Sierra Club

Live caller. A brief message: they want to be sure that I brign at least one person with me to vote.

Kathy Gregg (Benson04)

Recorded message. Kathy wants me to be sure to "get out and vote". Of course, she recommends that I vote for Judd, Craig Benson, and "most importantly, for George and Laura Bush." So Laura's on the ticket? What happened to Dick Cheney? My vote for Bush will help keep America "free and strong." Sheesh. So why no mention of Charlie Bass?

NRL PAC

Recorded message. Golly, it sure would be easy if I was a single-issue voter. The problem with both sides of the abortion issue is that they are too devoted to their own language. "Abortion on demand" and "partial birth abortion" are by now so overused that people are probably desensitized. At first these phrases might have been powerful, but now they are just tokens that have less and less impact. The same goes for phrases on the other side, although I think for sheer impact those never were as potent as the pro-lifers' phrases.

ACT

Live caller. GOTV. Another asking for me by name. Gave information on polling location and times. "Vote early and bring a friend". Another caller from a non-swing state, probably (New York accent).

Susan B. Anthony List

Recorded message. Jane Abraham, President of the Susan B. Anthony List Candidate Fund. This one explains why they use Susan B. Anthony's name. It also gets a bit nasty on Kerry, stating that he supports "even the gruesome procedure known as partial birth abortion."

DNC

Recorded message. This call is getting a bit tedious. I think this is the fourth time for this message.

Evil Hang-up Gnomes

For years I have had this theory that all those times you get a dead line when answering the phone it's because an automated caller didn't want a real person answering. Some days I'd get a bunch of hang-ups, then I'd leave for an hour or so and come back to a telemarketing message on my answering machine. Real people hang up on recorded messages, but answering machines are happy to listen to them. Once a message is on your machine you are more likely to listen to it in order to get to the next message.

Well today I got my proof. Instead of a dead line there was a recording: "We are sorry to disturb you. This message was intended to be received by an answering machine." It's nice to know my theory was right, but that's far outweighed by the truth of it.

ACT

Recorded message. GOTV. Jobs, healthcare, and "real homeland security". Oh, and apparently, I have the power.

DNC

Live caller. Please vote for Kerry. Most important election. Economy, environment, foreign... Hey, wait a minute! Fifteen minutes ago I listened to the studio version. The live version is a bit shaky. Clearly from the South (maybe a Texas accent?) One of those Southerners living in a solid red state, doing something to sway things their way, I guess.

My wife answered but the caller asked for me by name. Who knows why they targeted me in particular, since my wife is also registered independent. I thought the big push was for women's votes at this point -- security moms and all that.

DNC

Recorded message. Please vote for Kerry. Most important election. Economy, environment, foreign policy, etc.

NH Democratic Party

Recorded message. Healthcare, healthcare, healthcare. The message was about Kerry and his plans for healthcare, contrasted with Bush. Nothing about the NH candidates, oddly enough.

ACT

Recorded message. GOTV, very positive and non-partisan message it seemed to me.

Sierra Club

Live caller. Will I be sure to bring a friend to the voting booth? Sure, I'll bring my daughter and son.

Susan B. Anthony List

Recorded message. Mostly an appeal to the pro-life vote -- see their web site for more information, etc. No candidates mentioned, just a reminder that we should vote for pro-life candidates.

Unknown

Live caller. After reading (poorly) a statement about "reforming health care" by reducing "frivolous law suits" which he says John Edwards is against, he asked me if I supported this statement. He wouldn't say where he was calling from because it wasn't on the script. When I didn't answer his question he hung up. I was willing to listen to the pitch if he just said where he was calling from.

Paul Hodes

Recorded message. Paul says he will not be a rubber stamp for George Bush, as he claims Charlie Bass is. That's basically the message I guess, but it's hard to focus on what he his saying because his voice is so damn annoying. At first it sounded like a normal woman's voice, then it sounded like he had just sucked some helium. Or maybe the message he recorded was too long so they sped the tape up. Surely he should not be judged on his voice, but he should have gotten someone else to read his statement.

DNC

Recorded message. Tim Ringwald (?), some military guy, calling to remind me that there are many high-ranking military officers who support Kerry. Funny, we just got in the mail today a flyer listing all the generals and majors who are for Kerry. I guess these guys are pretty on-message, too.

Zell Miller

Recorded message. Why is BC04 using this freak? Maybe I'm a Yankee who just doesn't understand the South, but what about this guy is supposed to make me want to vote for the President? Sure, his message was that Kerry is weak on defense and voted to cut intelligence spending by $6 billion, so it's not so much "vote for Bush" as it is "don't vote for Kerry". But still, this guy makes my skin crawl.

I note that the $6 billion thing is one of the recent BC04 talking points, and is also in a recent swing state TV ad, so as usual these guys have a tight message.

DNC

Recorded message. Someone named Mark Simon, who I've never heard of. Apparently I'll be receiving yet another flyer in the mail that will tell me about jobs, outsourcing, etc. and Kerry's position on these issues. Mark hopes that this will help me decide who to vote for in the upcoming election.

Franklin Pierce College

Poll. Pretty straightforward -- who would I vote for if the election were held today. Presidential (Bush v Kerry), Gubernatorial (Benson v Lynch), Senatorial (Gregg v "Granny D"), and Congressional (Bass v Hodes). Also, who of Bush and Kerry would do better on selected issues (Health care, Terrorism, Iraq, Social Security); does a candidate's war record matter; do I take into consideration the future make-up of the Supreme Court; and is Bush doing a good job. Demographic questions: age and scholarship.

Normally I refuse to take polls unless they tell me where they are calling from and who is paying for the poll. This poller was very polite and willing to answer my questions, so I answered hers.

Here are the results of the poll. Sample size was only 453, which means the main result (Kerry 50%, Bush 41%) are within the true "margin of error" of 4.5%. Pretty meaningless if you ask me.

Sierra Club

Live caller. He asked for me by name, which is pretty common, but he actually pronounced my last name correctly. Not that it's hard to pronounce, but my family has always used the wrong pronounciation, I guess.

A Nurse for Kerry

Recorded message. If it's a nurse it must be about healthcare. And if it's about healthcare it must be a call to support John Kerry.

John McCain

Recorded message. John McCain praising George W. Bush's leadership in fighting terrorism. At the end, when he read the "approved by BC04" (dis)claimer it sounded like it was Bush doing an impression of McCain.

9/11 Widow

Recorded message. I didn't catch her name, but the way she started it wasn't clear who she was supporting. Then came the "9/11 changed everything" shtick, and the praise for George Bush.

National Right to Life

Recorded message. Started out by saying she was from "N. R. L." which at first I heard as "NARAL", a pretty big difference. Mainly a position statement and a plug for Bush.

DNC

Live caller. He wanted to know if I needed a ride to the polls. I wonder how many calls he's made today.

Sierra Club

Live caller. She wanted to give me information about their positions and where the candidates stood. The Sierra Club has called a few times in the past few months, but those calls were more of the "do you want to contribute" kind.

What it is

At this time during an election year anyone living in a swing state dreads evening telephone calls, and this year it looks like the daytime is not going to be much better. Campaigns spend millions trying to reach voters in these states, trying to get their messages heard by the so-called undecided voters. Third party groups spend equally large sums to put their favored candidates' positions in a positive light, trash the opposing side, or just make sure you are going to vote.

I live in New Hampshire, which in the Presidential race this election cycle seems to be up for grabs. Furthermore I am registered as an independent, which means the above-mentioned parties think my vote is up for grabs. I think the state is starting to shed its conservative reputation for many reasons, which is perhaps evidenced in its current swing state status. On the other hand, my vote is most definitely decided.

But that's not relevant to the point of this blog. My purpose here is simply to recount the telephone calls we get from now until the election. These calls started in earnest this week, and if past years are any indication we are in for a real deluge this year.