As a part-time political junkie, I enjoy election season. I like the debates. I like the yard signs. I like the little stickers that say "I voted." I can even put up with the over-the-top campaign ads on TV, which are designed to make you think that every candidate is a cross between Freddy Krueger, Tony Soprano and every other undesirable monster out to raise taxes, increase health care costs, rape your schools and pillage your local community's treasury.

That's all part of the deal. I can handle it.

What I don't like are the phone games.

A couple times a week someone calls -- usually at the worst possible time, such as when you're just out of the shower or sitting down to dinner -- and claims to be from some responsible citizen's group that "isn't seeking donations" but wants to ask a few questions. They ask you some benign about issues. They ask you which candidate you'd vote for. Then, they hit you with some propaganda.

The guy who called me yesterday was barely literate, stumbled through his script and seemed flabbergasted by some of my answers. The whole thing was a giant waste of time, but I went through with it just to see where it would go.

It got me wondering -- how much do candidates, lobbyists and interested parties spend on phone campaigns like this and how effective are they?

In this age where we have access to so much information from so many sources, doesn't it seem like they should just leave your phone alone? If you're not home, it doesn't matter. Someone will bomb your voice mail/answering machine with a taped message asking you to vote for this candidate or that candidate.

I guess it's something we'll just have to live with until the second week of November because, oddly enough, once somebody wins a race they never call to ask your opinion on any issue, particularly their own performance.

Now that's a call I wouldn't mind answering.

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