It seems like this is the dirtiest election I can remember. What is going on!? Every single ad on the TV and Radio is a mudslinging fest. It’s driving me CRAZY!
The last few days the Democrats have been calling and calling, they even sent one of their thugs to my home. On Sunday, no less! Grrr! I guess they are trying to sweep the independent vote. This has never happened before. I mean, sometimes I get those pre-recorded messages, but I’ve never been harassed like this.
I was almost ready to vote for their senate candidate, but after all the harassment this weekend, they can forget it!
Is this happening to anyone else?
P.S. I do not intend for this to be a partisan political debate. I just want to know if anyone else is being harassed by whatever political party; be it Dem, Rep or otherwise. I respect your political views no matter what they are.
ummm… I appreciate that you don’t want this to be a partisan debate but calling the Dems thugs and saying that they are out for blood certainly did send me into protective mode…just saying… :shrug:
As it is, I do find the mudslinging irritating but honestly, the only way it will stop is when voters stop responding to it.
did you try calling the state party office to express your complaint? I would LIKE to believe that none of the state offices would actually want to be represented that way. The phone calls are one thing (annoying yes but the nature of the beast i am afraid) but sending someone out to intimidate people is something completely different.
One thing that I would like people to remember about third party votes…They usually help the person you would NOT have wanted to help.
People voting for Perot probably wouldn’t have voted for Clinton and people voting for Nader probably wouldn’t have voted for GWB…but effectively they did since they took away votes that PROBABLY would have gone for the other candidate if they had no third choice.
Sadly the three party system doesn’t work in this country right now…probably won’t until we get rid of the electoral college…but WOW will election night be long if that ever happens! :shock: Holy Mother of all recounts! they will will be recounting every precinct i think if that ever happens!
I vote for community leaders not career politicians. I’ve heard that song and dance a million times before. I still vote for the person I feel is most willing to actually represent the people of my community.
Once again I do not want this to be a political debate. I just want to know if this is an Arizona thing, or whether independents in other states are also being harassed.
Like I mentioned before, I’ve always received the pre-recorded messages in the past. But this is taking it to a whole new level that I have never experienced before.
I’m registered Dem (I wanted to vote in the primaries. Which is kinda stupid, because by the time NJ has its primaries, the presidential candidate has already been selected), so I don’t know if they’re doing the same in NJ.
In OH they have the mud slinging ads… I wish they (other than Pryce she does) would just state what they are for and what they will do and not bash the other… I thought thats what ads were suppose to be used for… so you figure out who stands where… alot of the ads here were banned to racey but mom gets news on the border of OH and WV and she has seen them… she says they are just awful and wishes their station would pull them too :shrug:
No one to my house but the phone calls are annoying… get a bunch every day and always a recording… they also show up private name and # so I think maybe so and so with unlisted #… I will be glad when I can watch tv without the ads and my phone goes back to ringing once or at most twice a day :roflhard:
eta: that Pryce does have some mudslinging ads as well but she is about the only I’ve seen state what she is for… all I’ve seen from the others is mud slinging…
I’m in Colorado: I don’t know if it’s because we’re on the no-call list or if we’re just lucky, but the only telephone calls I’ve received have been the reminders to vote. They’re actually fun, since I get to tell them I’ve already voted (we always do absentee/vote by mail.) We have satellite t.v. and no local stations are available (much too small of a market) so we get the east coast and the west coast feeds. Sheesh, the mudslinging is really terrible on the L.A. and New York stations. I’ll be glad when the election is over, the news is bad enough.
Are you sure it’s really the Dems making all those annoying calls? Read this excerpt from Salon.com:
[b]Maybe there’s somebody out there who actually enjoys hearing prerecorded phone calls from politicians and their supporters. We thought it was pretty cool the first time we picked up our phone and heard Bill Clinton on the other end of the line. Hundreds of calls later, we put down the receiver as soon as we hear that telltale moment of silence that comes just before a recorded message starts to play. We’ve never been persuaded by a single call, but we’ve been annoyed by many, many, many of them.
The GOP seems to understand what’s happened here. As Josh Marshall has been reporting at Talking Points Memo, the National Republican Campaign Committee appears to be using robo-calls to push voters away from Democrats in races all around the country. The tactic? Record a call that mentions the Democratic candidate right at the beginning, then load the negative stuff about the candidate into the end. If the recipient of the call listens to the full message, he or she hears a dose of negativity about the Democratic candidate. If the recipient hangs up before the message runs its course, the computer dials the same number repeatedly, leaving voters with the impression that the Democrats, not the Republicans, are the ones bombarding them with repeat calls.
Marshall has rounded up reports of such calls in congressional races in Illinois, Pennyslvania, New York and elsewhere. When Illinois’ Barrington Courier-Review asked an NRCC spokesman about the repeat calls, the spokesman said there must be a problem with the contractor the Republicans hired to do the calls or with the computer that is making them. In New Hampshire, a state law makes it illegal to place political robo-calls to state residents who have signed up for the national Do Not Call registry. The NRCC – taking the GOP’s usual federalism-is-great-except-when-it-isn’t stance – says it’s going to keep making robo-calls in the state regardless of what state law says. “We are a federal organization campaigning about a federal race,” an NRCC spokesman tells the Boston Globe. “We feel that New Hampshire law does not apply to what we are doing.”[/b]
Personally, I made my mind up a long time ago about how I am voting tomorrow and no calls or ads are going to change my mind. I just rely on my caller ID and don’t answer the phone if I don’t recognize the number
It’s bad here, real bad. I live in a gated community and some goon parked her car outside the gates and snuck in to harass people. I don’t know what party affiliation because I didn’t answer the door but she crammed a bunch of political propaganda in my doorjam and left. Thankfully, our phone is a business phone so we haven’t been bombarded with that but the amount of political junk mail I’ve received has filled up my recycle bin. It’s no wonder people aren’t getting out and voting, they’re all sick of the nastiness.
Yes, well, I guess I can’t be 100% sure. But, it shows up as AZ Democratic Party on my caller ID and the “thug” was wering Democratic party buttons and was holding a democratic party flag and announced themselves as a member of the Democratic party.
The phone calls in question are not pre-recorded. It’s an actual “person” on the line.
Well to be fair…Salon is a leeeeeeeeeeettle bit partisan in their reporting (and by a leeeeetle I mean a lot…lol)
I don’t get the phone calls except those looking for donations but i do get the mail. I am always amused by those that are obviously just doing blanket mailings. ya know…the ones who send me mailings about how horrible people of my political leanings are… I know they appreciate the scathing messages they get in return. :teehee:
yeah the mailings make me sad though… cause you know its just wasted… people prolly don’t even look at them just trash them… so it was a waste of paper that ended up in the garbage… unless you recycle and I doubt people do that like they should (at least around here you don’t see the yellow containers at every house on recycle day)… :verysad:
when ever someone comes to my grandfather’s door that has a different opinion than him… he says ok I’ll give you 5 mins with no interruptions… if in return you give me 5 mins of your time to hear me out… they usually say no…
Yes, well, I guess I can’t be 100% sure. But, it shows up as AZ Democratic Party on my caller ID and the “thug” was wering Democratic party buttons and was holding a democratic party flag and announced themselves as a member of the Democratic party.
The phone calls in question are not pre-recorded. It’s an actual “person” on the line.[/quote]
okay seriously with THAT much Dem paraphernalia I would almost have to believe that they were an impostor…As much as I am a big ol’ rah rah Dem even I wouldn’t have been that overboard showing my support… that’s hilarious…
On the one hand, I understand getting turned off by mudslinging. It doesn’t do much to inform people of the real issues (some of the connections I’ve seen drawn are ludicrous – even when they attack a candidate I hate!).
But: we live in a democracy. That means you get to participate. That means people will try to change your mind. Imagine a country where the powers that be did NOT need your vote, so never came begging. I have a hard time feeling sympathy for someone whose gated community was breached by someone who actually believed in something and wanted to persuade you of the same.
It’s annoying. But, as Winston Churchill pointed out, Democracy is the second worst system of government ever invented. All the others are the worst.
One way to control how much negative information you receive is to limit your TV watching and your commercial radio listening. Just this time of year – turn off the TV, and read a magazine or a newspaper or some form of information that can actually help you vote in a way that is intelligent, informed, and aligned with your interests and values. Or (to work in some knitting references) put on a CD you love and knit a while.
Then, after tomorrow, you can turn on the TV and answer your phone again.
