. Campaigns can get it for free to purge their lists. It would be so easy to not call people who don't want to be called.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI'll bet the benefit of robocalls is in the money paid to the robocall contractor, and the "finder's fee" kicked back to the campaign manager who orders them. Remember, campaign managers have to make enough money to survive until their next campaign, and any money left in their candidates war chest is not going to benefit the current manager one bit.
And robocall contractors don't care if they call someone too often. They're paid by the call, not by the vote.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseHow about this then. Candidate will allow campaign manager 1 robocall per voter household in primary and 1 in general, and kickback for same, provided that additional robocalls to same household in each phase will be deducted from kickback total, and any robocalls to numbers on Political Do Not Contact list will be deducted triple. Entire kickback null and void if content or audio quality of robocall is false or irritating. "I approve this message" soundbite will be at beginning and include expression of appreciation for voter's patience and hope that the call did not intrude at a bad time.
I can dream.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAnd when I say "deducted from total" I mean that there will be a subtraction from the earned calls for every disallowed call; they won't merely not be added to it. There has to be a penalty.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThis is a good point for their widespread use. However in this case I wonder if there was either a glitch or misaligned incentives with the firm hired to do the robo-calling (perhaps it was paid per call). Any semi-competent campaign manager would realize that 5 calls a night with some only 10 minutes apart would be a major annoyance and hurt the candidate.
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