I don't know how these people got my name and phone number, but today I got a call from a group (didn't catch the name) associated with Dick Morris. I didn't know that at first. Initially what I got was a phone call from "out of area" according to my caller ID. The woman on the line asked for me by name, although she mispronounced it. She then said she wanted me to participate in a survey about candidates to send Obama back to Chicago in 2012, after I listened to a prerecorded message. I decided to play along to see where it was going.
The recorded message was from Dick Morris. The usual right-wing blather about Obama being a socialist, running up the deficit, passing disastrous health care legislation, etc. A new twist was the statement that Obama is trying to pretend that he's not a socialist by saying nice things about Reagan (or something like that), I guess just in case people are starting to see through the right-wing BS. Oh, and several mentions of the book Morris and his wife have written, including a promise of an autographed copy after I answer their survey. I'm sure that would have required a donation, but I didn't get that far.
The woman comes back on the line and asks if I heard the recorded message, then asks who I prefer from the usual lists of Republican candidates. I tell her, in a very friendly tone of voice, that I really couldn't care less. After a brief pause, she says that she understands, it's really too early, blah, blah, blah, but the important thing is to stop Obama. Before she gears up for the pitch for a donation -- I know it's coming -- I interrupt and say, in the same friendly tone, "what makes you think I'm interested in doing that?" A little longer pause this time, followed by something I couldn't understand. So I asked her why she called me. She says "I didn't call you." Huh? So I respond "My phone rang, I answered it, and it was you. Where did you get my name and number." A vague response about how I had supported conservative ideals in the past. I press for details and just got the same answer "you have supported conservative ideals in the past. Ok, now I'm bored, so I just say "I never have and I never will" and I hung up the phone.
I don't know that this accomplished anything other than to amuse me and waste her time, but did give me a little insight into how these people operate.