<p>Is there any evidence that prerecorded telephone messages have a positive impact on the outcome of a campaign? With an election looming, we are getting several of these calls a day. I hang up (in irritation) as soon as I realize the call is a recording, long before they have gotten to the end of even the first sentence of the spiel. Why do campaigns spend money on this type of advertising? Based on a sample size of one, I would think it has an opposite, negative impact on a campaign. Maybe it is reverse psychology: a pro-campaign message has really been recorded by the no-campaign committee, and vice versa :)</p>
<p>That’s why I love caller ID - if it says private or doesn’t have a phone #, then my inclination would be to just let the answering machine get the call - otherwise, it can become a nuisance. I need my phone line to stay open for more important/urgent calls, and as far as I’m concerned, the campaign calls are just taking up valuable time.</p>
<p>I agree that it has a negative impact on me, and makes me less inclined to vote for someone. I find the canned phone calls to be an intrusion. There was an incident in our area yesterday where a candidate for local legislative office hired a firm to send out a block of these automated phone calls to 3,000 potential constituents at 2 p.m. yesterday. Unfortunately, the phone calls were programmed for 2 a.m., and thus woke up 3,000 potential voters, including the candidate himself. My understanding is that the candidate is now spending lots of time personally calling and apologizing to all those who complained. Presumably, he’s making his personal calls at a reasonable hour.</p>
<p>It’s too bad that the Do-Not-Call list doesn’t work for those kinds of calls.</p>
<p>Last year’s governor’s campaign here was interesting…I got calls from Clint Eastwood for his buddy Ah-nold…</p>
<p>It’s all about getting the attention of voters. Robocalling may be annoying, but you probably remember the name of the candidate. I’ve never worked for a candidate who purchased robocalling services, at least to my knowledge. If you do get calls from a live person, however, I would request you at least be polite, if firm in hanging up. Most of the real people on the other end of the line are volunteers who want to do something to make a difference, not someone trying to annoy you. Also, if you’re not interested, have decided to vote for the candidate or someone else, or if you don’t discuss you voting patterns over the phone, let the volunteer know. Pretty much every conversation has notes taken, so if you politely say that you would prefer not to be called again, more than likely the campaign will not call you.
I realize that campaign calls can be annoying, believe it or not it’s on both ends, but please remember if it’s a human being on the other end of the line that it’s probably one of your neighbors trying to help out and be involved, not someone being paid minimum wage to annoy you.</p>
<p>We never get a live human being at the other end - just the automated calls.</p>
<p>If you never worked for a campaign that did robocalling, then I don’t see how you could have worked on any campaigns. Last elections season I vowed not to vote for anybody who did that. Unfortunately they ALL did it. And yes, I remember the name of the candidate, but as somebody so out of touch with the voters that he thinks we like this.</p>
<p>I would have much more respect for a live person on the other end and politely tell them that I would appreciate not being called again… But at least I MIGHT vote for them. </p>
<p>Even if I let the answering machine get it, I still have to go through the messages and delete them. Easier to pick up phone and immediately hang up.</p>
<p>I was very polite to a live caller, who was doing a survey on candidates. At the end of the survey, they asked if there were any candidates that I would absolutely NOT vote for. I mentioned one, which the caller then told me was the candidate who paid for the survey.</p>
<p>Ever since, I have been getting called nonstop by this candidate’s volunteers, which is VERY annoying since I keep telling them to take me off their calling lists - I am just not interested in their candidate. But I think somehow this just keeps moving me to the top of their list. Next time, I may not be so honest in my answers and say I just haven’t made up my mind yet.</p>
<p>If politics wasn’t such a nasty business, and politicians such an odious bunch, I would probably be more civil when their kool-aid drinkers call. I don’t swear at them and call them names, but to say that I’m “kurt” in dispatching the call would be somewhat of an understatement. I actually prefer the prerecorded calls if they absolutely feel I MUST be inconvenienced by their campaign. I just hang up the moment I realize what it is, and feel not the first pang of guilt. </p>
<p>“Robocalling may be annoying, but you probably remember the name of the candidate.”</p>
<p>Nope. I Don’t even wait long enough to hear it, and remembering it wouldn’t make me more inclined to vote for them. Just the opposite, actually.</p>
<p>I can’t wait for election day to come and go. The commercial breaks during the local evening news are saturated with attack ads. We mute them the moment they start. Interestingly enough, the TV ads for State Delegate are every bit as sophisticated, and get every bit as nasty as those for Congress. These State lawmaking positions pay a mere $18.000 per year. Where are the millions of dollars required to launch such vociferous campaigns coming from? And why are the stakes so high? The candidates for my district are running ads with such obvious distortions and outright lies, that it makes me sick. Both candidates disgust me so much, I’ve decided to stay home on election day. Obviously, there’s a hell of a lot more in it for these men and women (and the entities that fund their campaigns) than a mere 18 grand a year. They’re putrified before they even get to the State House.</p>
<p>It could be worse. You could live in Kentucky and get robocalls from Pat Boone on behalf of the Republican Governor telling you that his Democratic opponent is in favor of gay people.</p>
<p>Lucky me, I live in Florida & we are shunned by the national politicians! It definitely has some advantages. Even on TV, we only get the occasional Mitt Romney ad.</p>
<p>At our hourse, we think it’s pretty funny to get (recorded) calls from Roger Staubach or Rick Perry or whoever…</p>
<p>So annoying! And this year we have gotten calls from candidates not even in our district! And for a school levy that’s not ours! When we are clearly far out of the city in question. </p>
<p>The other thing is, you CAN’T just hang up. The other day I was about to use the phone for a quick call when it rang and it was a recorded message. Even if you hang up, it keeps going until it is done. And I wanted to use my phone. If I could have called them back to yell at them I would have, but it was a machine…:(</p>
<p>I got one of those 2 am calls, and boy, we were not happy campers. Neither H nor I sleep well. I HATE automated political calls and the ones we receive won’t disconnect when the receiver is placed back into the hook.</p>
<p>Indiana had one of the first Do Not Call lists. (yeah, we’re progressive in one area). I do not understand why politicians are not subject to this. Seems rather self-serving, doesn’t it? I emailed our representatives and senators with this question, but sigh, only got automated email responses!</p>
<p>Never got an apology call from the 2am guy either. Still waiting, I guess.</p>