Running A Respectful Campaign

Robocalls are cheaper and less labor-intensive than having volunteers man phonebanks. They are also more controllable in terms of message - what you want to communicate to the voter is communicated, every single time.

They're also extremely annoying, ask anyone who's been on the receiving end of them. And they are typically used to deliver the ugliest messages of a campaign.

So can you be at all surprised that this is what John McCain has been reduced to?

A harsh new robocall (above) — at least the third in a series — attacks Obama for having "worked closely with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers" whose group "killed Americans."

The script:

"Hello. I'm calling for John McCain and the RNC because you need to know that Barack Obama has worked closely with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, whose organization bombed the U.S. capitol, the Pentagon, a judge's home and killed Americans. And Democrats will enact an extreme leftist agenda if they take control of Washington. Barack Obama and his Democratic allies lack the judgment to lead our country. This call was paid for by McCain-Palin 2008 and the Republican National Committee at 202-863-8500."

They're not even trying to hide this. The McCain campaign and the RNC are explicitly paying for these, not some front group.

Another one claims that Obama denied babies medical care.

I'm calling on behalf of John McCain and the RNC because you need to know that Barack Obama and his Democrat allies in the Illinois Senate opposed a bill requiring doctors to care for babies born alive after surviving attempted abortions -- a position at odds even with John Kerry and Hillary Clinton. Barack Obama and his liberal Democrats are too extreme for America. Please vote -- vote for the candidates who share our values. This call was paid for by McCain-Palin 2008 and the Republican National Committee at 202 863 8500.

If Barack had only agreed to town hall meetings, this could have all been avoided!

I mean, this is the obvious manner for what's left of McCain's message. Angry candidate, angry robocalls. But I should note that in 2006, when the Republicans flooded Democratic voters with waves of spoof robocalls meant to seem like Democrats were sending them, one lawmaker stood up and demanded action. He introduced legislation called the Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2006 which would have prevented this type of nonsense.

His name was Barack Obama.