Washington, DC - Shaun Dakin, CEO The National Political Do Not Contact Registry - Sign up for free at StopPoliticalCalls.org
I've been wondering when a state law would actually change the behavior of candidates. Well, not really, because in this case the campaigns of Hillary and Obama simply did the usual campaign thing which is to act first and apologize later.
Why won't the candidates do the right thing and simply scrub their call lists against the federal do not call registry in EVERY state in the nation?
Oh, because they don't really care about the voter's privacy.
And, somehow, they think robo calls actually work. They do not.
This in from Oregon this morning: (UPDATE: OR AG warns campaigns. Click here for full story.)
It's against state law for a political campaign to make automated phone calls to households on the federal no-call list.
But somebody forgot to tell the candidates.
The campaigns for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama fessed up this week to making "robo" calls to blocked Oregon numbers.
Both campaigns say they have stopped. And, for the record, they're sorry.
"If someone who should not have been contacted received a call, then we deeply regret it and do apologize," says Nick Shapiro, spokesman for Obama's Oregon campaign.
"We will make every effort to ensure that it does not happen again."
The Oregon attorney general has received a handful of complaints about unsolicited automated calls made from the Clinton campaign, said Stephanie Soden, spokeswoman for the attorney general's office.
The Clinton campaign relies upon automated calls to tell people about events and to urge them to vote, says spokesman Isaac Baker.
After being told by the attorney general that some of those calls were "robo" no-nos, Baker says the campaign stopped them.
"We now essentially scrub that list against our call list," he says.
The new law, which took effect Jan. 1, prohibits anyone -- a candidate or business -- from bombarding voters on the federal no-call list with automated calls.
State law does allow candidates or campaign workers to make live, unsolicited calls, even to numbers on the no-call list.
There's also an exception allowing candidates or businesses to make automated calls to people with whom they've had previous relationships. For example, a credit-card company can call customers.
Violating Oregon's new automated call law brings a maximum penalty of $5,000 per incident. Yep, that means per call.
If you're a candidate in a competitive primary, there's also a big risk of angering voters who made it clear they don't want to hear from you.
Anne Stacey of Portland added her number to the federal no-call list more than a year ago. That's why she was surprised when she got a recorded call from Chelsea Clinton.
"It was in the evening, probably 7:30 to 8:30," Stacey says. "I was just really upset."
Consultants who make "robo" calls for a living say the law is confusing.
Amanda Dalton runs a Tigard-based call center that contracts with Republican candidates. She advises against automated calls but adds: "I think some of the consultants are choosing to ignore the law because it's so new and they've got to get the calls out."
Moses Ross operates a Portland call operation serving Democrats. He also advises clients to make sure blocked numbers aren't on their call lists.
There's an ambiguity in Oregon's law about whether the state can regulate political free speech, Ross says. Still, "I'd rather be safe than sorry."
Michelle Cole: 503-294-5143; michellecole@news.oregonian.com
