Secrets of the City

I would think that such calls would alienate more people than they would convince, but maybe America really wants to believe that someone who is running for president is a sleeper agent for terrorists.

They tried calling me, but they got the Cremation Society of Minnesota by accident.

I asked to be removed from the list and they hung up on me. And they haven’t called back.

I hit the “return call” feature on my phone and got a very generic voicemail with no instructions as to how to get them to stop calling. I left a message, but, frankly, I don’t know whose machine I was speaking to.

all ur voismailz are belongs to us

These are being sent out by FLS Connect, run by Jeff Larson, Norm Coleman’s buddy and landlord. There’s going to be a press conference from Brian Melendez, DFL Chair about it at 2pm at the Capitol today.

I’ve been reading about them. They seem to be carpet bombing the “battleground states”: MN, VA, WI, PA, NC, FL, MO etc., and began the morning after the debate.

Talkingpoints memo has been trying to tack this.

Huffpost says some of these calls may be illegal.

Oh, I hope they call me as I’m feeling the right amount of ornory from dealing with The Stib calls.

This will probably be as effective a last-minute campaign strategy in Minnesota as Rudy Boschwitz’s “bad Jew” letter was.

KARE 11 had a story about it on their 10 PM news last night and I got one of those calls at work yesterday on my damn cell phone.

I used to work for FLS. Three part-time shifts my last semester of college. Then I quit. But I was f*cking awesome, averaged >$100/hour telephone fundraising.

The Strib said they are not illegal, according to the McCain campaign, as they are spending the extra money to have a live voice on the line.

If the comments on the Strib piece are any indication, these calls are backfiring.

I wonder what, if anything, McCain will say about this tactic? After all…

I welcome my FLS overlords, because it would give me the opportunity to question them about Palin’s even-more-active links to an anti-US secessionist organization.

I would also like to know the exact details that can accurately define “worked closely” because it’s my understanding the Obama and Ayers aren’t really, like, close buds or anything.

If mere casual acquaintance is enough to convict someone else of a crime, then there are hundreds of members of Congress who can also be accused of being criminals having “worked closely” with convicted predators, bribers, perjurers, etc.

McCain and G. Gordon Liddy.

They maintain call centers in Minnesota: Paul Demko writes about them in City Pages, 2004… under a different name – same guys.

I got a call yesterday on my cell phone and freaked coworkers out when I cut the guy off and yelled at him.

A sad state of politics. The Republicans mock Obama as a buddy-of-a-terrorist; Democrats mock McCain as an out-of-touch old man. Meanwhile, the rest of us would like some ideas on how to provide jobs, shore up housing prices, and cut the national debt.

They talk about that stuff too sometimes.

Jason- In all fairness, stuff coming out of the Obama campaign is more about jobs, housing prices and cutting the national debt. Blanketing battleground states with robocalls scaring voters by comparing Obama to terrorists is not in the same league at all.

When Obama calls me, he just sings me beautiful songs about hope until I fall asleep and dream wonderful dreams about the future.

I got one of those crank calls. My wife, who used to work in politics, was wondering if it was actually a Democratic operation. There’ve been cases where the opposing party runs a mock phone bank just to irritate voters. Turns out this is really just more McCain.

I’m a bit tired of the meme that the candidates never talk about anything of substance. Not in TV ads, no, but they do in stump speeches, and they do on their websites. Their visions for America and their broad policy goals aren’t really a secret. Hell, Obama wrote a whole book.

Aaron, I think that’s true today. If the polls were reversed, I suspect the tone would also be reversed. Overall, both campaigns have a tear-the-other-guy-apart attitude that’s a big turnoff. And worse than the campaigns: the independent ads. Ugh.

Max, I’m glad to know I’m not the only one Obama personally calls and sings lullabyes to. It’s a nice way to fall asleep.

Kurtis, you’re right about that. And I’m not opposed to negative ads. I’m opposed to negativite attitudes. I’m opposed to the fact that neither of these guys had the nuts to say at the debate: this is not why I wanted to be President. To take minor votes and blow them out of proportion. To distort positions and to play to the lowest common denominator.

Incidentally, Jason, I’ve been waiting for someone in the media to get on topic with this Joe the Plumber business in the context of the economy. Taxes, shmaxes. The point right now is that the guy would probably not get the credit to buy (or start up) a business in the first place. That’s extremely relevant but for some reason for all the ink and airtime that have been wasted on this blowhard nobody’s pointed that out. That’s what threatens the economy. Nobody says, “I won’t start up a small business because if I clear over a quarter million a year I’ll go up into a higher tax bracker” (and if that’s all it takes to discourage them, I don’t think they have the stomach for it anyway). They will say “that’s the 18th bank that’s said no to me, so I can’t pursue this dream.” Take it and run with it.

Max and CINF, isn’t it adorable when Malia and Sasha join him for the a capella version of Tom Waits’ “Midnight Lullaby”?

I’m a bit tired of the meme that the candidates never talk about anything of substance.

Me, too. Candidates talk about substance all the time, it’s practically all they talk about. You just never hear about it because it’s too bland, boring and unsexy to make the six o’clock news. Let me illustrate: Without looking, how much is the gas tax going up as a result of HF 2800? Ya. But now tell me how many Republicans voted to override the governor’s veto.

Geez, and I just took offense to getting a McCain mailer. The data miners went on a flail contacting a potentially black, educated resident of a deep blue precinct with a name that matches against known DFL donors.

Without looking, how much is the gas tax going up as a result of HF 2800?

Is this something you would have to be a driver to care about?

Oops, I meant screenplay tax. Where is my head.

Without looking, how much is the gas tax going up as a result of HF 2800? Ya. But now tell me how many Republicans voted to override the governor’s veto.

Er, in what regard, Charlie?

For Obama supporters, this seems like an appropriate response:

Nice that you could find a picture of McCain from the Wed night debate, Kevin.

If you ever buy anything you should care about gasoline taxes, since almost everything goes on a truck before it goes to sale. Whether you own a car or not.

There is an easy way to end the calls – get rid of your land line … seriously who has those anymore?

(blissfully cellphone only for ten years)

You’re right, I should be more balanced…

I’ve gotten a few calls from them. The one I actually answered, they just asked if they could count on my vote. I asked where they got my number and asked to be taken off the list. I still can’t figure out how they got my number, since it’s not in the phone book. (though I guess there’s probably just a bank of numbers they can call.)

Yoshi, they can call cell phones, as long as a human being dials the number, not a computer. A lot of these calls have been going to cell phones.

esquared: There are a couple ways to get numbers… I know pollsters use randomly generated numbers to call. The computer randomly selects 7 digits, using known exchanges, and calls. They can narrow it to selecting the exchange, and randomly generating the last 4, etc.

If Ayers is such a threat to society, why isn’t he behind bars?

Just 17 days of this stuff left. (sigh)

yes, they called me TWICE so far. i told them to screw off.

Pendulum:

Very good question. So obvious and yet no one has thought of it..

Anyone get the “Obsession” DVD in the mail from the Clarion Fund? They were nice enough to send it to me to inform about how extreme Islam is bent on “world domination”.

And today, a RNC item arrived telling me about how Obama has no grasp on economics.

Nothing like sowing some fear and xenophobia along with misrepresentations

Thanks, but no thanks. These have “Retun to Sender” written on them and are going in the post tonight. If I’m lucky, that will be a few cents out of the right wing coffers.

Pendulum:

Very good question. So obvious and yet no one has thought of it..
»» Submitted by »»» acalhoun at 4:36 PM on October 17

Sarcasm? I don’t hear people saying this at all.

Ask them to verify that it is not a recording. If it is a recording call the attorney general, as this is against the law. Then ask for their name, address, phon3 #s, who they are working for, and generally get all the information about them that they have about you. It will be fun.

Fox 9 chimes in on this

There is absolutely zero none zip zilch nada connection between the Obsession video and the RNC, speaking of misrepresentations.

Does anybody ever really need several consecutive synonyms and for “none” to understand what it means?

^ and

No kidding, Kwatt. I cited the source of the video which is not the RNC. If you want to junk the RNC and the Clarion Fund together because of my “right wing” comment, that’s fine. Ideology is ideology and the game of inference and defamation that’s being played by both groups is damaging to our democracy, IMO. And I would say the same thing about similar material sent out by the DFL and Walt Disney, too. I just haven’t received anything from that side of this election to date.

Susan Collins (R-ME) is in a close race, and has denounced the calls. Would be nice if she really held to her principles and resigned as state co-chair of McCain’s campaign.

Also, Bachmann apparently put in another stupendously deranged performance on Hardball last night. Seems she may have tried to launch a new “Red scare” asking reporters to investigate “Un-American” Congress people.

THis latest performance apparently resulted in El raisign over $100K in ~12 hrs.

I’m going to have to wait until Monday night for them to post the transcript from that show.

Maine has a way of producing Republicans I actually like, including Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, and William Cohen. Snowe would have been a much, much better running mate than Palin.

@ kurtis Vermont’s also had a history of “compassionate Republicans.” Gov. Richard Snelling, a Republican, was kicked out as the chair of the National Governors Conference in ca. 1981 because of his opposition to Reagan’s domestic policies.

IMAGINE! Someone who works for the MSM apologizing for McCain.

IMAGINE!

Tickle my ass with a feather.