New Obama Site Will Track, Combat McCain Robocalls

Facing a fresh wave of vicious robocalls, the Obama campaign launched a fact-checking website on Friday that allows voters to report and research the various attacks.

The site, called Under the Radar, is the second online tool created by Obama headquarters as a means of nipping smears in the bud. It is another non-traditional move by the Democratic campaign, one designed to highlight and actually take advantage of his opponent's most aggressive attacks.

"Politics 101 suggests that you don't repeat the attacks made by your opponent," an aide said. "But we know this -- they are made below the radar for a reason -- because they don't want the attacks to be seen for what they are in the light of the truth. So by exposing them and also giving people the facts and tools to spread the truth we think in this case that rule doesn't apply."

The site also draws more attention to McCain's campaign tactics, which voters view as increasingly negative and unfair, according to several recent opinion polls. In the past week, the GOP ticket has launched a series of robocall campaigns going after Obama on everything from his association with Bill Ayers, his stances on crime, gun control, and abortion, and his willingness to "negotiate with terrorists." The calls have been met with some sharp criticism, including from several prominent Republicans, like former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Radar.BarackObama.com is, in the end, just one component of the Obama campaign's pushback effort. Already the Senator has hosted various press conferences denouncing the McCain campaigns tactics, including one in Ohio featuring Gov. Ted Strickland and Sen. Sherrod Brown. The campaign has also put out response-robocalls of its own, featuring the testimony of local voters who say they are fed up with the Republican attacks.

The new website is designed to be more interactive, allowing voters to report the robocalls or other attacks that pop up in their geographic area and get the Obama campaign's actual position on each of the issues referenced in the call.

The site launch was announced in an email to Obama's ActionWire email list.

Comments

[BarackRolled]

06:17 PM on 10/27/2008

Rejected McCain robocalls: www.mcsweeneys.net

[Okieborn]

05:31 PM on 10/24/2008

THANK GOD !
MAYBE THIS WILL STOP THE MCCAIN MADNESS !!!!

[JackND]

04:55 PM on 10/24/2008

Counting down the days until John McCain returns to being essentially a lame duck senator in a party with little to no power.

[GoBarryGo]

05:02 PM on 10/24/2008

Me too -- and it is going to be one gleeful morning on November 5. I've voted, I've canvassed on weekends, and will be again this weekend, and working to GOTV all the way through November 4. After that, I am going to sit back and enjoy what OUR campaign has done, while all the despondent Repubes fret and stew over how the world as they know it is over. They don't realize it yet, because of their negativity and pessimism about themselves and the country as a whole, but a new day is going to dawn and we are going to remake ourselves as the virtuous nation we were created to be, one that the world can respect again, where anything is possible for anyone who works hard enough. YES WE CAN!

[SENATORCALLENBOWE]

02:45 PM on 10/24/2008

LETS CONNECT THE INTERNET 2 THE CORRUPT AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS :)

[SeriousBlack]

01:48 PM on 10/24/2008

For all its problems and weird stuff that is out there, the internet is proving to be great for stuff like this... I think in the long run it will prove to be a net positive for participative democracy.

[RoveRoveRoveYourBoat]

01:34 PM on 10/24/2008

...why would anyone listen to more than 5-seconds of any automated call?????

[lola85]

01:56 PM on 10/24/2008

No. I wonder how effective they are.

[truthforme]

04:54 PM on 10/24/2008

Can't fathom listening myself. I hang up before I even know the topic. If someone wants to talk to me, they damn sure better do it live.

[blood1]

01:08 PM on 10/24/2008

The GOP is saying that Obama is not experienced enough to run the country (to make decisions)....well, after all the muck that the GOP has thrown at them, none has stuck, but Obama is obviously smart enough to know how to repel an attack by those wanting to undermine his strategy (to run an above board campaign) and how to rise above the GOP's attempt to make them get "into the mud fight". That to me is experience.

Obama's ability / nature to remain composed when attacked and that is what world leaders have recognized. For you "doubters", one only needs to review his conversation with Gen. Petraeus to understand how he listened, processed and responded to a 4 star general.

When he listened to "joe", he say directly to an individual, YES, your taxes are going to be higher based on my tax plan....have you ever heard McCain say that to ANYONE....nope.


His ability to take the Robocall information from his adversary and use it against them is just so darn smart, this demonstrates how he can turn an attack into a positive....absolute genius!

Now you can see why he would be willing to meet with "adversarial" governments without pre-conditions - He won't need them as he will be more prepared to use their own information to strengthened his position (sorry Sarah - you need a dictionary again when attempting to undermine Obama. ie there is a difference between being prepared and demanding pre-conditions).

[lola85]

02:05 PM on 10/24/2008

Great post! I agree with you!!!

I always think, look at the manner in which McCain/Palin has run their campaign. Their campaign is horribly disconnected and petty and out of touch and impulsive and erratic and reactionary. To me and many others this is an example of how McCain/Palin would run their administration, which is REALLY SCARY, particularly with all the turmoil going on right now with our country.

I don't kid myself into thinking this race is over, McCain/Palin will definitely FIGHT until the end. I am, like so many are counting the days until this Presidential race is over though!

Obama/Biden '08
Keep HOPE alive

[MaryHuff]

12:45 PM on 10/24/2008

I've gotten informed about Ayers and as such have become quite the Ayers advocate! The poor guy is being mega-smeared and character assassinated.

1. McCain (and others) misquote Ayers. He NEVER said he wished he'd bombed more. Never. Further, they take what he did say, "I feel we didn't do enough", completely out of context. Ayers was not referring to wishing he had bombed more; he was referring to we as Americans didn't do enough to end the Vietnam war sooner.

2. Take a look at gotcha journalism at its finest by reading the original NY Times article and then Ayers' response 4 days later. He was bamboozled!!! The NY Times journalist at the time clearly had an agenda.
The original NY Times article from 9/11/2001:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F02E1DE1438F932A2575AC0A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1

Ayer’s response on 9/15/2001: read the whole thing !

http://billayers.wordpress.com/2008/04/21/clarifying-the-facts-a-letter-to-the-new-york-times-9-15-2001/

[truthforme]

04:56 PM on 10/24/2008

You know, experiencing the travesty of the Iraq war really makes me appreciate all those that fought against the Vietnam war.

[Val49]

12:37 PM on 10/24/2008

Sen. Obama has some amazing people working for him, thats another reason I am comfortable with him because he surrounds himself with the best.

[GoBarryGo]

05:05 PM on 10/24/2008

Absolutely -- a smart man who surrounds himself with other smart people to solve real problems for real Americans. We will be in very good hands - as my misguided Republican coworkers panic and virtually self-imolate, I feel a growing sense of calm and strength. We need to complete our task on November 4, and then stay active in working for the better America on the horizon.

[kiran888]

12:35 PM on 10/24/2008

I cant believe our country is so corrupt when it comes to voting. It's like we are living in some communist country, and the KGB are watching our every move and harassing us. This is not a democracy, and it's funny the GOPS are to blame! The very same people who are saying obama supporters are communist. How ironic. The conservative GOPS are the ones who are the real communists not Obama and his supporters.

[pennsykid2000]

12:29 PM on 10/24/2008

I got a robocall last night from our ex-governor, Tom Ridge, saying, among other things, Obama would give full civil rights to terrorists, along with other BS. I'm on the Do Not Call List. What's really amazing is how we would end up on any list that does not mark us clearly as Democrats. Either McCain's campaign is simply sending these out to absolutely everyone, or it is fundamentally incompetent in identifying swing voters or supporters.

[DeeDeeDaGumby]

12:52 PM on 10/24/2008

McCain camp would have to do homework to find out who is who. Homework does not seem to be a priority for those guys....

[inhuff]

12:27 PM on 10/24/2008

Wow!

[obackarama]

12:21 PM on 10/24/2008

I received the Ayers mailer yesterday.
What if we all mailed this c rap back to the sender (in my case, the MO Republican Committee)?
For the price of an envelope and stamp, we could make quite a statement.

[lwilkerson50]

02:24 PM on 10/24/2008

No don't even put a stamp on it ...Just return it in an eveope with their address also in the return address part. Then that way they will have to pay to get it, see where I am going ....

[RegLib]

12:11 PM on 10/24/2008

There should also be a site tracking attempts at voter suppression and voter intimidation, such as the incidents of New Mexico private investigator Al Romero showing up at Hispanics' homes, demanding ID, and telling them they aren't eligible to vote.

[Ron1951]

12:05 PM on 10/24/2008

Bravo to Obama for refusing to allow himself to be swift boated.