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'Robocall' Is On The Line

Over the past two weeks, National Journal's Technology Daily published a special series on the intersection of politics and technology. Some of those stories will be of interest to bloggers, so I will be republishing them here over the next few days. The latest story is below.

The Pros And Cons Of Political 'Robocalls' To Voters
by Andrew Noyes

A telephone call from sweet, Southern-twanged "Mary Ann" might have helped crush the bid by Republican Ralph Reed to become Georgia's lieutenant governor. The caller, who slammed Reed's past lobbying efforts, was affiliated with Campaign Money Watch, a well-known Washington-based nonprofit dedicated to improving campaign finance laws.

Mass-dialed, computerized calls like Mary Ann's have become common in American politics, and most use popular political figures or celebrities. Former President Clinton recorded one for Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., who lost his primary last week. Actors Billy Crystal and Sally Field recently lent their voices to a pre-school-focused ballot initiative in California.

The technique usually utilizes extensive call lists to reach would-be voters and is classified as political speech, dodging FTC-enforced "do not call" rules against telemarketing. Democratic political-messaging expert Marty Stone said his clients' participation and listening rates have actually increased since the national do-not-call registry was launched in 2003.

"Phone calls, either live or automated, should be used to have a conversation with voters," Stone said. "There are only a handful of mediums where you're having a conversation -- e-mail, phones and door-knocking." Others, like TV and radio advertising, are passive "push mediums," he said.

Even though pre-recorded "robocalls" often are a targeted transmission, they can be heard by millions of citizens with a button-click. The calls for the pre-school proposition, which Stone spearheaded, went to about 3 million Californians on a given day, he said.

Studies showing robocalls' effectiveness are hard to find. According to research from Yale University's Institution for Social and Policy Studies, "it seems to matter who calls whom and what they say." Young, informal callers work best, but the medium is less effective than door-to-door canvassers, research showed.

No campaign practice is perfect. A recording from then-Vice President Al Gore famously awoke West Virginians in the wee hours during his 2000 presidential bid. Earlier this summer, Virginia voters received an erroneous message from former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, stumping for Mark Ellmore, who wanted the GOP nomination to challenge Rep. James Moran, a Democrat.

The technology facilitating the calls is improving, Stone said. Interactive campaigns that require users to push a button to respond to pre-recorded questions can tell the sender "who listens and who doesn't." The tactic is least successful with young, white men and most successful with women, particularly senior citizens. Rural voters also respond more favorably to the calls than urban residents, Stone said.

Linda Cherry, who has worked with various GOP campaigns, said robocalls "serve limited purposes." The low cost lets the smallest campaigns reach voters, but the number of calls "has multiplied so many times over, the voter may be inoculated from paying much attention to the message."

Most of Stone's clients pay 6-10 cents per call, and Tony Feather, whose company FLS Connect serves Republican clients, quoted a comparable price. The calls averaged 15 cents six to eight years ago and 50 cents when the practice first emerged, he said.

Feather, who was political director for the campaign of now-President Bush in 2000, said robocalls are especially efficient when responding to opposition attacks. "If someone has put a very negative ad out or dropped a piece of mail, the turnaround time can be tough. But you can be on the phones tonight responding to it," he said.

Politicos are not the only ones making use of the phone lines. New Line Cinema commissioned Chicago-based Varitalk to create semi-personalized robocalls from actor Samuel L. Jackson urging listeners to see his film "Snakes on a Plane," which opens Friday.

Posted by Danny | 04:55 PM

Comments

I got a Samuel L. Jackson robocall this morning and I was blown away. Really great stuff.

The future of robocalling in politics, though, is likely to be dominated by distributed call centers using VOIP techonology like the one that PopVox did for Ned Lamont. Cheap, personal, and with great data tracking that can allow for real time sentiment tracking. Robocalling is for pikers and snakes. On a plane!

Aaron Meisner | 08.27.06 09:23 PM

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