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URGENT! URGENT! Karl Rove's Last-Minute
"Robocalling" Tactic
to Steal the Election
By Bernard Weiner
Co-Editor, The Crisis Papers
November 6, 2006
We all waited for Karl Rove's "October Surprise," but it turns out he
saved it for the final 72 hours before Election Day. It's been termed "robocalling,"
and Democratic and swing voters urgently need to hear about it in these
last moments before voting.
In various key states and districts, Republicans have initiated this dirty
"robocalling" trick. Here, based on preliminary reporting coming in -- and
Josh Marshall's website ( www.talkingpointsmemo.com ) is right on it -- is
how it works:
On an automatic-redial system, registered Democrats are called again and
again and again and again, at any time during the day or night, to hear
what appears to be a message from the Democratic Party in support of the
local Democratic Senate or House candidate. The object is to harass and
annoy the hell out of these voters, to the point that they'll take out
their anger on the Democratic candidate by not voting for him or her, or
maybe deciding not to vote in the election at all.
In other words, yet another version of voter suppression in tight races,
reminiscent of what Republican operatives (with ties to the White House)
were convincted of in New Hampshire last year. In that case, involving the
2002 Senate election, the Republicans automatic-redialed the Democratic
Party headquarters' phone lines in the final days before the election so
that the Dems' get-out-the-vote campaign was totally jammed and rendered
useless. The GOP candidate won the election. (Check out this story at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_New_Hampshire_Senate_election_phone_jamming_scandal . )
The point here is that these 2006 "robocalling" attacks aimed at Democrats
are happening at the last minute, and many Democrats may believe them to
be real and get thoroughly pissed off at the Democratic candidates and
decide to not vote for them or to stay home and not vote at all.
Our job today, the last day before most voters will go to the polls, is to
get the word out across the country, alerting Democrats about this
desperation GOP tactic -- and traditional Republicans and swing voters as
well, who, if they found out about this despicable ploy, might well be
appalled at what's being done to manipulate the vote. Let's shine the
light of truth on these rats.
Bob Fertik at Democrats.com recommends the following: "It's too late for
legal action or even newspaper stories. If you receive one of these calls,
write down the time and candidate and call every radio and TV show you can
and urge everyone listening to vote against the disgusting Republican
dirty tricksters. And [[ write an email and ]] forward this email to
everyone you know so they aren't fooled by Karl Rove's dirty trick."
The Republicans aver that they're doing nothing "illegal" by making their
last-minute phone calls to voters (
http://americablog.blogspot.com/2006/11/republicans-admit-they-are-breaking-to.html
), but it would be a tragedy for our democratic republic if their
dastardly tactic worked, only to indict and convict these guys a year from
now for trying to subvert the electoral process.
Apparently, there are variations of last-minute push-phoning in use as
well. In the tight Tennessee Senate race between Repubican Bob Corker and
Democrat Harold Ford Jr., calls are being received by African-American
voters, among others, saying that if they voted for Ford in the primary,
they don't need to vote again in tomorrow's general election.
The lesson: Stay alert, get the word out, get Democratic voters to the
polls tomorrow in huge, landslide numbers. We can't let Rove & his minions
steal yet another election.
Copyright 2006, by Bernard Weiner
Bernard Weiner, Ph.D. in government & international relations, has taught
at various universities, worked as a writer/editor with the San Francisco
Chronicle for 19 years, and currently co-edits The Crisis Papers
(www.crisispapers.org). For comment, write >>
crisispapers@comcast.net <<
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