Hi everyone
It's been a long time since I logged in. My last long ins were when I lived in Chicago, and around the time I was in Grant Park on Election Night watching Barack Obama's speech after winning the 2008 election. What a night. Anyway, a year later I moved to Miami. It's interesting living in a battleground state as I get to see all these crazy attack ads that were never on TV in Illinois. I also get a number of survey calls. I just got one 10 minutes ago - and I'm pissed. I'm posting partly to document what happened and partly to ask your advice.
Around 10:45 AM today I received a phone call on my home phone (no caller ID, I'll have to check my online account for the number later). A woman asked for me by name and I said that yes this was me. She said that this would be a short "one question" survey, her words. She then asked if the election were held today who would you vote for Mitt Romney or Barack Obama. I said Barack Obama. She then went on to ask how I felt about the state and direction of the country. Obviously we are now past one question but I just answered that I thought we need to improve unemployment but otherwise I agree with the President's approach to economic issues.
She then asked how I felt about foreign policy. Here is where it gets weird. I said I have several issues with our foreign policy but overall supportive. She said how did I feel about the administration's statements about the attack on the embassy in Libya and what we know now about intelligence regarding an attack ahead of time blah blah. I said in the grand scheme of things I didn't really think it mattered, what mattered is how we deal with it going forward. Her response "Four Americans died and it doesn't matter?". Now I'm pissed. I replied "That's not what I said, I said that I think all of this discussion of what was said or known is a bunch of bluster. We need to figure out how to support democracy and mitigate the anger we see towards us in largely Muslim countries, that's what's important." She then asked if I watched the news, and I said yes, a lot. Was I aware of that intelligence clearly shows that it was known that an attack was coming? I said that this was debatable. I think she heard the anger in my voice, and she ended the call.
Of importance - this call was billed as a "once question survey." The survey company's name was not given, though I've always found that to be the case. I should've asked but was kind of shocked by the while thing. Lastly, at no point was it stated that the call was supported/approved by such-and-such, whether it be Romney, some independent super-PAC or whatever. Therefore, barring some random phone call by a private citizen (which I guess is possible), I believe this call was illegal. I mean, the tone and questioning of the "surveyor" was clearly trying to get me to rethink my vote for Obama. I'm not really sure how to proceed. I guess I'll check my phone records and reverse search the number. But unless I get a hit, what else can I do? Is there anyone in Florida I should be contacting? This kind of thing cannot happen and I won't allow it to sway an election in a battleground state. One good thing about where I live - Debbie Wasserman-Schultz is my Rep. Maybe I'll call her office on Monday.