Dude Weather Subscribe to Secrets Minneapolis / St. Paul

MNSpeak: Talk

Call from McCain

Has anyone else been getting a call every single freaking day from people claiming to represent John McCain? I just got another one. Here's the transcription:

I'm calling for John McCain and the RNC because you need to know Barack Obama has worked closely with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers. His organization bombed the US Capitol, the Pentagon, a judge's home, and killed Americans. Democrats will enact an extreme leftist agenda if they control Washington. Barack Obama and his Democrat allies lack judgment to lead our country. This call's been paid by McCain/Palin 2008 and Republican National Committee at 202-863-850----(call cut off).

58 Reader Comments

Max Sparber  url01:28pm
Oct 17

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.

kwatt01:30pm
Oct 17

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

jane01:33pm
Oct 17

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

Max Sparber  url01:35pm
Oct 17

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.

kwatt01:37pm
Oct 17

all ur voismailz are belongs to us

Comments sponsored by
s4xton  url01:42pm
Oct 17

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.

mnblrmkr  url01:46pm
Oct 17

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.

aliecat  url01:50pm
Oct 17

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

justpbob  url01:52pm
Oct 17

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

sornie  url01:52pm
Oct 17

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.

kwatt01:57pm
Oct 17

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.

jderusha01:58pm
Oct 17

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.

Max Sparber  url02:03pm
Oct 17

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

justpbob  url02:04pm
Oct 17

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

noodleman  url02:06pm
Oct 17

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.

mnblrmkr  url02:07pm
Oct 17

McCain and G. Gordon Liddy.

s4xton  url02:07pm
Oct 17

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

CINF  url02:07pm
Oct 17

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

jderusha02:13pm
Oct 17

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.

kurtis  url02:17pm
Oct 17

They talk about that stuff too sometimes.

s4xton  url02:17pm
Oct 17

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.

Max Sparber  url02:19pm
Oct 17

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

kurtis  url02:21pm
Oct 17

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.

kurtis  url02:23pm
Oct 17

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.

jderusha02:24pm
Oct 17

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.

CINF  url02:25pm
Oct 17

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.

jderusha02:26pm
Oct 17

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.

kurtis  url02:27pm
Oct 17

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.

kurtis  url02:30pm
Oct 17

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

kwatt02:36pm
Oct 17

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.

champs02:37pm
Oct 17

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.

Max Sparber  url02:38pm
Oct 17

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?

kwatt02:41pm
Oct 17

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

kurtis  url02:42pm
Oct 17

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?

kwatt02:47pm
Oct 17

For Obama supporters, this seems like an appropriate response:
cat

mnblrmkr  url03:08pm
Oct 17

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

jderusha03:14pm
Oct 17

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.

yoshi03:17pm
Oct 17

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)

kwatt03:18pm
Oct 17

You're right, I should be more balanced...
cat

esquared  url03:22pm
Oct 17

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.)

jderusha03:24pm
Oct 17

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.

pendulum03:26pm
Oct 17

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

justpbob  url03:40pm
Oct 17

Just 17 days of this stuff left. (sigh)

honeybun04:12pm
Oct 17

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

acalhoun04:36pm
Oct 17

Pendulum:

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

vuk04:38pm
Oct 17

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.

pendulum04:41pm
Oct 17

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.

Jonathan  url05:25pm
Oct 17

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.

kwatt07:56pm
Oct 17

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

kurtis  url09:54pm
Oct 17

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

kurtis  url09:54pm
Oct 17

^ and

vuk09:35am
Oct 18

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.

mnblrmkr  url10:28am
Oct 18

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.

kurtis  url10:57am
Oct 18

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.

noodleman  url03:28pm
Oct 19

@ 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.

Raindog6609:30pm
Oct 20

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

IMAGINE!

Tickle my ass with a feather.

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <i> <b> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <img> <br> <p>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.

More information about formatting options

CAPTCHA
By entering in the words in the captcha image, you help us prevent automated spam submissions and keep the site tidy.

Today's Talk

Seeking TC Blogs

All right, it is time to expand my RSS Reader again with local blogs I haven't read before. If you kow of or have a local blog that produces local content (and it doesn't need to all be local content; just occasional), go ahead and pimp it here.…

Max Sparber
19 comments »

July 4 Open Thread

WCCO has a list of where to see Independence Day fireworks; what are your July 4 plans?…

Max Sparber
32 comments »

Voting With Your Dollar

An interesting discussion broke on on Twitter today when it came out that Baja Sol's CEO is also the chair of the Republican Party in Minneapolis, prompting some to decide not to eat there (summary and links to the conversation courtesy of Heavy Tabl…

Max Sparber
51 comments »

Kline: Public Health Care 'Too Good'

From the Health Insurance Resouce Center: Interviewed on Minnesota Public Radio, Kline says as far as he's concerned, a health reform bill with a public option is a no-go. His reasoning is that it would be ... too successful. (Via)…

Max Sparber
8 comments »

Next MnRead... The What/When/Where

At 8:30 AM on a Thursday in early July, I am unable to think of what books were recommended at the last MnRead meeting and in the last MnRead post for future MnRead discussion. So make your recommendations here. Books with local angles (Fitzgerald co…

kurtis
4 comments »

More Burger Joints!

The PiPress reports: At least, there's one good thing about a bad economy: Burgers are hot right now. Especially the cheap ones. In the past year in the Twin Cities, a mini burger boom has been under way. What new burger joints have you enjoyed? Wha…

Max Sparber
43 comments »

Read more of today's talk…