[chefboy2160]

Well lets see,I have been home from work for one and 1/2 hours and have recieved 3 automated phone calls from the republican party with a recorded message from George Bush asking for me to fill out my absentee ballot for him or to vote for him so that the country can be safe.I am on call always from my hospital job(no caller id) so phone calls can be important but running out of the shower with shampoo in my hair to awnser this message has left me a little more than unhappy with these people.It took me until the third call to listen to the entire message but one thing I noted was that the prez did not even say thank you for your time in his recorded message!
Has any body else gotten this or is this just my karma paying me back for working in the oilfields a long time ago?Just for any Republican Party members who endorse this behavior all I can say is this will not get my vote for sure.....................................Peace,Dou g...........

[Mezzaluna]

Those of us in the "battleground states" (my own state is among them) should expect this kind of stuff. Calls like yours are automated, but wait.... the real human beings aren't far behind as your local party activists get their calling assignments. Then there will be lit droppers and canvassers at your door!

I am working hard on campaigns for Democrats and know that all of the campaigns, regardless of affiliation, will be fiercely working out there for votes. Some estimates are that as few as 2 and as many as 5 out of 100 people haven't made up their minds yet. I can say that the local groups I am working with are not calling people multiple times- just once early on and again a few days before the election for GOTV (get out the vote).

If more people would vote, there'd be less of this kind of scratching for votes. With people dying in many countries just to get to the polls (witness Afghanistan), you'd think our citizens would be grateful for the right and exercise it in greater numbers.

[phatch]

This is the soft money at work. And they have to do it early in the campaign now since the McCain/Feingold "reforms" were passed. I get a ton of soft money calls from out of state groups backing the various parties as my voter record states no party affiliation. Phone calls themselves can continue right on up to election day though. Expect more.

You can't do much about this. The telemarketing no-call list is exempt from charitable and political calls. Gee imagine that they would exempt themselves.

Second, telling one group not to call you is ineffective. These groups are prohibited from sharing any information as that is "co-ordinating" campaign efforts and prohibited by McCain/Feingold.

What can you do?

Write your representatives to get the stupid reforms dropped or really fixed.

Call the local campaign office for the candidates being backed and COMPLAIN about the harassment. Educate them that abusing the electorate is not effective but detrimental to their cause.

SEAL YOUR VOTER RECORD. This was surprisingly hard to do. The fact that you vote is public record apparently. Not who you vote for but that you vote. And your voter registration is also public but you can usually seal your registration so your phone number and address don't get distributed when the activists harvest the public records. It took me a number of phone calls and transfers to get mine sealed as no one in the county office knew how to do it; it's done so rarely.

Lastly, back non-incumbents for office. The main effect of the M/F reforms is incumbent protection. Most non-incumbents are willing to run on a reform platform to get this nonsense fixed as the laws are stacked against new-comers to office. PUblic office should be a service, not a career.

Oh, and trust me. Both parties are equally guilty. As Utah is generally a shoe-in for Republican candidates, I get far more calls backing Democrats as the national soft money groups campaign for more power for their philosophies.

Phil

[momoreg]

Big Brother Is Getting Closer!!!!!

[Shawn D.]

Im lucky. I live in Illinois. Republicans don't bother in this state. Its a lost cause for them.

You want to talk about MORONS, this Keyes guy is just that. http://www.renewamerica.us/
This guy is going to lose by 40 points. 50 maybe.

As for the calls, I like to have fun with the callers. Ask questions of them. LOL
Being on call and getting these calls would upset me also. All I do know is I am not plugging my phone in until this election is over.

[Mezzaluna]

I went to a John Edwards rally today- worked it as a volunteer. It was amazing! Our town of 65000 outside Milwaukee had about 3000 people there. The crowd was energetic and everything went smoothly. Edwards will be here in Wisconsin for a couple more days. We're sure he and Kerry will be back.

A couple of Illinoisans came up to see him. They had Barak Obama buttons on. In the short time I had to discuss that race, they told me he'll win in a walk. The challenge will be getting out the vote.

We have a hot U.S. Senate race here in Wisconsin. Four Republicans are facing a primary; the winner will face Russ Feingold. Russ won by .5% last time, so we're out there working hard.

[pjm333]

If George Bush wanted to he could push back the elections because the united states is at war,and a president cannot be removed from office during a war....3 right now.I sure hope not!!