Political Suppression

Shaun Dakin wants to give politicians a taste of their own medicine.

Dakin, a database marketer, was once a volunteer political telemarketer. In 2006 he got an earful of complaints about candidate calls, especially from people who had added their names to the National Do Not Call Registry. Now Dakin has set up his own list for those seeking to avoid political telemarketing.

When the federal registry was established, politicians claimed exemption, arguing that their pitches were not sales calls but free-speech efforts aimed at informing voters.

Perhaps. But sometimes the information given out is mighty dubious. For example, in 2000, calls made to South Carolina voters falsely insinuated that John McCain had fathered an illegitimate child.

And when even genuine informational calls are followed by direct mail campaign contribution solicitations, the combined effort smacks more of multichannel marketing than political discourse.

“If this thing takes off, there'll be a lot of very angry voters who may not vote for candidates who don't participate,” Dakin says of his registry. He hopes to sign up 1 million names by next March.

It's an ambitious goal. The registry (www.stoppoliticalcalls.org) launched in late September. As of early October, 460 names were listed.

But for some local and state campaigns a million names won't be necessary. Some 10,000 voters from a state senator's or city councilman's district could tip a close race.

“Right now there's no reason for a politician to pay attention,” Dakin admits. But political operatives have told him that once he hits certain sign-up thresholds, their candidates would be foolish not to participate.

“There's no way a politician would say ‘It's my First Amendment right to call you at dinner time,’” he says.

The registry's biggest flaw is that when a candidate agrees to use it, the entire list is sent to the campaign for deduping. An unscrupulous operative — and there are a few in the political arena — could target individuals on the list using the name of a campaign opponent.

Unfortunately, recourse is limited. “It comes down to public shaming,” Dakin says. “My organization will go to the press and say, ‘This particular candidate is not playing by the rules.’”

That said, his list contains only names, phone numbers and (if enrollees choose to include them) physical addresses. No Social Security numbers, no mothers' maiden names.

Dakin's registry is an initial response to the arrogance of politicians who pass restrictive marketing laws they don't intend to follow themselves.

Is it perfect? Probably not. But it gets the debate started.

Power to him.

W

For more of Richard H. Levey's Loose Cannon columns, visit http://directmag.com/opinions-columnists/loosecannon/index.html.