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Iowa Residents Are Downright Angry with Flood of Robo-Calls Flowing from GOP Presidential Campaigns

By Ed Silverstein
TMCnet Contributor

Mitt Romney may have narrowly won the Iowa caucus for the Republican race for president, but he and his fellow candidates sure have annoyed some local residents given all of the robo-calls they received in recent weeks.

KCCI TV in Des Moines reported that one resident, Sharon Anderson of Council Bluffs, received between six and 10 of the phone calls each day. What made it worse is that her family was trying to clean up their basement from flood-related damage over the summer, and the calls kept on coming. Anderson was so annoyed she decided not even to take part in Tuesday’s caucuses.

The prerecorded robo-calls – which ask for electoral support – would invade their privacy between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m., according to the news story. Many also got asked questions in a political survey.

Jeff Jorgensen, chair of the Pottawattamie County Republicans, told KCCI that “hundreds of people in Council Bluffs and across the county … are just as upset” as Anderson. “People do complain and I think something will be done when people reach the point that enough is enough," Jorgensen said.

There were many annoyed residents, who posted comments on the TV station’s website.

For example, Carol Baccus Hampton said that her household screens “all our calls now because of these desperate politicians… Last night we got a Romney call, which the machine picked up,” Hampton added before the caucus. “He sounded so droll, like an undertaker from the last century. I couldn't imagine wanting him to represent our country, and I sure wouldn't want to listen to his speeches!”

“I was a Romney supporter, but after getting five plus calls per day from his campaign, I no longer support either him or any of the other candidates using robo-calls,” added James W. Quinn in his posting. “How can they be so stupid?”

In addition, Michele Bazyn Armstrong said on the site that she has been getting 10-15 calls a day, “not only on my home phone but all also my cell. I only get them from certain politicians, Bachmann, Romney and Perry and I'm not even supporting any of those.”

And Paul Eilts said he called back a number and spoke to someone at Newt Gingrich's office. He asked to be taken off the calling list. “She said she would take me off right away and apologized,” Eilts said in his posting. “An hour later I get another call from Newt's office, an hour after that another call.”

Scott Hedrick concluded, “There has to be a way to stop this type of abuse of a technology?”

This is not the first time robo-calls have been in the news in recent weeks. Two New Hampshire Republicans alleged that Gingrich's presidential campaign made “illegal political telephone calls,” TMCnet reported from a story covered by The Associated Press (News - Alert). The AP explains a New Hampshire law prevents political campaigns from using robo–calls to call residents who signed up for the national do–not–call list, TMCnet adds.

And just wait. If residents were annoyed before, there was a bill before Congress in November that would let marketers send robo-calls, via automated dialers, to consumers' wireless mobile phones, according to TMCnet.