Desperation
What we’re seeing is an apparent coordinated effort from the NRCC — the House GOP [campaign] committee — to place calls that appear to be from the local Democratic candidate and then automatically call the same number back as many as seven or eight times each time the caller hang-ups. If the caller listens to the whole message it goes on to bash the Democratic candidate. But if the caller hangs up prematurely, the computer calls right back. Hang-ups are the achilles heal [sic] of robo-calls. So this seems to be an attempt to cover for that weakness by making those who hang up think the Democratic candidate is basically harassing them with phone calls. The GOP wins either way.
Early voters in the heart of the heated race to succeed former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay were greeted Wednesday with red and white signs that read: "Want more illegals? Vote Democrat" and "Encourage Terrorists. Vote Democrat."
Desperation ain’t pretty.
On Tuesday, you can put a stake in the heart of the politics of fear and division. Get out and vote!
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Comments
Sandy Smith
November 6, 2006
9:11 am
The Iowa Electronic Markets have a clear lead for a Democratic House (Speaker Pelosi–now to take the Most Hated title from Hillary until this time next year) and a Republican Senate. This means my predictions are probably over-optimistic, but I’ll stick with them so I can seem like a genius if they work instead of a flip-flopper if they don’t.
http://iemweb.biz.uiowa.edu/graphs/graph_CONGRESS06.cfm
Jason Lefkowitz
November 6, 2006
9:43 am
I’ll go on the record as saying that a Democratic Senate has always struck me as a long shot. In any normal year, given the seats in play, it would be an impossibility. It’s only because the GOP is in such dire straits (and because the Dems have fielded unusually strong candidates this year) that states like Virginia, Missouri and Montana are actually in play.
Additionally, there’s the Connecticut factor. Holding 51 seats won’t be enough, since (I believe) if it came to that self-centered SOB Joe Lieberman would happily defect to the GOP, making it 50/50 and thus essentially Republican (since the VP breaks ties). So the Dems have to pick up enough seats to get to 52 or more to have a majority. That would require them essentially to run the table, which would be incredibly unlikely (Harold Ford in TN is almost certainly going to lose, for instance). So the electronic market is probably correct.
If independents turn out strong tomorrow, though, the normal rules might not apply… we’ll see.