I'm a registered voter in Iowa and get lots of political calls right now. Last night the faux-citizen's group with the pro-Huckabee message called me! Aw, I felt famous. After loudly and firmly informing them that I would not be voting in the Republican caucus, or for any of the Republican candidates they listed one by one, I was asked about my stance on abortion and gay rights. Then came the fun: I got asked a series of questions that amounted to (and I'm exaggerating here): If you found out that Mike Huckabee cured AIDS while managing to balance the budget as governor, would you be interested in learning more about him? If you knew Mike Huckabee was Superman, would you be interested in learning more about him?

Because the calls are voice activated, I had to yell quite loudly to get the answers to register. I got some funny looks from my husband.

OK, so enough of my funny(ish) story. I don't mind too much getting the political calls because I used to live in a state where my vote was a foregone conclusion, so I am a little flattered by the attention and by my first chance to have an impact on a national election. What bothers me about the calls is that they don't admit that they're sponsored by Huckabee's campaign - they're from "citizens for common sense" or something absurd like that. Which is just sleazy. At least when Hillary Clinton robo-calls me to ask if I'm caucusing for her, she robo-introduces herself.

They're actually not sponsored by Huckabee's campaign. They're sponsored by the folks at Trusthuckabee.com.

The trick is getting the politician to SERIOUSLY demand that the ads or phone calls on his behalf stop. Like, holding a press conference, naming the people behind the organization, threatening to return checks from donors who've given to both the campaign and the supporting organization (in this case, a big one). Huckabee and others make sort of a show of it, but they don't really push hard enough. They'll start doing that when voters make it hurt them. And that, in turn, will force the "independent" groups off the airwaves and phones.

Our membership is growing fast. Quotes like the following will get Pols to pay attention. All they care about is $ and votes. We can turn votes OFF for them if they don't stop calling and participate in the National Political Do Not Contact Registry.

Shaun Dakin

Here are some quotes from our members, just in the last three days:

“In exempting themselves from the National Do Not Call Registry rules, the politicians only reinforced the widely-held belief they are more interested in their own interests than constituents' privacy.”

“These calls only annoy me and make me want to avoid the political process. These calls are every bit as annoying as the ones I already block with the (federal) "do not call" list. The fact that (politicians) have exempted (themselves) is arrogant.”

“If I receive a call from you, I will vote against you!”

“I refuse to vote for anyone who calls my home asking me to vote for them.”

“When I am harassed by telephone, it makes me want to vote for your opponent, who at least had the courtesy to leave me alone.”

“The calls got so intrusive from one candidate during the last Presidential election that I actually felt compelled to volunteer to work for the other one. Your calls had the exact OPPOSITE effect you desired. Keep it up and I'll start contributing money too!”

“These intrusive calls tend to discourage me from listening to, never mind voting for, the candidate. Also, if they leave a message on my answering machine, it's deleted before the message is even heard, so they may as well re-direct their campaign funds.”

Are people voting in droves for a candidate when they get a phone call or against that candidate? I'm thinking it's still very effective advertising and that, unfortunately, you will not be able to stop it.