BY DAVE PARRO
There's been plenty of post-election analysis and speculation about why Jim Oberweis lost the congressional seat that has only once before been held by a Democrat.
Was Oberweis too negative and divisive? Did Chris Lauzen doom the GOP when he refused to mend fences and urge his supporters to vote for his former opponent? Has the 14th District gone Democratic?
Many of our readers, however, have suggested something else also played a role. Some Republican voters are saying they simply stayed away from the polls because they were so annoyed by the barrage of political 'robocalls' they were receiving at home.
Of course, Bill Foster's campaign and the Democratic Party also made their fair share of calls to voters. I personally received at least half a dozen calls -- from both campaigns and both national parties -- on Saturday alone.
But there's a growing sentiment that Oberweis went too far and simply turned off potential supporters.
In a letter to the editor today, the CEO and founder of the National Political Do Not Contact Registry says his group received a lot of complaints from voters about Oberweis robocalls. Shaun Dakin thinks it might have played a role in the outcome of the special election.
It is not a surprise to us at the National Political Do Not Contact Registry that Mr. Oberweis lost Saturday night to Bill Foster. ... Did Mr. Oberweis lose because he used robocalls? We don't know that. What we do know is that tens of thousands of voters tell me each and every day that they consider robocalls an invasion of their privacy and that they will vote for the candidate who calls them the least or not at all. All politicians should pay attention to this result and start to dial down the use of robocalls.
Dakin said he testified in front of the U.S. Senate Committee on Rules and Administration on Feb. 27 about political robocalls, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, chairman of the committee, has introduced the Robocall Privacy Act to curtail the practice.
Feinstein wrote an op-ed piece about political robocalls, saying "we've got to stop the most abusive of these calls."
It's enough to turn even the most loyal voters against the political process. ... We need to strike a balance between political outreach and privacy rights of Americans.
She also explains what the proposed legislation would do: "Prohibit an organization from placing robocalls to any person between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m.; require an organization to disclose its identity at the beginning of each call and clearly state that the call is pre-recorded; ban groups from blocking their caller-identification numbers; prohibit organizations from calling the same number more than twice each day; and empower the Federal Election Commission to levy fines against violators."
The bill is co-sponsored by Sen. Dick Durbin, D.-Ill. Read more background here and here.
The National Political Do Not Contact Registry wants to offer voters a chance to put their phone numbers on a list similar to the Federal Do Not Call Registry, which does not apply to political calls. The Robocall Privacy Act of 2008, however, would only put guidelines in place and does not seek to ban the calls altogether because of free-speech rights. It also would only apply to federal candidates and would not limit the number of calls placed by live campaign volunteers.
It would stop the abuses, but that might not go far enough for some annoyed voters.
The Robocalls did have a very negative effect at least at this household. What an invasion of privacy-and lack of consideration.
Even called Oberweis Headquarters to ask that they stop. Was told they would, but never did.
The endless mailings didn't help either.
The big factor however is Oberweis-why should we send a now four time looser to Washington? He comes across as mean, arrogant, and not so honest.
Oberweis should withdraw, or drag down the whole Republican ticket-What was John McCain thinking when he came here to support such an unpopular guy??
I stayed away from the polls on Saturday as I was disgusted with the negative ads run by both candidates but more so by the ads of Oberweiss. I did not hear anything from the candidates as to what they were going to do to help me, my family and community. Rather I heard one nasty attack after another to the point where I would rush to turn off my radio or tv when they began as they literally made me sick. I feel Oberweiss has had his chance and has struck a very negative note with voters which will never be repaired.
My robocalls came from Foster as I am a democrat. One even from his daughter Cindy. They wasted their call on me because I voted the second day of early voting and it was not for Foster due to what I have found out. Why is it that everyone is picking on Oberweis and not foster? Could it be that they are afraid that Oberweis is right? Have not heard that Oberweis people were yelling and screaming at people the day of the election as they went door to door if they were asked to leave. Sure did about foster. Did not hear that Oberweis was caught electioneering on election day. Sure did about foster.
The Oberweis campaign phone calls to our home verged on harassment. We were getting an average of 8 calls a day. I probably would not have voted for him anyway, but the harassment definitely lost him our possible vote and also gave us a bit of joy that he was not elected. If someone needs to be that pushy and desparate for votes, they don't have any business being in an elected office
Dave, I received several calls myself. They didn't bother me as I'm a junkie and love this stuff...but I can see how they could annoy everyone else.
The linked articles are great background...but I wonder what the 'reality' is regarding this outreach approach. We know people say they hate negative ads, but they apparently work. Thus, could the same be true with robocalls? I don't know...
There certainly is an entire cottage industry out there dedicated to this technology...
http://politicalcalling.com/
http://www.call-center-tech.com/robo-call.htm
Here's one article that noted they aren't that effective as compared to other traditional techniques.
http://www.campaignsandelections.com/webedition/page.cfm?pageid=288&navid=52
Robo-calls: Several robo-call experiments produced no discernable impact on voter turnout, compared with the control group that received none of the calls.
Campaigns & Elections - Politics magazine has a story on robocalls this month, but behind a firewall. Perhaps you can get someone to forward it to you...the title is "Ask The Campaign Doc: Weighing a recall? It's no easy call."
Again the Beacon is showing what side of the bed they get up on. The robocalls were done on both sides. Although I am a registered Republican, I received quite a few of very nasty calls from the DNC for Foster.
This election was a sham. I can't believe the democrats who voted for Foster believe his national health care plan would be good for this country. We are putting people in office who don't have a clue as to what would be right and good for this country.
Case in point Cook county and it's band of buffoons what have now practically put many of the retailers in Cook County out of business with their 10.25% sales tax.
Hard to find any academic research on robocalls...but did find this in Get Out The Vote, a practical guide for anyone trying to mobilize voters or organize at the grassroots level - Brookings Press - Green/Gerber
A personal approach is mobilizing voters is generally more effective than an impersonal approach. This is, the more personal the interaction between campaign and potential voter, the more it raises the chances of voting. Door-to-door canvassing by friends and neighbors is the gold-standard mobilizations tactic...Automatically dialed, pre-recorded GOTV (Get Out The Vote) phone calls, by contrast, are utterly impersonal and, evidently, wholly ineffective at getting people to vote.
But the authors go on to note...
Here is the trade-off confronting those who manage campaigns: the more personal the interaction, the harder it is to reproduce on a large scale.
And further...
The DNC recommends, "If your GOTV resources allow you to do only one thing, do telephones"...the RNC concurs that "Election Day phoning can often mean the difference between victory and defeat."
I'd still like to know if there are any studies on the effectiveness of this practice. Maybe other blog readers can chime in...
What a waste of resources on this election on both sides! I was receiving one to two calls a day as well as flyers in the mail.
The last week before the election, I received 11 of them. What a waste of paper, trees and financial resources. I can only imagine
how these guys will spend my money in Washington. Gee, I can't wait. I called both their local and national offices and demanded that my name be removed from their mailing and lists.
With television, radio, newspapers and the internet we know where they stand on issues. Send me more in the fall and I'll vote for the one who sends or calls me the least information!!
I am a voter. I vote all the time. But this time I stayed home so very deliberately. I had had it! I supported Chris Lauzen. His responsiveness, dedication, common sense, engaging demeanor, intelligence and experience, along with his uncompromising integrity and unwillingness to sell out made him a perfect candidate. He is a man of honor and I am proud to know him.
When Chris lost, I decided I would still vote for Oberweis because of their similar stance on issues. But as the campaign continued in the past month or so, I had almost a hatred for Oberweis and his style of campaigning. Did I want Foster? No! But I wanted Oberweis even less. How he won over Lauzen, I'll never understand. I believe the public threw out their reasoning skills on that day!
On a lighter note--no one as wonderful as Chris Lauzen could lose for any other reason than there's something better in store for him. Maybe governor? God only knows we've had crooks in there for too long. Chris would restore honor and the position would again command respect. There's no one better for that position. Illinoisans should hand him that job on a platter. He's the best!
This household was sick of the calls from oberweis. I did vote him though, deciding to vote for the "lesser of two evils". I was against oberweis since learning how some employees possibly got ripped off in salary. Is that how he got some of his campaign money? I, too, called and asked that they stop calling the house, but noooo, they had to kill us with calls and flyers.
I did not get any calls from Oberweis but I'm a democrat. I did get a call from Barack supporting Foster as a robo call and also his daughter Cindy. The call from foster started Thursday and into Saturday until I voted. Alot of the calls where unknown callers and 00000000 but did not leave a message. It was very annoying. On Saturday I had a knock on the door but didn't answer and when I went and checked there was a door tag on for Foster. So both did the same hassment of robo calls. It was just too much. I did not vote for Foster. I think Chris Lauzen would have been better but did not have that choice. I read this on another blog about the Chicago Democats where out in full force and I think that was right because there where alot of people out there trying to get votes for foster.
Today in the Beacon editorial it talks about how the voters have given Oberweis a clear signal to get out. Less than 20% of the people showed up for a Saturday election and it was a clear signal. A clear signal when Foster received 52,010 votes to Jim Oberweis’s 46,988. I think the Beacon is alienating 46,988 people. 46,988 people voted for Jim.
As for Lauzen, I disagree that he has bigger things in store for him. I will never vote for that man again. He blew apart the republican party on this one and it won't be here for him when he runs again. Maybe he could run as a democrat.
GO JIM! I will vote for you in November. Keep your chin up.
PS I found the calls annoying too, sorry!
Being a disenchanted Republican, I voted for Foster. The deciding factor for me was the negative ad run by Oberweis on a snippet by Foster about the Air Traffic Controller solution. I wanted to vote for oberwies because of his immigration stand, but his negativity was the deciding factor.
I will remain a disenchanted republican until the party comes up with a platform and leaders that are more than the bible thumpers, that ignore civil liberties, that are Pork Barrel spenders and do not possess an extreme level of fiscal irresponsible stewardship of the government resources. Can anyone tell me the last time a republican administration, congress actually had a balanced budget? How many times did Bill Clinton do it? Nobody likes higher taxes, but more importantly, you can not spend more than you bring in.
Disenchanted republican in Kendall County
I'm very upset. I supported Sen. Chris Lausen. I can NOT think of a more Honorable Man than Chris to represent all of Us in the 14th District. Oberweis in My opinion spoiled the election,and left Us Voters with a lesser choice. I am a registered Republican, and I ALWAYS VOTE! It is Our Duty as an AMERICAN! So I DID NOT vote for Oberweis because of the SMEAR CAMPAIGN He did. We DO NOT need people like that representing Us,anytime, anywhere! I hope and pray that Rep.Bill Foster will do a great job.I feel some confidence, in that, He is a Scientist. We in this Country are facing very serious and complex issues. Maybe, a Scientist is a big plus for Us. Only God knows, maybe Sen. Chris Lausen would better serve Us in Illinois as our new Governor. That would make Me a very happy Voter.
I voted for Oberweis, and I will again because he is a good man and will represent the PEOPLE of the 14th Congressional District. He was the elected Republican candidate and NO WAY should he be replaced!!! As a Republican I appreciated the calls from Laura Bush, Denny Hastert and Oberweis, was thrilled that McCain took the time to come here and endorse Oberweis!!!! I felt there could have been a few less fliers,a bit gentler, and cover more about the needs of our District, perhaps it would have helped for Jim to be more visible with the "folks" . People have talked about the fliers from both candidates, but did you notice the vicious, lying and outdated TV attack ads by all the groups from outside of our District and outside of Illinois against Mr. Oberweis. The DNC spent over $1 million on the smear campaign, and huge amounts of money were received from individual Democrats in Congress since their goal was to win this district no matter the cost, i.e. Nancy Pelosi $7,000; Rahm Immanuel from Chicago, $5,000, Charlie Rangle,NYC, $14,000, others which totaled some $39,000. Foster refused to debate Mr. Oberweis a second time, and did not appear with all the candidates. The one opportunity I had to listen to Foster was not impressed at all, lost count on how many ummms he said. Anybody ask -- how is it that Foster came out of nowhere? Oberweis is slammed for running for various offices, why? Nothing wrong with that. Voters know Oberweis, Lauzen and Laesch. Most disgusting is that Lauzen refused to endorse Oberweis and is also responsible for the loss, as well as the people he told to vote for Democrat Foster, who did so and/or stayed home causing a further fracture rather than support the Republican Oberweis. I moved out of Cook County to get away from disgusting strong arm machine politics and am so very disappointed to see it's long arm reach out to the 14th Congressional District since I heard Foster was provided with Chicago staffers, and had Chicago people canvassing. Anybody notice electioneering, common in Chicago!! Is this what the voters of the 14th Congressional District want? Something else quite disturbing to me about this special election, the fact that it was Sat. and Foster is sworn in Tues. is very troubling, what about the absentee votes, military votes, canvas the votes, certification -- state law has been ignored for Bill Foster!!!!
Foster's people were electioneering well within the limits of a polling place on Saturday as well as illegally going into a retirement home to elctioneer as well...this is what we have representing us now!!
It wasnt just Robo calls!
On Saturday I recieved 7 live person calls from Jim's people and 3 of the Robo calls.
After the 4th call from Jims volunteers, I called them at 630.879.9100 (love caller ID) and asked if they would please stop calling me, that the non stop calling would lead me to vote aginst Jim!
The young lady I spoke with was very polite and assured me the calls would stop.
They did not. The last three calls I recieved I simply said "Moooooooo" until they hung up. It was frustrating. I did not revieve any calls from Fosters camp but he sure did flood my mail box leading up to the special election.
The recent special election results only served to highlight the dissatisfaction the Illinois Republicans had when Denny Hastert endorsed Jim Oberweis instead of Chris Lauzen. It was, in fact, a slap in the face to Mr. Hastert and not a reflection of the electability of Mr. Oberweis.
If Jim Oberweis is to win in the upcoming General Election he needs to spend more time and money educating his Republican base on who he is and what he stands for – instead of attacking the Democratic candidate (which only served to keep his name in the spotlight).
Throughout history, attack ads only have worked when your constituents actually know you, the candidate. I submit that Mr. Oberweis, who has never been in public office, isn’t known very well by a large number of Illinois Republicans. People in general, and Illinoisans in particular have a long track record of electing their neighbors – how about it Jim, are you up to the task ahead.
This is yet another reason why I'm glad I have just a cell phone and no landline... perhaps it's why we only received two robocalls at our house, both from Foster (we are registered Democrats). Had I gotten more, I would've complained on BOTH sides, seeing as calls like this would've chipped away at my minutes.
Unfortunately, it didn't stop the almost-daily junk mail on both sides... thankfully that can be recycled.
There is a political Do Not Call list, but unfortunately, politicians aren't forced to comply.
A couple of you mentioned robo calls from Foster's daughter "Cindy." Interesting since that's not his daughter's name.
Success has a 1,000 parents, failure has 1,000 reasons.
I always vote; however, because of the annoying phone calls (2 to 3 robo calls a day), relentless political mailings (2 to 3 a day-coming from both political parties), the constant TV commercials, and, to top it off, getting political messages at my email address, I decided the best way to cast my "vote" was to not support either candidate and not vote at all. Here's the best part. I even got a political ad in the mail today, March 12th (unsure if this was supposed to arrive before the March 8th election, or if this is the start of the campaigning of ads for November. (Just think, we get to endure this AGAIN, until November!)
I don't think either candidate is really out to win an election, I think they are in competition with each other to see who can out-spend the other with their ads and phone calls. I cannot recall any other campaigns in the past being as pushy as this was, it made me chalk the whole thing up to a joke.
If the two prospective candidates for November do not get the hint that they have irritated most people and continue their same campaigning tactics, be sure, I will vote in November for the presidential candidate, but I will not be voting for a congressman for the 14th district.
FYI-Having caller I. D. is great, when you get a robo call you can at least answer and hang up without having to listen to the whole political message that would end up on your answering machine.
I agree with you Diane. East Aurora Resident, I also know what you have stated it true. Wonder why the Beacon has not put anything in the paper about this issue? I am a democrat and Foster did not meet my requirements for someone to represent us. Certainly did not like the fact that he is a first time contributor to weisner's upcoming re-election campaign. Foster's voting record will be in the paper and I will be paying VERY close attention to it.