From The Huffington Post:
That being said, the group will also send one million messages specifically to Hispanic Americans. These messages are going to be a bit broader-- more like 'faith and values' messages, rather than solely about abortion.
Polls predict that Hispanic voters will favor President Obama heavily in this election cycle. The standard take on Hispanic Americans is that they are more socially conservative as a group but have been turned off by the perceived intolerance of the Republican party. In this case, the robocalls might be an attempt to convince those voters to engage in single-issue voting: Whatever your reservations are about the Republican Party, it is wrong to vote for a pro-abortion/anti-values candidate.
I'm not sure that's going to work. The articles don't report whether the Hispanic recipients of the calls are a subgroup that have shown a prior willingness to vote Republican. That would make these calls a GOTV effort, too.
If not, then I don't understand the logic. If someone was inclined to be a single-issue voter on abortion or the conservative angle on 'values,' they would already be planning to vote Republican-- I can't see an automated call three days before the election changing that. We also don't know, from the articles, where the people being called live. If they don't live in battleground states, then these calls are a waste of money, regardless of intent.
Links:
Article in The Huffington Post (November 2, 2012): Anti-Abortion Group to Robocall 4 Million People this Weekend
Article in The Hill (November 2, 2012): Fred Thompson cuts robocall against Obama on abortion
The anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List announced Friday that it plans to make automated phone calls to 4 million socially conservative voters in 12 swing states this weekend to ask them to vote for Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney.At the end of an election, candidates move from trying to pick up new supporters-- most people have made up their minds-- to rallying current supporters to the polls. In campaigning, this is referred to as GOTV-- get out the vote. Elections can be won or lost on whether one's base turns out to vote, and that is particularly true in the 2012 presidential race.
That being said, the group will also send one million messages specifically to Hispanic Americans. These messages are going to be a bit broader-- more like 'faith and values' messages, rather than solely about abortion.
Polls predict that Hispanic voters will favor President Obama heavily in this election cycle. The standard take on Hispanic Americans is that they are more socially conservative as a group but have been turned off by the perceived intolerance of the Republican party. In this case, the robocalls might be an attempt to convince those voters to engage in single-issue voting: Whatever your reservations are about the Republican Party, it is wrong to vote for a pro-abortion/anti-values candidate.
I'm not sure that's going to work. The articles don't report whether the Hispanic recipients of the calls are a subgroup that have shown a prior willingness to vote Republican. That would make these calls a GOTV effort, too.
If not, then I don't understand the logic. If someone was inclined to be a single-issue voter on abortion or the conservative angle on 'values,' they would already be planning to vote Republican-- I can't see an automated call three days before the election changing that. We also don't know, from the articles, where the people being called live. If they don't live in battleground states, then these calls are a waste of money, regardless of intent.
Links:
Article in The Huffington Post (November 2, 2012): Anti-Abortion Group to Robocall 4 Million People this Weekend
Article in The Hill (November 2, 2012): Fred Thompson cuts robocall against Obama on abortion
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