Robo calls: Should we close the loophole for candidates?
North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper wants "robo calls" by political candidates to abide by the same rules as other advertisers.
In other words, citizens on telemarketing no-call registries shouldn't have to put up with them.
Cooper also wants current candidates to voluntarily refrain from making automated campaign calls to no-call households.
Cooper on Wednesday told a U.S. Senate committee that politicians should follow the same regulations on robo calls to residents' homes as companies do.
Cooper suggested that there ought to be political do-not-call registries.
Cooper said: "Many consumers are sick of them."
We're torn on this issue.
We are as annoyed as anyone by both human and robotic telemarketing.
But campaigns are a part of the democratic process. Do we want to squelch the ability of candidates to reach prospective voters?
Remember, local candidates use these calls, too.
Comments (2)
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I regret adding my telephone number to that do-not-call list - I really enjoyed telemarketers calling 'cause that was my chance for a seriously obscene, nasty, profane, vulgar, and tasteless phone call without me having to dial the number. Sometimes, just to mix things up, I'd tell telemarketers how glad I was that they called and then I'd immediately start reading non-stop from the bible - I found that reading from the Old Testament caused quicker hang-ups than reading from the New Testament. Can anyone tell me how I can get my number off that do-not-call list?
Posted on February 28, 2008 9:36 PM
When I was campaigning, I did a lot of door-to-door. I walked past a lot of signs that said things like, "No Soliciting," and "No Trespassing, Residents and Guests Only." I ignored these signs because, in my mind, knocking on doors as part of the democratic process was something different. That's where I find the philosophical pivot point that makes me inclined to disagree with Cooper.
If political speech and campaigning are to be treated like any other form of "marketing," that would seem to open up the door to blocking door-to-door as "soliciting" and blocking campaign literature as "junk mail."
The annoyance of these calls does not make this an easy black and white issue, but the law should err on the side of free political speech. Communicating with the citizens about an election is a bedrock of democracy and should be elevated above commercial messages.
Posted on February 29, 2008 8:34 AM