The scandal
Like the warning that freezing water in plastic bottles releases deadly dioxins -- or that former Nigerian diplomat who, for some reason, needs the help of little working-stiff me to help him recoup his millions -- the allegations of dirty tricks by Republican robo-callers are sweeping across the Internet.
Talking Points Memo, which seems to be carrying a lot of this, pats itself on the back because WSYR in Syracuse carried a story on it. (Listen). The thing is: as near as I can tell, the problem with the phone call in question is that it was negative and came during dinner. 2:29 into the story, the reporter finally says the call isn't illegal.
That's sheds a slightly different light on the Wetterling campaign's press release today.
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Massive numbers of pre-recorded 'robo' calls are going into the homes of voters from Bachmann and her friends.
Reports are coming in that households are receiving phone calls in rapid succession with the false impression they are from our campaign.
We are even receiving reports of calls from special interest groups on the East and West Coasts; people who can't even properly pronounce "Wetterling" but who can, nonetheless, spew forth their venom of lies and false accusations about Patty.
The Bachmann goal is to create anger and confusion.
It's unclear what "reports are coming in" means. It could be the same e-mails that are whipping across the Internet or it could be an actual local person getting a phone call. I have a message into the Wetterling campaign to get the names of local folks who say they've gotten phone calls that are illegal or say they are coming from Bachmann, so far without anything.
Meanwhile, a poster who recieved an e-mail alert, ostensibly from the Rowley campaign, posted it in a thread downstream:
OLDER VOTERS ARE BEING MISLED BY PHONE CALLS TELLING THEM THEY CAN ONLY VOTE FOR COLEEN AT LIMITED POLLING SITES DURING LIMITED HOURS!
DON'T LET JOHN KLINE GET AWAY WITH MISLEADING OUR OLDER VOTERS! CALL ANY ELDERS YOU KNOW IN THE DISTRICT AND TELL THEM: "DON'T BELIEVE THOSE PHONE CALLS!"
THESE CALLS ARE BEING MADE FROM CELL PHONE NUMBERS ON THE EAST COAST. THEY ARE NOT SAYING WHO THEY REPRESENT WHEN THEY CALL.
PROTECT THE VOTING RIGHTS OF EVERY VOTER IN MINNESOTA'S SECOND CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT!
I've also sent a message to Ms. Rowley looking for the folks who have been "misled."
Nothing back yet.
(See comments).
So where is this all coming from and what exactly is the allegation?
Talking Points memo has a nice recap of the controversy, and insists it's been getting 'reports' of people being quizzed on who they support and then being told to go to a fake voting location. That is a dirty trick (the other is just basically annoying). They even say some of the "reports" came in from Minnesota. TPM Muckracker cites one case in New Mexico
Beyond the obvious dirty trick of a call sending voters to fake locations, the complaints have been only marginally understandable. Take this ABC News story:
Voter David Stone of Philadelphia said he gets the same amount of calls each day and shares Hartley's experience of hearing a Democrat's name repeated continually in a recording paid for by a Republican group.
"Mostly what I'm getting is calls from Republican organizations about Lois Murphy, the Democratic candidate [for the House]. And you think the call is from Murphy and then they go on to spin the facts," Stone told ABC News.
Huh? So the call comes in, it says Murphy is bad because of this...Murphy is bad because of that....and you think the call is coming from Murphy? Whaaaat? Go listen to the WSYR recording again. How does anyone conclude that the call -- which was nothing but negatives against a particular candidate -- came from that candidate?
The New York Times tries to figure it out in a Tuesday morning piece.
They all start with a simple, if somewhat ambiguous, statement: “Hello, I’m calling with information about Lois Murphy,” a Pennsylvania Democrat who is the challenger in one of the hottest House races. That opening sounds “kind of positive in tone,” Ms. Hollis said. But the message quickly turns negative, blasting Ms. Murphy’s political views. After she hangs up, the phone rings again later with the same message. And again. And again.
Ah, clarity. OK, so we can see above that, basically, you'd have to be a fool to think the call came from the Murphy campaign. And even if you hung up the first time after the call said, "I'm calling with information about Candidate Murphy," muttering about Murphy interrupting your dinner....the calls keep coming. And keep coming, apparently, until you listen to the whole thing. By which point, how stupid would you have to be to still think it came from Murphy?
And that's something the Murphy camp would like to stop? Why? If people who are against Murphy are making your life miserable, doesn't the enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend theory come into play here somewhere? That's what I think, and apparently so do those pikers at the Washington Post this morning.
As I scan the blogosphere, however, I continue to see this phrase:
...an autodial robocall is being made that starts out sounding like a positive (Your candidate here) message
So apparently, rousted from a good sleep or dinner, people hang up before it gets to the negative part, and think they were disturbed by the "good guys." Like getting Desperate Housewives interrupted by a negative TV ad is some picnic.
That's it? That's the scandal? Does anybody have caller ID?
"Where's the wicked mainstream media," the blogosphere demands to know.
Well, they were writing stories -- six days ago -- on the massive robocall effort being undertaken by Republicans.
So politicians are upset at the way the phones are being used? Why'd they make politicians exempt from the do-not-call rules?
There's still time for a smart candidate to campaign on that platform.
Anyway, all of this stuff may be true. But if someone getting the call could actually contact me, it'd be a refreshing change from everything I've read so far, which mostly do not seem to contain actual people who are missing dinner or losing sleep.
Until then, blogosphere, you're disturbing mine.