Hello, John and Barack speaking!
05 November 2008 à 12h41
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Another specificity of American elections is robo-calls. This is a way for politicians to reach voters more cheaply and more easily. But it can also backfire on them.
How would you have felt if Nicolas Sarkozy's campaign staff had called you in 2007 and attacked his opponent, Ségolène Royal and her famous « bravitude » ? In the United States, such a device is common.
« I’m calling for John McCain and the RNC (Republican National Committee) because you need to know that Barack Obama has worked closely with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, whose organization bombed the Pentagon (…) and killed Americans ». That’s just one attack from among many others American people have heard every day since October.
Robo-calls really belong to American political campaigns. These automated political phone calls, run by campaign staffs, aim at bombarding homes to convince voters to give their ballot paper to the candidate they support. By praising him or attacking his opponent.
The Republican nominee wants to win the swing states such as Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio.
That’s why this mission has targeted ten battleground states since the beginning of October. And it seems to work. According to the independent pollster Scott Rasmussen, quoted by USA Today, John McCain has improved in the polls since Oct.11. In Florida, for example, three opinion polls have shown him drawing even with his opponent.
Robo-calls are a way to reach households directly and for a cheap price : a little more than $2000 can buy 100,000 calls.
It’s a method which has seduced Democrats too. They are said to have recently spent about $600, 000 in more than 45 contested House districts. Despite the senator for Illinois’ position against such calls, his camp launched his own robo-call in Wisconsin October 22 which denounces McCain’s « sleazy phone calls ». So that in this state, the robo-call goes like this : « Hi, this is Jeri Watermolen (…). I used to support John McCain because he honorably served our country, but this year he’s running a dishonorable campaign.(…). Join me in voting for Barack Obama. »
But even if the Republican candidate now tries to stand aloof from Bush’s methods and justify his own automated political phone calls, this method is as unpopular as it was in 2000. In this time of financial crisis, many voters think McCain’s negative campaign is entirely out of place. Especially according to women and the « independents », people who prefers small parties.
Then, above all, citizens are fed up with these unceasing calls. Many of them hang up as soon as they begin. So when a Republican robo-call begins with the name of the Democratic candidate, they don’t hear the subsequent criticisms about him, think this is a Democratic robo-call and will vote against Democrats because of their anger. Or vice versa.
And in spite of federal rules forbidding such calls after 9 pm, some voters have received them late at night. As a consequence, at least 12 states limit or ban them. A website outlines a solution and enables desperate voters to sign up to ask politicians not to call them. Politicians who sign up too pledge not to call them. But only seven of them registered on www.stoppoliticalcalls.org.
How would you have felt if Nicolas Sarkozy's campaign staff had called you in 2007 and attacked his opponent, Ségolène Royal and her famous « bravitude » ? In the United States, such a device is common.
« I’m calling for John McCain and the RNC (Republican National Committee) because you need to know that Barack Obama has worked closely with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, whose organization bombed the Pentagon (…) and killed Americans ». That’s just one attack from among many others American people have heard every day since October.
Robo-calls really belong to American political campaigns. These automated political phone calls, run by campaign staffs, aim at bombarding homes to convince voters to give their ballot paper to the candidate they support. By praising him or attacking his opponent.
The battle for swing states
The Republicans have chosen the latter option. They have focused on the Democratic candidate’s friendship with Bill Ayers, a former member of the radical leftwing group, Weather Underground, in the sixties and the seventies. But they have also played a recording of Hillary Clinton mocking Obama’s lack of experience, when she was running for the Democratic nomination which is quite embarrassing because she runs for Obama now and could benefit from an elevation to majority leader of Senate.The Republican nominee wants to win the swing states such as Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio.
That’s why this mission has targeted ten battleground states since the beginning of October. And it seems to work. According to the independent pollster Scott Rasmussen, quoted by USA Today, John McCain has improved in the polls since Oct.11. In Florida, for example, three opinion polls have shown him drawing even with his opponent.
Robo-calls are a way to reach households directly and for a cheap price : a little more than $2000 can buy 100,000 calls.
It’s a method which has seduced Democrats too. They are said to have recently spent about $600, 000 in more than 45 contested House districts. Despite the senator for Illinois’ position against such calls, his camp launched his own robo-call in Wisconsin October 22 which denounces McCain’s « sleazy phone calls ». So that in this state, the robo-call goes like this : « Hi, this is Jeri Watermolen (…). I used to support John McCain because he honorably served our country, but this year he’s running a dishonorable campaign.(…). Join me in voting for Barack Obama. »
Boomerang effect
A dishonorable campaign which recalls George W.Bush’s tactics. During his first election in 2000, his head of campaign, Karl Rove, used these calls to attack John McCain, his opponent for the Republican nomination.But even if the Republican candidate now tries to stand aloof from Bush’s methods and justify his own automated political phone calls, this method is as unpopular as it was in 2000. In this time of financial crisis, many voters think McCain’s negative campaign is entirely out of place. Especially according to women and the « independents », people who prefers small parties.
Then, above all, citizens are fed up with these unceasing calls. Many of them hang up as soon as they begin. So when a Republican robo-call begins with the name of the Democratic candidate, they don’t hear the subsequent criticisms about him, think this is a Democratic robo-call and will vote against Democrats because of their anger. Or vice versa.
And in spite of federal rules forbidding such calls after 9 pm, some voters have received them late at night. As a consequence, at least 12 states limit or ban them. A website outlines a solution and enables desperate voters to sign up to ask politicians not to call them. Politicians who sign up too pledge not to call them. But only seven of them registered on www.stoppoliticalcalls.org.
