Dirty Republican Campaign Tactics
If your phone rang at dinnertime and a pre-recorded message said "Hi, I'm calling with information about (insert Democratic candidate here)", you might not be in the mood to listen right away.
So you hang up. And then the call comes again. And again. And again. In fact, you receive anything up to EIGHTEEN calls that night, each one beginning the same way.
And if you don't listen to them, you'd never know that those calls are not coming from the Democrats at all - they're coming from the Republican National Committee.
If you had waited long enough, you would have heard them finally admit to the 'robo-calls'. But in the meantime, thousands of people have been duped into believing that the Democrats have been calling night and day.
As a vote suppression tactic it is breathtaking in its audacity. It is also highly illegal. FCC rules dictate that the entity responsible for the content of the call must identify itself at the beginning; the Republicans only do so after a long pause following their initial message.
The Democrats finally sent out a Cease And Desist letter yesterday, the day before the election.
Too little, too late. What does the Republican Party care about a fine, if it can suppress turnout in Ohio? What does half a million here or there matter to the party that raises hundreds of millions for its candidates from lobbyists?
In any district in which this racketeering can be proved, the Republicans should forfeit their votes. It's the only way to put their lousy tricks to bed for good.
The C&D letter is published below.
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