During this election season, I have been the lucky recipient of many "autocalls" - automated calls urging one to vote for a specific candidate, generally recorded by a heavy-hitting politico.
So far, I have had the pleasure of "speaking" to:
- Hillary
- Rudy
- Jeff Toback
- Jeff Katz
- George Pataki
Though it was nice to hear their "voices", especially during the dinner hour, I unfortunately had no time to listen to any of "them", as I was trying to feed a gaggle of OrthoKids. I have to assume that I was not the only one to hang up before listening to the full recording. Are these kinds of calls really effective? I can't imagine they are. The fact that some of the callers have celebrity status doesn't really change the fact that their message is recorded, and totally impersonal, and I can't see many people feeling otherwise. In addition, the only thing that generally keeps me from hanging up abruptly when real life telemarketers bother me during dinner, is my reluctance to be rude to a real live person. No such worries here, and I felt perfectly comfortable slamming the phone down. I know I didn't even stay on the phone long enough to find out which candidates these guys were endorsing.
So who do these calls target?
19 Comments:
People who are afriad to hang up the phone?
People who are afriad to hang up the phone?
But who's afraid to hang up the phone on a recording?
I recieved NO LESS than 12 calls from the Corzine campaign (I live in NJ). I hung up after 10 seconds everytime. Truely after the 3rd called I felt HARRASSED.
Listen John Corzine, I know you are a multi-millionare- you've got your posters everwhere, your face all over the TV, and now you and your supporters are ringing me up day and night. I get it. You want my vote. Now knock it off or I'll get a restraining order!
I get it. You want my vote. Now knock it off or I'll get a restraining order!
LOL. That's what I felt like.
My husband and I joke that Corzine is stalking me- but that's really how I feel.
Less is more!
Last night my wife recieved a phone call from Bill Clinton encouraging us to vote for Corzine.
I guess that will be one more reason that Forrester will get my vote.
Setting: Still wonderin's house; Mrs. SW is talking to a few people in the living room; phone rings
SFX: ring ring:
SW [into phone]: I'll get it. Hello?
Chuck Schumer [in phone receiver]: Hi, this is Chuck Schumer..."
SW: Oh, hi Chuck, how ya doing?
Chuck Schumer: "Make sure you vote for Tom Suoazzi...blah blah blah..."
SW [into phone over recording]: "Listen, Chuck, i'm here with a few guests right now, Could you call me a bit later?"
Chuck Schumer: "...lowered taxes, made your communities safer..."
SW [into receiver over recording]: "Great Chuck. Thanks."
[Hangs up]
Mrs. SW: "Who was that?"
SW: "Chuck Schumer."
Mrs. SW: "Again?"
SW: "Yeah, he keeps calling."
Guests: [eyes bugging out]
Mrs. SW: "This is getting annoying."
SW: "Anyway, what were we talking about?"
[fade]
People who didn't realize that an election was coming up.
I'm much more likely to listen when they call when I'm not home and a message is left on my answering machine. It seems fairly silly to call during common dinner times.
I have been the lucky recipient of many "autocalls" recorded by a heavy-hitting politico.
So far, I have had the pleasure of "speaking" to:
mao tse tung
Hitler
mussolini
franco
idi amin
ho chi min
Wow, Amshi. I guess they really pull out the big guns in your neighborhood.
At least you didn't get calls from Al Sharpton. I've had the "pleasure" of at least two of his calls this election season
You're right. I consider myself lucky. That would ruin my appetite for dinner.
My kids find it amusing when I say, "sorry, I don't talk to pre-recorded voices" to the phone before hanging up.
At least it is now over for a while. . .
May I suggest Caller ID?
Actually, I don't recall getting any calls. I guess they don't care about the KGH vote!
I had calls from Bill Clinton and Fernando Ferrer. I told the Ferrer recording that I was voting for him and slammed the phone down.
Getting off the train last, I bumped into our good friend Jeff Katz who was mustering last-minute votes. He looked a little thrown off when I said to him, "Hey, Jeff. Good speaking to you last night at dinner"..and I walked off.
I got so many calls for Corzine it influenced my vote - if he is going to be this intrusive into my personal life it bodes ill for the kind of government he is going to run. It wasn't the deciding factor, but it weighed into my eventual decision.
Kol Tuv
Larry
People pay up to 500$ for an autograph of a dead person or one that is at least 5000 miles away, so why wouldn't they feel special if a recorded message by Hillary speaks to them? It certainly isn't less ridiculous than paying for an autograph.
Nothing bugged me more than getting a phone call from Rudy urging me to vote for Bloomberg on election day at 6 pm!
I screamed into the phone- I voted for him! Everyone voted for him! Stop it already!
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