Seriously, the GOP is nothing but the scum of the earth. When the Democrats take over Congress, their first order of business should be to severely PUNISH these guys.

This is crafy way to agitate republicans.

I think this is a very important story. I really really hope that the story is being reported on the air and not just on the web.

The harassing robocall strategy depends on tricking people into being irritated with the target of the dirty trick (in this case Democratic party candidates for the House and Senator Menendez).

Such a trick can be rendered worse than useless to the tricksters if the facts are made known to the public. This is a case in which ABC news can make a valuable contribution to keeping political campaigning from getting even worse than it is already.

Please please get the information out to the voters before it's too late.

Dear Bob

The garbled sentence was a direct quote. You can't blame Ellen Davis for the fact that Don McGahn can't manage a semi coherent argument.
To proof read a quote before posting an article is to make sure the quote is accurate. Journalists are not required to find a coherent argument made by a Republican (it can be very hard some times).

Nor do I blame Don McGahn for his nonsensical reply. The robocall harassment program is indefensible and a comparison of mass callings with a call from "DNC counsel Joe Sandler" (or was it the message on his answring machine?) is probably the best that can be managed as a defence of the indefensible.

Bob,

You seem to have a bit of a reading comprehension problem. The sentence you say makes no sense makes perfect sense. Here, let me break it down for you:

The letter writer is telling the letter recipient that he (the letter writer) has a recording of a "robo-call" from the DNC (a pre-recorded message by Joe Sandler)which has the same placement (at the end of the message) of the disclaimers ("paid for by the Democratic National comittee...") required by law.

Simple and to the point.

I have recieved "robo-calls" from both parties and the format is the same on both sides. So either BOTH parties are in violation or neither is. This much ado about NOTHING. I feel safe in saying that the DNC is worried because the momentum for the Republican candidates is growing and the poll numbers are showing the races to be tighter that the DNC would like.

Does the DNC call begin by suggesting that the call is about a Republican? I think not. Only a Republican national organization would stoop that low.

STOP ALL ROBOCALLING!!! Worse than email spam and less effective--although it probably is effective at getting people not to vote for you.

Um, sorry, no. The parties are in NO way engaged in the same behavior. The disclaimer is only part of the issue, the real issues are:

A: using their OPPONENTS NAME in the first five words, WITHOUT clarifying who is making or sponsoring the call BEFOREHAND, or, in the case of the ACTUAL IDENTITY-THEFT republican robo-calls, NEVER identifying the sponsor.

B: Putting people who immediately hang up on the robo-call onto an immediate call-back schedule, the schedule for THESE UNSIGNED ads including early am and late pm, WHEN NO POLITICIAN IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD BOTHER PEOPLE WITH A PROPERLY CITED ROBO-CALL.

That candidates and parties are making "valid" robo-calls at reasonable times but with questionable citations is NOT the issue, but it IS the only the answer republicans will give for this heinous dirty trick. A dirty trick answer for a dirty trick tactic.

So, indeed, that sentence makes perfect logical sense, Bob, but it is also misleading and untrue.

But please clarify, Nina, are you suggesting that you received a democratic robo-call which NAMED THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE IN THE INTRO? When you hung up the phone, did you receive the same call five more times? Of course not, because it is the NRCC who are admittedly doing this, the Dems are not.

No no Nina. The NRCC's Carl Forti is dissembling. Bob Bauer of the DCCC is complaining about NRCC calls which start off by announcing that the call is about "Name" (the Democratic Candidate), then proceeds with various slams and charges against "Name". Only at the end of the 6-7 minute tirade is there an NRCC disclaimer. These calls have been well-documented by many independent media sources, with multiple verified recordings.

Forti dissembles by claiming to have a recording of an automated call from DNC counsel Joe Sandler that follows the same disclaimer format of an NRCC robo-call. His model NRCC call is certainly not like the calls that Bob Bauer's complaint address. It's not even logical that there would be comparable slamming calls from Joe Sandler.

You have, as you say, received "robo-calls" from both parties with identical formats. But you haven't received the kinds of 'robo-calls" from the Republican side that Bob Bauer is complaining about--those are obviously and flagrantly out of compliance (not to mention kind of sad and pathetic attempt to win by deceit, not character).

Personal politics aside, cover this story. It is news and needs to be reported.

Nina, obviously you are a Republican.

This is hardly "much ado about NOTHING". Undecided voters are getting ANGRY at the democrat they THINK is calling them and then deciding not to vote because they don't listen to the end. Then they are called OVER and OVER and OVER again, if they hang up before the call completes.

The Democrats are NOT doing that. They have some electronic calls (though I think none should be able to do that) but they do NOT tie up the phone line of an innocent voter with recorded calls that do NOT release that persons phone when the person hangs up, and then call them back over and over again. That's what the RNCC is doing. This is illegal. It's a dirty trick, it's illegal and it's morally reprehensible. And it's HARASSMENT. People have DIED because of this tactic, because they can't get a call out to 911 because they are being continually called and the phone is not being released so that they can use their own phone. So before you say "Dems do it too" think a little bit!

These dirty tricks have to STOP.
The only reason the Republicans do these things is because they are desperate because they can't win the election HONESTLY.
Republicans have no morals or ethics, and continue to show it. But what do you expect of a party whose Vice President shoots someone in the FACE?

BTW, I want to thank the reporter for covering this story, but it needs more completion and explanation.

This discussion would benefit on a massive scale if we could hear the actual recordings in question, and judge for ourselves. Journalists, please provide us voters with with the information we need to make an informed decision.

The Democrats seem to break the law just about every few minutes, no one cares but if republican do, then shame on them. It makes no sense if there is not recording of phone numbers or message of who is paying for it they can’t blame the RNNC. It could be Independent group.

Another shameless torture tactic from the decide-to-cheat-through-deception Republicans.
This time it is American qualities of fairness, truth, and integrity being tortured while potential voters are getting harrassed by NRCC's deceptive home-invasive telemarketing.

Please love our country's honor enough to get this information about the robo-calls out to the public. Thank you.

In addition, multiple reports have come in from across the country that Democratic voters are receiving fraudulent calls regarding change their voting location.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/010870.php

After the election, some well-paid GOP stooge will go to jail (like in the NH phone-jamming case last cycle), but they will hold on to several seats by pure fraud.

Its time we made organized election fraud a severe criminal offense, with jail sentences measured in decades rather than months.

Desperation of lying liars and the lies they tell.

EVERYBODY VOTE THE DEMOCRATS IN ON TUESDAY.

LAST CALL!

OF course it does! Usually they say, this is so and so with an imprtant call about so and so. So and so's record is blah, blah, blah...it's time for a change, blah, blah, blah..vote for so and so on november 7th.

It's on BOTH sides.

No matter how immoral the GOP acts, there are always right wingers low enough to defend it. Isn't there anyone on the right moral enough to condemn the dishonest tactics of the Republican party? You never heard liberals defending Bill Clinton's affair even though they might support Bill Clinton himself. Yet the people on the right seem perfectly happen to defend the indefensible, for their own corrupt representives.

How about the calls that are being reported from Virginia, purporting to be from the state elections commission falsely telling people (Democrats) that they're not eligible to vote in the state and will be charged with a criminal offense if they appear at the polling place? Or the calls falsely telling people that their polling places have changed, when no such change has occurred? These are clear examples of vote suppression in violation of federal election law. Let's see some coverage of THIS issue.

How about some coverage of the real dirty tricks campaign that's underway on the part of the Republican party and its supporters?

If the Democrats did it they could get away with it because of the liberal media. Put since there is no name or Phone Number. How can it be the republicans it could be an independent group or the democrats lying to get more votes.