Comments on: Election Day brings invasion of robocalls

Voters may hate them, but automated, prerecorded calls are certainly popular with politicians, despite a lack of evidence that they are effective.

[Thomas, David]

There is a way for these robo-calls to be popular.

Include a menu system, with the option to vote, and/or state "F--k O-f"

[ddesy]

Even better would be to allow the person who answers to leave a message giving a piece of their mind!

[inachu]

I keep getting recorded spanish messages and I do not even speak spanish and I am not even latino!

[ddesy]

McCain must stop his robocalls with half truths and outright lies! They are insulting and extremely annoying to say the least.

[kieranmullen]

It's called politics. Both sides partake in half truths and outright lies. If you believe that your party does not, then you are not responsible enough to vote.

KieranMullen
http://360Oregon.com

[Penguinisto]

@Kieran: Indeed - though in our neck of the woods (I'm in PDX) these calls are kind of useless... The missus and I voted last night, and we're depositing our ballots today (she's mailing hers, and mine I'll drop off @ city hall on the way home).

Cool site, BTW - how do you stich together the snaps (I see the mirror dome, but am curious about the tools you use since I do something similar for IBL light-maps in CG renders).

/P

[Perry_Clease]

I have PhoneValet from Parliant Software installed on my Mac. The phone line plugs into a dongle which in turn is plugged into a USB port. Much like rules/scripts for an email client you can configure this software to do certain things when a call is received. One of the things I did is configure it to hang up at the first ring if the caller ID displays certain numbers. With that setup I don't have to listen to many telemarketing/robocalls. http://www.parliant.com/

[3rdalbum]

In Australia, the Liberal Party dropped a small number of leaflets pretending to be from an Islamic society, implying that terrorists would want Australians to vote for the Labor party. This was a big news story here with huge political damage to the Liberals.

The Labor party won the election.

If the telemarketing robocalls themselves don't turn voters off McCain, then the "Terrorists want you to vote for Obama" message will.

[Michichael]

What? The terrorists want me to vote for Obama?!
George W wants me to vote for McCain?!

Hmm. I guess if I vote for Obama I'm a terrorist and gonna go to gitmo, huh. Better start packing...

[afterhours]

I was a fence sitter on this election. The way-too-many called (Rudy Guiliani's voice was the last one) has certainly helped me make up my mind. Dear John, you picked Sarah over so many competent women, and then you had your hounds call me one too many times. It's over between us.

[uglo]

I have never been a fence sitter. I've always known what I thought and the wagging tongues of the political people would never change my mind. They wave in the wind along with popular opinion - one day "I'm for this" and the very next day to other people "I'm opposed to this". Use your minds people - don't fall for everything people say. Get wise and read their voting record. Has anyone read McCain's and Obama's voting records? This is why I support the Constitutional Candidate and hope he wins but I fear he will not and the USA will just go on into the cesspool where it has been marching for years.

[kieranmullen]

I agree. No one has mentioned on the current state of the monetary system and how to fix it.

KieranMullen
http://360Oregon.com

[jp1283]

They're using % people who "take time to participate in robopolls" as an indication of success??? I usually listen to those messages, but only to get their contact info and then call to tell them that they just lost my vote by FORCING me to pay for their campaign by my cell phone minutes.

Those who think this is a good way to campaign are obviously not smart enough to lead the office.

[zclayton2]

Sure they are effective. It lets me know who I don't want to vote for if i am otherwise undecided. - I just talley the number of calls and whoever bothered me most losses my vote. None of the lies and half truths in those calls is going to convince me to vote for someone. Curiously - this year the only ones I've gotten are from the pablum-puking- republicans trying to sell fear and loathing. I guess if all you've got to sell is fear, you lose the ability to buy anything else.

[Bill_I]

Which word of "DO NOT CALL" do these jerks not understand ! I don't give a d@mn who it is, DO NOT CALL means DO NOT CALL. Instead of hanging up, I set the phone gently into the chair and walk away. Sooner or later, the speaker will make a loud tone so I can hang up. Meanwhile, it runs up their phone bill.

[techman21]

I hang up immediately or delete the message. Very effective. You've just helped me decide who not to vote for.

[kieranmullen]

Your comment makes no sense. If you have read the article you would have seen that both parties are using the same process.

KieranMullen
http://360Oregon.com

[techman21]

I didn't receive that many.

[bcballard]

This was not a loophole - this was necessary to make the law comply with the US Constitution (you know, freedom of speech and all that). If the law had limited political speech, the whole thing would have been thrown out as unconstitutional. So a few robocalls around elections, while annoying, are worth it not to have to put up with any number of commercial calls every single night inevitably during dinner.

[Get_Bent]

I have a simple method of dealing with this: Any low-life scumbag (read: politician) who calls me to deliver an automated message instantly loses my vote.

[humanssssss]

Why do people get angry when they took the time and effort to pick up a phone call? If you don't like, you set a price to receive the phone call. If the people calling you don't pay, then don't let it ring.

People are hypocrite.

[jp1283]

Hmmm, how do you "don't let it ring"? As mentioned in the article, National Political Do Not Contact Registry is not legally binding. I would love to know how because the time starts counting on calls to my cellphone the moment it rings, whether I pick it up or not. So "I" pay whenever "they" call.

Does freedom of speech include freely robbing minutes on my cellphone...?

[btljooz]

I guess I've been lucky. I haven't recieved any of these polical robocalls....YET!

Here are possible reasons why:

1. I pay my land line carrier good money to keep my number completely silent. (Yes, I know automatic dialers can circumvent that.)
2. My land line is registered with BOTH the National _*AND*_ my State's "NO CALL REGISTRIES".
3. My cell phone is also registered with BOTH the National _*AND*_ my State's "NO CALL REGISTRIES".
4. Should I get _any_ "robocall" (or other unwanted call) I WILL (and DO) immediately report it to BOTH Registries.

---Should I get such a "robocall" from a politician, ***I WILL _NOT_ VOTE FOR THAT politician!!!***

In fact, I'm voting for every single Libertarian I find listed on my State's Ballot. Should there not be a Libertarian, I'll vote for any NON-"Republocrat/Dempublican" I CAN find!!!!!

[tketcher]

We need a DO NOT CALL Law that removes the legal loophole that allows them to disseminate their LIES. I delete the things without listening to them and so far 100% of them are from the Lying McSame and Caribou Barbie.

[Mr C2]

The McCainites may reckon, correctly, that they have nothing to lose with those distasteful Obama-is-a-terrorist robocalls. But what's overlooked in the story and other comments is the possible -- probable? -- negative effect of such tactics on downticket races.

Here in Maine, for example, Susan Collins has been well ahead in her reelection campaign, and has come out against the robocalls made by the McCainites (but not to the degree of resigning as co-chair of the McCain campaign in Maine). She says such tactics don't belong in Maine, but is she more worried that the backlash against them could suddenly cause her own campaign to tighten?

Could those calls explain the rising problems of Sen. Libby Dole in her reelection campaign in NC? Could they adversely affect other Republican seats in Congress and state/local races?

[m.a.allen]

I also hang up whenever I detect that a recorded call is beginning. And that means, any kind of recorded call!

[sderf]

Well what can you say, Politicians are not to bright anyway. All they know how to do is worry the crap out of you at dinner time and take your money use all the pork they can find.
Fred