Just when I think I’ve heard the limits of just how debased and how low the GOP will go in its desperate effort to cling to power (race-baiting, a stripper asking a candidate to call her), I hear something new. Over the weekend, news reports surfaced over how the GOP is resorting to “push polls” and other deceptive “crank” calls to get their message out or to anger voters against voting Democratic.
“Push polls” are calls that begin with what appears to be an honest solicitation to participate in a political poll, but then based on the answers given the questions become more and more leading and provocative in favor or against issues and candidates:
During the automated calls, which last about a minute, the moderator first asks whether the listener is a registered voter or which candidate he favors. Voters receive different sets of questions depending on how they answer. The system then asks a series of “yes†or “no†questions about different issues, and each answer guides the system forward.
For instance, in the Montana race, if a voter agrees that liberal-leaning judges seem to go too far, the moderator quickly jumps to another question that highlights the differences between Mr. Tester and the Republican incumbent, Senator Conrad Burns: “Does the fact that Jon Tester says he would have voted against common-sense, pro-life judges like Samuel Alito and John Roberts, and Conrad Burns supported them, make you less favorable toward Jon Tester?â€
In Tennessee, after listeners are asked if terrorists should have the same rights as Americans, this comparison between Representative Harold E. Ford Jr., the Democratic Senate candidate, and Bob Corker, the Republican, is given: “Fact: Harold Ford Jr. voted against the recommendations of the 9/11 commission and voted against renewing the Patriot Act, which treats terrorists as terrorists. Fact: Bob Corker supports renewal of the Patriot Act and how it would treat terrorists.â€
In some cases, Democrats say, the language is too provocative, and, in others, contrary facts are omitted. Mr. Ford and Mr. Tester, the Montana State Senate president, are both said in the calls to have voted repeatedly for tax increases, but no mention is made of the times they voted for tax cuts, their campaigns say.
Mr. Cardin, who supports stem cell research, said he was incensed that the issue was reduced to the notion that he voted to allow “research to be done on unborn babies,†while his opponent, Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele, “opposes any research that destroys human life.â€
I don’t object to GOP candidates putting their spin to characterize their opponents’ views–that’s fair politics. What is thoroughly objectionable is that the callers attempt to deceive voters into thinking they’re participating in an objective exercise and then get slammed with partisan propaganda.
Separately, people are reporting that the Republican Congressional Committee is flooding phone lines in certain key districts with calls that begin with something to effect of “Hi! This is an important message about (insert Democrat’s name)!” The calls happen many times a day, causing voters to seethe in anger. Since they typically hear only the first part of the message before slamming down the phone, the wrath is wrongly mis-directed at the Democratic candidate. Says a columnist in the Philly area regarding the race by Dem. Lois Murphy against GOP Rep. Jim Gerlach:
Most recipients slam down the phone before finding out otherwise – and then call to complain.
“We’ve got a ton of complaints, starting about two weeks ago,” [Murphy communications director] Bonitatibus said.
“Some of our biggest supporters have said, ‘If you call me again, I’m not voting for Lois.’
How can these GOP candidates look at themselves in the mirror in the morning and say they’re running a campaign premised on anything other than the raw hunger for power? The depravity seen on the part of the GOP this campaign season–a party that has brought America to a disastrous junction between the war in Iraq and the use of the Constitution as toilet paper–would make their founder Abraham Lincoln turn in his grave.
Just more day until Americans–who I’m optimistic are too smart in the aggregate to be fooled by these tactics–have a chance to give the GOP the shellacking they deserve.
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