Action Alert

Demand Coverage of GOP 'Robocall' Deception

In closely contested districts across the country, voters report getting automated calls that begin, "Hi, I'm calling with information about [name of Democratic candidate]." If you listen to the rest of the message, you hear a litany of negative claims about the candidate. If you hang up--as do many voters, overwhelmed by so-called robocalls this election season--you're left with the impression that the Democrat has just called you. And unless you listen to the entire call, the machine calls you back again and again, giving you the impression that the Democrat is harassing you (Talking Points Memo, 11/6/06).

These ads are organized and paid for--as you find out at the very end of the ad, contrary to federal regulations (Associated Press, 11/1/06)--by the National Republican Congressional Committee, which coordinates the GOP's campaign to keep control of the House of Representatives. The NRCC's head of opposition research is Terry Nelson, who in 2002 was deputy chief of staff of the Republican National Committee; Nelson was the supervisor of Jim Tobin, the RNC's New England political director, who was convicted of illegally jamming Democratic phone banks in New Hampshire (AlterNet, 11/6/06).