McCain slapped with ethics complaint over robo-calls

By GottaLaff

UPDATE- Here is the audio:

Can't see the audio player? Click here.

H/t: Shaun Dakin, founder of the National Political Do Not Call Registry, who said he had never heard of a robocall quite like McCain's.

"I can't really remember a committee that had used the voice of a sitting representative in order to drive grassroots activism around a specific issue," he told Huff Post.

Original post:

He and his former running mate have a lot more in common than we thought: Ethics complaints. Couldn't happen to a crankier robo-caller:

A Washington political watchdog group has filed an ethics complaint with the Senate over robo-calls Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) made, urging voters to pressure their senators into supporting a McCain-led amendment to the Senate health care bill.

I do believe he's old enough to know better. Your thoughts?

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, filed the complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee on Wednesday, saying the Arizona senator and former presidential candidate violated Senate ethics rule 38, which prohibits senators from using political money to fund official Senate business.

CREW says when McCain used money from the National Republican Senatorial Committee to fund the robo-calls, he broke rule 38.

Goodness, I hope he can repair it.

"By urging voters to call their senators to urge them to support his motion, Sen. McCain was engaged in grassroots lobbying," CREW said in a statement.

Now if that's not an oxymoron, I don't know what is. However, juxtaposing the word "lobbying" with the name "J Sid" is not exactly a stretch.

Of course, Lobbyson McCrankyPants predictably retorted with the obvious:

In an interview with the Arizona Republic on Wednesday, McCain "laughed off CREW's complaint," describing the non-profit organization as "a far-left group."

CREW, ACORN, they're all alike. Just one big happy commie Marxist fascist socialist family.

Palin’s Virginia Robocalls May Not Be Legal

By GottaLaff

Today's Quickie:

Some residents of Virginia have recently received a robo-call from former-Governor Sarah Palin. Mrs. Palin identified herself by name and then entreated the listener to “vote for our shared principles” and to “vote your values.” A recorded male voice then came on the line and informed the listener that the call had been paid for by the Virginia Faith and Freedom Coalition.

But was this call legal?

Go to Mudflats for the details.

AUDIO: Scozzafava robocalls for Owens - NY23

By GottaLaff

Looks like Sarah Palin isn't the only one who can read a script. Oh wait, Palin most likely had a ghost reader.

Yes, the Rushpublic candidate has recorded a robocall for the Democratic candidate:




FYI, per a poll that MSNBC is discussing right now, Hoffman (conservative) is leading Owens (Democorat) by 5%. Scozzafava better talk a little faster.

H/t: EndTheRoboCalls

Group Making Robocalls With Fake Harry Reid Caller ID

By GottaLaff

Dirty tricks, and more dirty tricks. Rushpublics are equating themselves with vile behavior on a regular basis, and find their party swirling down the toidy drain. Here's one reason why:

Congressional staffers have been plagued over the past two days with telephone calls that appear to be coming from Senate Majority Harry Reid's office but are actually from an anonymous organization highly critical of Democrats.

Several aides on the Hill reported receiving calls on Monday and Tuesday that their Caller ID erroneously said were being made from Reid's headquarters. Upon picking up the phone, they were greeted by an automated message of approximately 45 seconds in length. [...]

[T]he caller said there was "too much spending going on in D.C. but that Republicans weren't to blame."

Using a certain technology, callers can make an incorrect caller identification appear on the recipient's phone. Both chambers of Congress attempted to outlaw the practice in 2007. But those pieces of legislation have yet to become law.

[...] Senator Reid weighs into the issue, casting blame for the calls on "Republican defenders of the status quo."

"While it is still uncertain who is placing these calls or where they are originating from, creating a false caller ID is dishonest and misleading. They represent yet another attempt by Republican defenders of the status quo to distract from the real issues," said Reid's Rodell Mollineau. "Whether it's disrupting town halls, spreading outrageous lies about health reform or even denying President Obama's American citizenship, these Republicans have shown that their only goal is to stop America from moving forward."

Just as trolls do on blogs like ours, Rushpublics either feign innocence ("who me?") or go to hostile extremes, most recently even resorting to threats and violence. If only they understood that bullying and deceptive behavior like this does more to diminish what's left of their collective reputation than it does to help their cause.

Civil discourse-- honest, open, respectful communication-- is so much more effective (and, ahem, safer) than brandishing a gun (in the case I linked to the gun belonged to a Ron Pauler).

Can we get back to real democracy now?

Grassroots my (gr)ass: Robocalls Now Urging Town Hall Protests?

By GottaLaff

I don't know about you, but my robocall resources are nonexistent. Anyone else out there in grassrooty world have access to robocalling? Hands? On second thought, don't raise your hands, just feel free to shout me down and throw punches:

Marty Kady reports that yet another town hall meeting — this one held by Dem Rep Ann Kirkpatrick of Arizona — was overrun yesterday by protesters.

But this detail from Kady’s story jumps out:

Sources say the protesters showed up after a robocall — it’s unclear from whom — went out to Arizona voters encouraging them to show up at the event. The event was supposed to involve one on one chats with Kirkpatrick, a freshman member of Congress. [...]

Turns out that the anti-reform group Conservatives for Patients Rights called on activists to get out to this town hall on its Web site. But a CPR spokesman denied to me that his group was behind the robocalls.

So the question is, whodoneit?

Huckabee Running Robo-Calls in Iowa re: Sotomayor and abortion rights

By GottaLaff

Rebranding, huh? Hucka-stucka in the mucka:

Chuck Todd reports that Mike Huckabee "is sponsoring robo-calls in Iowa gauging interest on whether it's worth putting together a paid campaign to fight the nomination of Judge Sonya Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. According to a person who took the recorded survey over the phone, it is from Huckabee, asks if the person on the phone is pro-life or pro-choice, whether they condemn abortion rights and whether they would contribute money to support ads against Sotomayor."

Hillary won't be happy

By GottaLaff

I missed where this was happening, but Wolf Blitzer just reported that there is a robocall brought to you by the RNC/McCain-Palin team, using Hillary's voice, with previous quotes of hers from the primaries.

First her image, now her voice. Let's see if Hillary has anything to say about that.

Obama's Aunt Subject Of Robocall

By GottaLaff

Via Ambinder:

A reader writes:

I live in Arlington, Virginia and I just received a robocall attacking Obama because his aunt is an illegal alien. At the end of the call, it said it was paid for by something that sounded like "the America Connect PAC."

CNN is currently and gleefully saying that Pennsylvania is "tightening". There goes my mood. I should go back to this post and wish away the negativity.

VIDEO-- Now THIS is how you make a scary Halloween campaign video: "Robots Attack"

By GottaLaff

Nader tried, but once again, Obama shows everyone how to do it effectively and with style:

Fight John McCain's robo calls. Get out the vote! Elect Barack Obama!
http://www.barackobama.com/

Gramm-pa McCain Robocalling Arizonans

By GottaLaff

If Gramm-pa is robocalling in his home state, he and IWRC* Palin must be shakin' in their Ugg boots:

Talking Points Memo reports that several of its Arizona readers reported receiving a McCain campaign robocall today.

McCain’s robocall, which was played to us over the phone by Mary Joe Bartel, a retiree who lives south of Tucson, attacks Obama as unprepared to defend the country from terrorism, singling out Joe Biden’s recent remarks about the likelihood of Obama being tested by an international crisis early in his first term.

Here’s the script:

I’m calling for John McCain and the RNC because Barack Obama is so dangerously inexperienced, his running mate Joe Biden just said, he invites a major international crisis that he will be unprepared to handle alone.

If Democrats win full control of government, they will want to give civil rights to terrorists and talk unconditionally to dictators and state sponsors of terror. Barack Obama and his Democratic allies lack the experience and judgment to lead America. This call was paid for by the Republican National Committee and authorized by McCain-Palin 2008.

[...]The McCain campaign is releasing memos saying the race is “functionally tied” — but its actions suggest McCainland is privately worried about the possibility of an electoral blowout.

*"In What Respect, Charlie?"

The Robo Call Database. McCain vs. Obama: All Calls, All Sides, All Races

By GottaLaff

It's like rubbernecking that car accident:

The only place on the internet to see all robo calls, from all sides, across the nation. Dirty tricks, push polls, you name it, we got it.

The National Political Do Not Contact Registry Robocall Database.

• Click here to find all McCain and McCain related robo calls.
• Click here to find all Obama and Obama related robo calls.
• Click here to find all Other races and robo calls across the nation.
• Click here for our primary season robo call Hall of Shame (HOS).

H/t: Marc Ambinder

The map of GOP sleaze

By GottaLaff

Just. Go. Look.

We bring you the state by state on GOP robocalls and mailers. To use our map, click on a highlighted state. From there you can click on an item that pops up, scroll down to see the item or listen to the call. If you would like to select another state, click the "X". To return to map, click another state.

It's interactive.

Rudy Giuliani's Sleaze False Robocall Smear

Via Ben-

Jonathan Martin has the day's GOP robocall, which broadens an entirely new, though traditional, line of attack previewed a couple of days ago by Florida Republicans:

"You need to know that Barack Obama opposes mandatory prison sentences for sex offenders, drug dealers and murderers" Giuliani says, referring to Obama's opposition to mandatory minimum sentences, which was also an issue Clinton used against him in the primary. "It's true, I read Barack Obama's words myself."

We've heard reports of it in Virginia and Maine.

Obama camp responds with a robocall of their own

By GottaLaff

BFCE:

Barack Obama’s campaign is set to release it’s own robocall in Wisconsin Wednesday in response to McCain’s ‘sleazy phone calls,’ against the Illinois Senator.

Via TPM, Jeri Watermolen, a former McCain backer now supports Obama because of Gramm-pa’s robocalls which ‘viciously—and falsely’ attack Obama, and has recorded this:

Script:

Hi, this is Jeri Watermolen, calling for the Campaign for Change. I live in Green Bay and, like you, I've been getting sleazy phone calls and mail from John McCain and his supporters viciously — and falsely — attacking Barack Obama. I used to support John McCain because he honorably served our country — but this year he's running a dishonorable campaign. We know McCain will continue many of Bush's policies, and now he's using George Bush's divisive tactics. In fact, he hired the Bush strategists whose attacks even McCain once called hateful.

Barack Obama will turn the page on these negative politics and stand up for the middle class. That's the change we need, and it's why I have changed my mind about John McCain. Join me in voting for Barack Obama. Paid for the Campaign for Change, a project of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, and authorized by Obama for America.

Imagine: She did all that without once using the words "socialist", "Muslim", "terrorist", or alluding to race. Will wonders never cease...

VIDEO: Witness the hypocrisy of Gramm-pa McCain on robocalls

By GottaLaff

Background here and here. If you haven't read those posts, please take a look before you watch this video. The hypocrisy is astounding.

If this is how he responds to the pressures of a losing campaign, imagine what he'd do under the much more intense stress of a world crisis against a "real" adversary. At this point, Britney Spears is showing better judgment. From Fox News Sunday:


H/t: SharonTomisakTX

Racist 'N-Word' Calls Reported In Pennsylvania

By GottaLaff

Once again, an utterly vile racist robocall.

Pennsylvanians have complained about a call that impersonates Barack Obama and includes racial epithets:

"Over in Indiana, PA and Northern Cambria, PA, volunteers fielded complaints of a massive wave of ugly robocalls both paid for by John McCain's campaign and those paid for by third parties. The third party call was interactive, and purported to be from Barack Obama himself. The call starts out reasonably, and then "Obama" asks what the listener thinks is the most important issue. Whatever the response, "Obama" then launches into a profane and crazed tirade using "n***er" and other shock language."

I'm running out of synonyms for "racist" and "horrific".

Maine Republican party leader asks Collins to resign for challenging robocalls

By GottaLaff

It's simple: If you disapprove of Gramm-pa McCain's smear campaign, then you should resign:

Earlier today, the Maine Democratic Party called on U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Bangor) to call on Republican Presidential candidate John McCain to halt robocalls that tie Democratic candidate Barack Obama to 60’s radical activist Bill Ayers. Collins agreed.

“They don’t serve John McCain well,” Collins said in a follow-up interview. “This kind of campaign call does not reflect the kind of leader that he is.”

She said she disapproves of the negativity being used in both presidential campaigns.

In response, the party countered. Spokeswoman Rebecca Pollard issued a statement saying that if Collins is truly concerned about the calls, then she should resign from her position as co-chair of McCain’s campaign in the state.

What a mess.

H/t: Palin's No Hillary

All in the family: Gramm-pa McCain Using Same Robocall Firm That Helped Smear Him In 2000

By GottaLaff

Stockholm Syndrome? (if you 're unfamiliar with that term, read this) Or desperation? Or both:

In his efforts to attack Barack Obama, John McCain appears to have turned to the same political consulting firm that was responsible for spreading vicious smears about the Senator during the 2000 South Carolina GOP primary.

Once again, it's all about the robocalls:

On Friday, a recipient of one of those calls, Chris Shoff of Minnesota, said that he had tied the origins of the campaign to the St. Paul-based firm FLS-Connect, run by prominent GOP figure Jeff Larson.

This past week, Shoff, a Freeborn, Minnesota Democratic County Commissioner, received the Hollywood call while at work. Because state law dictates that any such calls be made by an actual human, Shoff demanded that he be connected to the supervisor. That official, who worked at the robocall shop King TeleServices in Brooklyn, New York, said that they had been contracted out by FLS-Connect.

Officials with King TeleServices did not respond to messages seeking comment. [...]

Any tie between the McCain campaign and FLS represents an ironic twist of fate and a reflection of just how far the Arizona Republican has moved politically in the last eight years. During the 2000 election, FLS and Larson helped then-presidential candidate George W. Bush smear McCain during the now-infamous South Carolina primary.

Nice move, Gramm-pa.

VIDEO: Chris Matthews v. Michele Bachmann

By GottaLaff

Bachman seems unable to articulate a coherent thought beyond "Obama's leftist, liberal, anti-American mentors." She even claims that Rezko is a "leftist, liberal, anti-American." Matthews points out that Rezko is a businessman, not a liberal. Bachman didn't seem to understand the difference.

Wow. Even Tweety was a little freaked out by this whack job.

RNC: Fear trumps integrity

By GottaLaff

Via Ambinder, an e-mail from one of his readers:

Anyway, we got the Ayers robocall on our voicemail in Colorado yesterday. I saved it for my wife. She was aghast (we moved from Chicago since the previous election). I was more bemused than anything.

My question: Do these things work? I would suspect that they rile up the opposition supporters as much as anything, especially in an information-saturated environment like the current one.

(And as purely anecdotal evidence to convince you to move Colorado to lean Obama, my bus ride home takes me from an up-and-coming trendy part of Denver, through several very wealthy neighborhoods, to a more middle class suburb-in-a-city neighborhood on the south edge of the city. As of yesterday, the sign count was 17 Obama houses and 3 McCain houses.)

And Ambinder responds:

Put it this way: I know some RNC staff members who aren't proud that their committee is being associated with calls, but fear has prevailed upon their bosses.

They're scared, they're cowardly, and they're unscrupulous. And they've made their choice. Now it's time for America to make theirs. I'm more and more hopeful that they'll make the right one.