Scott Brown's Intrusive Robocalls Will Hand Election to Elizabeth Warren

I live in Massachusetts, a solidly blue state that doesn't get much attention from the presidential campaigns except for an occasional fundraising trip. I'm jealous of people who live in battleground states like Ohio and Florida because they experience the full force of the Obama and Romney marketing machines. I love the marketing aspects of elections because it's fascinating to see how the different campaigns target voters.

Here in Massachusetts, we do have a tight Senate race with Democrat Elizabeth Warren against incumbent Republican Scott Brown for the seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy.

When Brown was first elected to the seat in a January 2010 special election, I wrote here about how social media would likely decide the election and that Brown would win.

Why Warren will beat Brown

This cycle, I predict that Warren will win because voters like me are fed up with being interrupted at home by robocalls pimping Brown. At my home number, we've received quite a few recorded ads from Brown support groups including the Massachusetts Republican Party. So far, we have received no calls from Warren support groups.

I'm eating dinner with my family or enjoying a good book and the phone rings. I take my valuable time to hear yet another unwanted pitch for Brown. These interruptions are supposed to good for Brown? It just pisses me off. And I'm not the only one. Other Massachusetts residents I speak with are also fed up.

People hate sales calls. Some three quarters of Americans have signed up for the National Do Not Call Registry which does not currently apply to political organizations. This is something Shaun Dakin is fighting to change with his 300,000 person strong National Political Do Not Contact Registry.

According to Mollie Reilly in a September 27 article Karl Rove-Backed Group Makes Robocalls Targeting Elizabeth Warren, Crossroads GPS is behind some of the robocalls. This third-party group and others like the Massachusetts Republican Party are harming Brown with their "marketing" because the calls are seen by nearly everyone as intrusive.

Obviously, there is a lot more going on in the campaigns such as television ads, the debates, media, and whatnot. But in tight elections like Brown vs. Coakley two years ago and Brown vs. Warren this November, it is marketing (both good and bad) that holds power to tip the balance.

 

 

 

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Comments

[vivian777]

06:53 PM on 10/31/2012

Boy, these AD men are really something!
How do they convince intelligent candidates to spend money on these insulting robo calls which are annoying and invade people's privacy.
Does anyone actually listen to them?
Doesn't everyone just hang up?

[MegGem Walsh]

03:45 PM on 10/24/2012

I'm sick of the mail from Scott Brown. I'm sick of the nasty republican anti Obama ads. We know the Republican Party have more money than others, but that doenst mean that they have the right to inundate the media with ads!

[KGSexton]

02:36 PM on 10/12/2012

David, I do know know who will win this race. For the record though, these calls are not limited to Brown by any means. As an Independent that both camps are targeting, I just got two calls from the Warren camp in the last 24 hours. ALL OF THEM are annoying. :-) -Kathy

[David Meerman Scott]

05:56 AM on 10/13/2012

Kathy - Thanks for the update. We haven't received any from Warren. But yeah, all political campaigns seem to resort to old-style interruption marketing.

[AnyMiddleGroundLeft]

05:57 AM on 10/12/2012

Must be that the Dems have written your area off either because they feel they have it locked up or can't make ground. In my area, the SouthCoast, I have experienced the same problem with the Warren campaign. One evening I received three calls within an hour. The third was actually from a human being, who seemed ticked off that I had asked to be removed from the calling list.

[MsMassachusetts]

10:15 PM on 10/11/2012

I've gotten 3-4 robocalls from Crossroads GPS. Almost every day I find glossy pamphlets/flyers in my mailbox from the Brown campaign. I'm sick of it. I feel like I'm under siege. It makes me angry too.

[larrylawfer]

07:45 PM on 10/11/2012

Unwanted phone calls are clearly a problem, made even worse when they are for "the other guy". I think we, as people, are more willing to listen to "our guy", but the point is the same. The difficulty is in getting to people to make sure they understand a point of view. Reality is, most people come predisposed for Blue or Red. The saddest part to me this whole election cycle is the lies and innuendo and misrepresentations on both sides. There seems to be no genuine discourse.