At my house it began the Sunday afternoon before Thanksgiving. The telephone rang. We have caller ID and it read "Worcester, MA 1-774-696-3011." I didn't pick it up - I don't know anyone in Worcester, MA and don't do business with any firms with offices there. I began a Sunday afternoon nap and was awakened by a call from the same number. Out of curiosity, I picked it up and there was a recorded message. In my sleepy state I didn't catch the name, but it was a Republican leader in the Congress with a northern accent who wanted to let me know how important it was for me to vote for Suzie Terrell. My nap was ruined and I was slightly perturbed.
All was quiet until the afternoon before Thanksgiving. Again the phone rang with a call from Worcester, MA. This time the caller was the Chairman of the Republican National Committee. They called us twice that afternoon.
I am on a Louisiana "No-Call" list for telemarketers and was perturbed by my family and quiet time being disturbed by Republican telemarketing. So that night I got on the internet and filed a complaint with the Louisiana Attorney General's office. In a few business days, I got a reply. It said "Unfortunately" the state law does not cover political parties. The use of the word "Unfortunately" implied to me that the employee was getting other complaints and/or was also aggravated by phone calls at his or her home. I thanked the state employee for their quick response to my complaint and said I'd be in contact with my Represenative and Senator about amending the state law. Guess what's on my list of things to do in 2003?
The grand total of political phone calls my household received before the December 7 election was 10. This kind of campaigning had not been experienced in Louisiana before. My mother in Virginia told me that they had been getting those kinds of phone calls for several years. But it was our first time and was making quite a stir. Local news commentators talked about it. I heard one start his political story with "I had been out of town a couple of days. When I returned home, my wife said, 'The president called.' And I asked, 'The president of what?' 'The United States,' she answered."
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