NYT: Republican Repeat Calls Spur a Debate Over Tactics

[DeepModem Mom]

Repeat Calls Spur a Debate Over Tactics
By CHRISTOPHER DREW and CARL HULSE
Published: November 7, 2006

Karyn Hollis, an English professor at Villanova University outside Philadelphia, said the same computerized calls had been ringing her telephone as often as five times a day for more than a week.

They all start with a simple, if somewhat ambiguous, statement: “Hello, I’m calling with information about Lois Murphy,” a Pennsylvania Democrat who is the challenger in one of the hottest House races. That opening sounds “kind of positive in tone,” Ms. Hollis said. But the message quickly turns negative, blasting Ms. Murphy’s political views. After she hangs up, the phone rings again later with the same message. And again. And again.

The calls are part of a telephone blitz that the Republican Party has unleashed in several dozen races that are likely to determine control of the House in Tuesday’s elections. And the repeat calls to the same homes have set off a new furor over campaign tactics, with the Democrats claiming the calls violate federal communications rules and are tantamount to harassment.

Ms. Murphy and other Democrats say they have been flooded with complaints from irritated voters who think that the calls are coming from the candidates themselves. Many of the voters had hung up before the message was over, and never heard that it was produced by the Republican Party.

Democratic leaders contend that the messages violate federal rules that require groups making automated calls to identify themselves at the outset....“Make no mistake about it,” said Representative Rahm Emanuel, an Illinois Democrat who is leading his party’s effort to retake the House. “This is a dirty trick, one they have pulled before, one they have gotten caught on, and they are still doing it.”...

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/07/us/politics/07robo.html?_r=1&hp&ex=1162875600&en=030161bac2f47ae8&ei=5094&partner=homepage&oref=slogin