McCain's Robocalls Have Parents Worried About Their Kids; Palin Criticizes Tactic

One of the more noteworthy responses to John McCain's massive robocall campaign tying Barack Obama to Bill Ayers has been from parents whose children have been on the receiving end of the incendiary calls.

Many have contacted the Huffngton Post detailing concerns that their kids were being told, in essence, that the possible next president of the United States associates with terrorist figures.

"My daughter answered the phone today and began listening to the most disturbing call regarding bombing and terrorists. She ran with the phone to get me, I heard just the end snippet of the call and immediately called the number cited as responsible," wrote a reader from North Carolina. "I was so angry and let them have it. I had to explain to my 7-year-old daughter that no one was bombing anyone else. This was a horrific experience."

So it was more than just a bit ironic to be reminded that during the Republican South Carolina primary in 2000 it was a distraught mother who thrust the issue of the anti-McCain robocall campaign into the national spotlight.

A reader sends over a clip from the film company "Journeyman Pictures," that replays some notable news footage from those heady political days. In it is a shot of a woman, addressing McCain at a South Carolina rally, with word of the behind-the-scenes effort to paint him as "a cheat and a liar and a fraud."

"He was so upset," she said of her 14-year-old son who had received the call. "He was almost in tears. I was so mad. I was so livid last night I couldn't sleep."

McCain, visibly shaken by the woman's testimony, denounced the tactic entirely and would later unilaterally pull all of his negative advertising.

"I really hope that people that are doing these things could have heard and seen your statement because we don't need to do this to young people," said the Senator. Outside the hall, he was even more direct: "I'm calling on my good friend George Bush to stop this now, to stop this now. I can't believe that a person from a good family such as George Bush wouldn't stop this. But if he doesn't then I will call him or I will write him or I will do whatever I can."

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Eight years later, the role, in many ways, is reversed (though, to be fair, the Obama campaign has not denied that it is running negative robocalls itself). Only this time, it seems, there is a stark difference: the robocalls don't seem to be working. On Sunday, McCain's own running mate said the tactic had "irritated" people who were "just being inundated."

"If I called all the shots, and if I could wave a magic wand," said Gov. Sarah Palin, "I would be sitting at a kitchen table with more and more Americans, talking to them about our plan to get the economy back on track and winning the war and not having to rely on the old conventional ways of campaigning that includes those robocalls and includes spending so much money on the television ads that, I think, is kind of draining out there in terms of Americans' attention span."

Meanwhile, an ABC News/Washington Post poll showed that sixty percent of voters thought Obama's relationship with Ayers was "not a legitimate issue in the presidential campaign." Thirty-seven percent said it was.

And yet, despite the criticism and evidence, McCain has stuck by the strategy that once undermined his presidential ambitions.

"These are legitimate and truthful and they are far different than the phone calls that were made about my family and about certain aspects that -- things that this is -- this is dramatically different and either you haven't -- didn't see those things in 2000," he told Fox News' Chris Wallace.

Comments

[Irae]

Sounds like Ms. Palin is bailing out on McCain. She's looking forward 4 years and wants it said that she was against the robo calls. (But will we forget she was talking about "palling around with terrorists" and "not like us"?).

[neurologymatters]

Today I called the RNC. I told them I did not want my phone number to be on any call lists. I was told it would be removed if on one. The people I spoke with were polite-I asked when the Robo Calls would stop being made-one person was honest and stated he did not know, and transferred me to another person. The next person was also polite (as was I) and I asked when the Robo Calls would stop, if at all. I was told it would stop after the election. I explained the Robo Calls are not to be tolerated and neither is the hate. I was told the comment would be passed along. If nothing else, I spoke my mind, remained calm, and tied up a phone line which may have been useful to their campaign.

[rr52]

I'm amazed by the absurdity of continuing about Ayers after the debate where Obama clearly stated that Ayers is a Chicago college professor, who won a prestigous award in Chicago because he is active in community. And that Obama worked on a committee hosted by Annenberg, with other Republicans he named that were on the committee with Ayers as well. Now are we to assume that those Republicans and the McCain supporting Annenbergs are terrorist mongers too? They hobnobbed with Ayers?

Quite frankly I'm encouraged when I see a former activist for peace like Ayers still involved, still engaged in community compared to a lot of old hippy activists that turned into fat, tight-a- -Republicans.

[super]

Forget petitions! Seriously what about that class-action lawsuit? Or do we have to wait 4 years like Kerry did to file a libel suit?

[AlexNYC]

McCain is showing his desperation by out-smearing and out-fearing what the Bush campaign did in 2000. McCain was on the receiving end of Bush's lies and he condemned them, but since he is doing them now, is it okay because he's not the target this time?

"He who throws mud only loses ground". - Fat Albert

[Susan60]

I know first hand that many people were upset with the robocalls. Last week when they first started I was calling at a call center fundraising for a child's charity. I called a woman in Ohio. She answered the phone and was very pleasant, but when it came to giving a donation, she was tapped out and ANGRY. She said the economy was sooooo bad in Ohio. I hear that all the time, but she was furious with a robocall she has gotten that morning from the McCain campaign. And when I say furious I mean FURIOUS. I asked her who she was voting for and she said she hadn't decided yet, but for the next five minutes she ranted about the audacity of the McCain camp to shove fear down our throats when their jobs in Ohio were going elsewhere. She said she had called back the number and told them NEVER, NEVER call her again. At the end, I said to her, "I guess you know who you have to vote for on Nov. 4th." She replied, "Yes I do. And believe me, I'm going to vote."

[Lagniappe]

A few words about the company hired to do those robo calls.Courtesy Sourcewatch-----------------------------------------Feather Larson & Synhorst DCI
From SourceWatch

Feather, Larson & Synhorst DCI (FLS-DCI) are "Specialists in Telephone Contact Business." The telemarketing company used to be known as Feather Hodges Larson & Synhorst DCI. In 2000, the Washington DC-based DCI Group was spun off from FLS-DCI.

FLS-DCI has been one of the largest corporate receipents of funds from the Republican National Committee in 2004. FLS-DCI has close ties to key White House advisor Karl Rove and others in the GOP.

FLS-DCI specializes in creating phony front groups to make it appear as if there's a groundswell of support for its clients' issues.

.

"Our client list consists of the last five Presidential Campaigns including Bush/Cheney 2000. We also provide services for the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee, and hundreds of Republican State Parties and candidates on all levels, as well as corporations, associations and other organizations.

Advisor to President George Walker Bush, Karl Rove's endorsement of FLS-DCI reads:

"I know these guys well. They become partners with the campaigns they work with. From designing the program to drafting scripts; from selecting targets to making the calls in a professional, successful way they work as hard to win your races as you do."

[gplain]

Apparently, voters in springfield USA are outraged by these calls -- happening often in the middle of the night:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmjPSPVmACc

[Nancy84]

Sad and pitiful how a once great man has fallen into such shameful behaviour.

[Khanate]

I called the RNC after my daughter got one of those calls.
She's 14 and is into politics and knows better and was not affected.
I actually got someone on the line and told them she was obsessing
over the fact that her town could be blown up, and was in therapy.
The woman on the other end said "unm sir "um we um don't um"
I yelled into the phone, I want John God@#ned McCain to come to my house
and tell her everything will be okay when Obama is elected.
You will not get away with this, "we are unified in this town and are looking into a class
action lawsuit, which could possible drain the last 49 cents you have left in your campaign.
Silence on the other end in which I blew a whistle into the phone.
Was this behaviour immature? YOU BETCHA, but it was a hell of a good time doing it.

[PeepingTom]

Interesting point, that the robocalls can target kids. Of course, we can't count on the McCain campaign to think of anyone, like children. I'm surprised, though, that it's the 14-year old boy who cried 'mommy' and not that little 7-year old girl!

[blackmanhl]

What would be more disturbing that these robocalls is a McSame-Palin administration. Colin Powell is right, these calls have crossed the line and degenerated into what Harry Reid described as simply scummy. Way to go McSame-Palin -- keep scumming it up.

[Americanium]

What is happening with the McCain Campaign is not about winning. Sure. they'd love to win. However their tactic is to make an Obama Administration less effective by sowing seeds of doubt about Senator Obama.

My gut instincts tells me they will fail and the biggest loser of this election will be Palin. She will not only lose her stature in the GOP but in Alaska.

[peacegurl48]

Ok Sarah and how about your nasty rhetoric at your rallies? It is way beyond the robocalls.
Her hands are dirty.

[ProgressiveReb]

So sad that McCain is sinking to these tactics. And even sadder that young people would be exposed to such vile commentary.

We need to continue telling McCain that Americans reject his hate-based style of politics.

Progressive Future has a petition to McCain urging him to choosing Hope over Hate in his campaign -- and they have updated it today to address the issue of the robocalls. You can hear a recording of one of the calls on the petition page, which you can find here:

http://www.progressivefuture.org/robocall-hope-over-hate

Please sign it today.