Winning at any Cost

[Admiral]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten

Just like every political ad on TV? You guys are really reaching for reasons to be outraged...

There is a huge difference between this and TV ads. TV ads don't interrupt anything, you can choose not to pay them any attention, they disappear when you change the channel, and they don't pretend to be from the other campaign.

I beg to differ.

Here is why it is not. We're not saying, ban robocalls. We saying, you can't call someone 15 times at odd hours of the day. We saying, identify the party responsible for the call at the beginning of the call. These aren't free speech issues. They're voter harrasment and voter protection laws.

I am surprised that people are defending this practice. It is obviously what the intention is, and it is obvious that that intention is immoral and non-democratic.

[Drake Tungsten]

TV ads don't interrupt anything,

They interrupt the show you are watching.

you can choose not to pay them any attention

You can do the same thing with phone calls.

they disappear when you change the channel

Phone calls "disappear" when you hang up.

and they don't pretend to be from the other campaign.

Neither did these phone calls. And plenty of TV ads start off with "Here's what (insert opponent's name) really stands for..." and then cue the scary music and the negative message. Same formula as these phone messages.

[SlowwHand]

I don't like anyone calling me on the phone. Most people don't like it. Why the "No Call List".
Television, you choose to turn it on and choose to watch or not, it's not home invasion.
Having said that, I just hang up.

[Admiral]

[QUOTE]

They interrupt the show you are watching. [QUOTE]

No they don't. They take the place of other ads.

[QUOTE]
You can do the same thing with phone calls.[QUOTE]

To a lesser extent, because you're already attuned to not paying attention to ads, but you aren't in the same frame of mind when you pick up the phone.

Phone calls "disappear" when you hang up.

Not if they call you back every time you hang up.

Neither did these phone calls. And plenty of TV ads start off with "Here's what (insert opponent's name) really stands for..." and then cue the scary music and the negative message. Same formula as these phone messages.

Look, I'm not arguing against an automated call saying, "John Hall is bad, don't vote for him, this was payed for and authorized by the NRCC." I'm saying, the calls were designed to have voters hang up. The name of the Democrat at the top, plus the calling back 15 times, and the timing, is clearly for a purpose. You're totally misreading what's going on here.

[Drake Tungsten]

Not if they call you back every time you hang up.

Don't answer the phone then. This is why they invented voice mail and caller ID.

Look, I'm not arguing against an automated call saying, "John Hall is bad, don't vote for him, this was payed for and authorized by the NRCC."

Yes, you are. That's exactly what these phone calls were.

[Adam Smith]

This past summer we had a tree removed from city property because it was uprooted and hanging over the house. The only way to request this service was by e-mailing the city's website. A couple weeks ago I started getting e-mail from our city's democratic mayor touting democratic candidates for senator, governor, representative, county executive, etc, etc, etc. I wonder how he got our e-mail address?

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Admiral
TV ads don't interrupt anything

[Admiral]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker

a political ad replaces a non political ad. it doesn't replace regular programming.

[Spiffor]

Having read this thread, I'm very happy not to live in your country. Your political campaigns (even without the obscenity in the OP) seem atrocious. You say you have to put up with all this **** and harassment every two years?

[DanS]

Your political campaigns (even without the obscenity in the OP) seem atrocious

Meh. Pretty tame fare.

[Ming]

I always love these "your party is worse than mine" outraged threads.

For the record...
BOTH PARTIES SUCK!
BOTH PARTIES CHEAT!
BOTH PARTIES HAVE MEDIA THAT SUPPORTS THEM!

Feel free to try to argue that the other party is worse, but frankly, they both are equally the pits. By claiming one party sucks and does nasty things while ignoring that your party also sucks and does nasty things is really silly.

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by DanS
Meh. Pretty tame fare.

You seem to be constantly pestered by advertisement in all forms. You seem to be exposed to blatant attempts at mind-manipulation all the time. No **** that everybody is happy when a campaign finally ends.

Over here, political campaigns are only intrusive in TV news, in a few highly-regulated ads (on public channels only), and when you get fliers on the street. You won't be subjected to evil music associated with teh evil opponent, and you won't get called while eating for advertising reasons.

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by Spiffor
Having read this thread, I'm very happy not to live in your country. Your political campaigns (even without the obscenity in the OP) seem atrocious. You say you have to put up with all this **** and harassment every two years?

Except in California, where the Governor spent $80 million to have an additional election.

[Flip McWho]

Yeah seems fairly atrocious. It's just polite to identify who you are and why you're calling before you launch into the meat.

Though if I was living in America i'd have my phone number anonymous.

[Drake Tungsten]

Maybe if France had less restrictions on political speech, morons like Le Pen wouldn't have so much support...