Five times.
The DCCC has called my home five times in the past week. Four times I've gotten their phone messages asking for money. Fine, that's a quick delete. A little annoying perhaps, but nothing major.
Today, however, I was home, and the DCCC crossed the line. Not many things make me truly angry, but lying to my face (so to speak) is one of them. (Transcript below the break)
Me: Hello?
DCCC: Hi, this is (name withheld) calling on behalf of the [DCCC], and I'd like start by telling you that these calls are sometimes monitored for quality assurance. We have in our records that back in January you pledged to make a donation of $44, and to date we haven't received your donation...
(Huh? I never pledge money. When I donate money, I donate money. I don't promise to give money at some undetermined point in the future because, let's be honest, that's silly. Yes, it's only $44, but when you're a full-time student $44 is a lot of money. Besides, it's the principle of the thing.)
Me: Wait, what? I'm absolutely certain I didn't pledge any money to the DCCC because I never pledge money. If I'm going to make a donation then I make the donation on the spot. I don't give an IOU. So please don't tell me that I pledged money when I know I didn't.
(Now he's completely lost me. There's no chance I'm going to donate money to anyone who comes on the phone and tells me a bold-faced lie in order to try to extort money from me.)
DCCC: Well, sir, sometimes there are errors in the system, but we do have record of you pledging to us. Your pledge would be really helpful right now because we have three special elections coming up...
(Ah ha! The REAL reason for the phone call, to try to guilt me into donating money right now. If this is the purpose of the call, why not just start by saying so? "Hi, this is Bob with the DCCC and we appreciate your support of the Democratic Party. I'm calling today because, as you know, there are three special elections coming up and people don't get elected without gobs of cash..." Even that would work a lot better than trying to deceive me. No, it's time to end this charade.)
Me: No, you know what? No. You lied to me, and so you get nothing. Bye bye. (Click)
Rude? Certainly. No more rude, however, than lying to me and attempting to guilt-trip me into throwing money at you. Is this the standard operating procedure of the DCCC's fund-raising arm now? Has it been for a long period of time? Now, don't get me wrong. I'm certainly not going to switch party affiliations over this. I will, however, give a second and third thought before considering giving any money to the DCCC.
Why lie to me? That just makes me mad. That makes me not want to give any money ever. I can't be the only person that they use these tactics with, nor can I be the only person who responds to these thug tactics in this way, which means that the DCCC has to be alienating a lot of people who are otherwise strong supporters.
Come on, guys. I know you can do better. Save the thuggery for the other side.
EDIT: I should add that this call has happened repeatedly over the past few months. The DCCC calls me, tells me I've pledged money to them, claims a database error when I inform them that they are mistaken, and then attempts to get me to donate to them. At this point, I have to believe it's a deliberate tactic.