The American Spectator : Stalking the Talk

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Stalking the Talk

By Jay D. Homnick on 1.27.12 @ 6:07AM

An A list Florida Republican has had it up to here with those robotic calls from the Romney and Gingrich camps.

What do Rush Limbaugh and I have in common? Well, besides for similar political beliefs, mutual friends and determination not to put weight on in middle age. Survey says: we are both "A voters" in the rolls of registered Republicans in Florida, which means our phones are ringing off the hook all day. An "A voter" is an inside-baseball campaign term for people who have voted in 4 of the last 5 elections, including primaries.

Back in 1992, Rush got in trouble when it was revealed that he was not registered to vote. Since then he never misses a chance to cast a ballot. I had made similar mistakes, first scheduling an intercontinental trip that prevented me from voting for George H.W. Bush in 1988 and then moving from Ohio to Florida in late 2000 so that I wound up unable to cast a vote for George W. Bush in either state. Now I am a fanatic penitent who never misses a vote on any level of government.

The campaigns pay big money to get those A lists (although I'm neither sure why they are difficult to obtain nor who compiles them in such an inimitable way), complete with phone numbers, and then subject them to a bombardment of telephonic persuasion. Apparently Santorum and Paul have no money, or prefer to spend it in less intrusive ways, so all week long Rush and I -- if the A list includes his unlisted number -- are being stalked by robotic voices.

"Do you have doubts about Mitt Romney? So do I. Mitt was involved in creating a system in Massachusetts similar to Obamacare…" (sound of phone crashing)

"Newt Gingrich says he was close to Ronald Reagan? Reagan only mentions Newt once in his diary, saying Newt's approach would not work…" (sound of phone smashing).

"Mitt Romney says he is pro-life. When he was running for Governor of Massachusetts, he said he would honor the state's pro-choice laws…" (sound of teeth gnashing).

"Newt Gingrich has lied so much about Mitt Romney's record that our Senator, Marco Rubio, was forced to come out publicly and call him on it…" (sound of teeth clashing).

To make things even more confusing, the PAC backing Mitt is called Restoring Our Future and the PAC helping Newt is called Winning Our Future. Half of the messages come from these outfits, with the disclaimer that no candidate approved, and the other half come from the campaigns themselves, with the candidates signing off by announcing their approval of this message. On one episode of Jeopardy, the local ABC affiliate created a supreme version of equal time by running the Gingrich and Romney ads back-to-back.

All in all they sound equally daft, they all skate right on the outer edge of accuracy, and it does not take long for their messages to blur together, the approved with the unapproved, both earning our disapproval. To think that people work hard to produce millions of dollars and then turn them over to these politicians who turn them over to these ad agencies and media networks seems like the epitome of futility. I guess before the dogs race to chase the bone, they must first race to chase their tails.

The debate in Jacksonville on Thursday night told me more about this race in five minutes than five hours of this phone nonsense. People have complained about the surfeit of debates, but I welcome them ahead of nonsense ads. I'm for 'em; they are a wonderful forum. Both Gingrich and Romney acquitted themselves well, most notably when they stood up to a Palestinian-American Republican and told him fearlessly that the Palestinians are the problem, not the Israelis. Rick Santorum was passionate and articulate as well, and my voting decision will be based on the substance of their views.

So you folks can stop calling me because I have already decided to vote for… wait, why should I tell YOU?

About the Author

Jay D. Homnick, commentator and humorist, is a frequent contributor to The American Spectator. He also writes for Human Events. Here he performs his original composition, "Buy You (Bayou) a Drink".

Letter to the Editor View all comments (11) | Leave a comment

Skywalker L.| 1.27.12 @ 10:30AM

(riiiiing)

Hello, (insert voter). Ron Paul will save us. Have-a-nice-day.

R2D2

1blumutt| 1.28.12 @ 9:12PM

hello, Skywalker! The mideastern politically curosive factions understand only one thing, as history displays in spades, power! The Islamic radicals have one agenda; that killing the infidels will expedite the return of the real leader of the world. Is there any way you think you can get this across to Ron Paul? Please, put your pom poms down and read up on the subject.

Say Baptist| 1.27.12 @ 10:38AM

As a party regular,I can report that we lost a house seat partially because voters got sick of Robo calls. We locals told the candidate to stop them but she knew better. I know,personally people who voted for the Demcrat because they were fed up with Robo calls.

DaveD| 1.27.12 @ 11:56AM

Why, in heavens name, do you answer them? Do you not have caller Id? Do you lack a recent answering machine with call screening? Doesn't you4r answering machine have a delete button foe messages? Not every phone call is important enough to interrupt your life to answer the damn thing - let it ring.

Vern Crisler| 1.27.12 @ 12:10PM

Well Jay, refusing to tell us who you support guarantees the responses to your article will be less than five or six, if that much, rather than the 200 or so if you declare for Newt or Mitt, or the 5000 or so if you say something negative about Ron Paul.

Ron| 1.27.12 @ 12:50PM

Vern,

The beauty of our election process is that Jay does not and is not required to reveal who he votes (or plans to vote for) unless he elects to...That is how voting and decision making in elections can be made in a free, democratic republic.

Stop with your Ron Paul nonsense...You are starting to sound like a WWI generals at Flanders, or Chateau-Thierry...Another charge against the flashing guns, "once more over the top boys", or the Battle of Balaclava when the Light Brigade charged to slaughter...You just do not get it, even as you watch your man die helplessly, you just keep shouting the same insane orders.

Vern Crisler| 1.27.12 @ 1:29PM

Ron, what are you talking about?

Ron| 1.27.12 @ 7:30PM

Your comments about who Jay is backing...And the comments about Ron Paul.

JJ| 1.28.12 @ 2:54PM

If you don't know who is calling, don't answer it. Its that simple.

GOP Follies| 1.28.12 @ 4:51PM

What should iritate and trouble all of us here is that private entities can obtain (are they paying for them?) lists of who is registered to vote. And, according to Mr. Homnick, this information includes how often that individual has voted in the last 5 to half dozen election opportunities.

Folks, that is not what an America is supposed to be!

Frankly, this is all classified information. I'd even say Top Secret.

It is no one's business if you are registered to vote or not. No one should know this. If you are registered, no one (outside the county or city voting registration office) should know how often you have voted.

Why is this not pilloried as WRONG, WRONG, WRONG?

Where are our freedoms? Even you, Mr. Homnick? You have space here to devote a paragraph or two to explore the stupidity of your name, address, and phone number being sold -- as well as your frequency of voting. Maybe they also share whether you vote in person or absentee? Maybe they also share whether you vote on the day of the election or if you vote early? Maybe they share your age? Maybe they also openly share how many are registered at your same residence/address, genders of the voters, etc., etc.

Where does it end?

The better question: Why does it start? Voting information should be guarded as if it were the bullion in Fort Knox.

We are supposed to be a free society with tangible liberties -- and protections.

So know you know why, when launching your business startup and investing your first half million into the enterprise, the Democratic run county board of supervisors thwarts your fledgling, fragile new business at every turn. Why? Because we freely share that voting information. They'd be able to access the voter database and all its details to easily see that the new "entrepreneur in town" is a frequently voting, registered Republican.

Or? Tell me I'm wrong.

Diogenes| 1.29.12 @ 6:50AM

Remember telemarketing? A whole industry legislated out of existance. A petition to your Representatives might go a long way to making the home safe for Democracy.