Robo calls will cost McCain

If you are a registered Republican or Independent voter in a swing state you most likely have received a robo call during the last couple of weeks. Robo calls are generated by recorded voice and delivered by a computer. Many campaigns and organizations have used them. In its "wisdom," congressional officials have voted to exempt them from the "do-not-call list."

However, this exemption does mean the calls are not regulated. The Federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 outlines the rules for robo calls. They must include who is initiating the calls and a telephone number or address to reach the party who is paying for it. In addition, some states such as California mandate that a live person must get on the line before the message is played.

With two and a half weeks before Election Day, the McCain campaign has made ample use of these calls. The call that played most often this week began, "Hello, I'm calling for John McCain and the RNC." Then it goes on to say "Barack Obama has worked closely with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, whose organization bombed the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon, a judge's home and killed Americans."

One of the robo call companies promotes its ability to achieve desired election results on its website. GOPcalls.com says it has the capacity to make 10 million calls a day and that systems can, "recognize an answering machine, a live person, a fax machine, busy, disconnected and unanswered calls with the highest accuracy in the industry." Doesn't that make you feel warm and fuzzy about these calls?

The reason I am predicting that John McCain is not going to win the election is that he has to resort to tactics like these. They turn voters off, not on. It is not the John McCain many people think they know and like. In fact, there are reports that the McCain campaign hired the exact same firm that delivered scurrilous lies about him in 2000. What are they thinking? Even people who are voting for Obama have great respect for McCain. They don't expect him to run a campaign counter to his own values.

These calls have been so upsetting to some of the swing state voters that even Republicans running for election have asked the RNC and the McCain campaign to stop. The AP reported that two senators running in close elections have asked for the calls to cease. Susan Collin's campaign spokesperson said, "These kind of tactics have no place in Maine politics." Even Norm Coleman, who is in a tough election campaign with Al Franken in Minnesota, has said that he wanted these attacks stopped.

Congress is also considering action against robo calls, and Shaun Dakin of Citizens for Civil Discourse called for a Voter Privacy Bill of Rights. Even if we could get Congress to pass such legislation, it is highly likely that the Supreme Court would strike it down because the law would limit "free speech." However, there needs to be some relief for voters. Some people in swing states have had as many as 10 calls per week. There has got to be a legal way to limit the annoyance and danger of these calls. The candidates would not pay for them if there were not some evidence that this kind rancor works. But it turns some voters off to the election process. Democracy cannot afford a citizenry that is cynical and turned off to the main instrument of our republic, the individual voter.