Curt Shilling

Recorded message. Spending all that karma on George Bush, Curt's now shilling for BC04.

Sierra Club

Recorded message. This time it was the president of the Sierra Club, asking me to be sure to vote. No candidates mentioned, but he gave the usual rundown of economy, environment, Iraq.

RNC

Recorded message. Basically a Kerry bash, all about the War on Terror. Paid for by RNC, authorized by BC04.

Wesley Clark (DNC)

Recorded message. Kovovo! Iraq! Win the peace! War on Terror! Oh, jobs, healthcare, and the environment, too.

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.