Nats resort to robo-calling

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, November 25th, 2011 - 25 comments
Categories: campaigning, election 2011, national - Tags:

We’ve been getting emails and comments from people getting robo-calls from John Key. These pre-recorded calls are notoriously bad campaign tools. Invite lots of backlash. Odd National is introducing them (they used them last election but only on election day as a get out the vote tool, not to campaign). Shows they know this election is tighter than it looks.

It’s easy to think that it’s all over with National on 49.5% in the latest poll (the Roy Morgan was conducted from Nov 22-24, the Herald digipoll from Nov 17-23) but you chuck those numbers into the elections.org.nz calculator and National is on a razor edge, with a 2 seat majority but the rest of Parliament opposing asset sales if ACT and Dunne lose, or on Dunne.

The Roy Morgan also shows the least people since the Feb 22nd earthquake think the country is going in the right direction.

The 3news poll last night shows 12% undecided and only 25% of them leaning National (10% leaning NZF). The undecideds can took National down to 47.3%.

The Nats are throwing the kitchen sink at this because they know that we if get ourselves and our friends and family out to vote against National and its asset sales programme, then if won’t happen.

And if we beat asset sales tomorrow, we beat it forever.

25 comments on “Nats resort to robo-calling ”

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  1. brett Dale 1
    25 November 2011 at 10:08 am

    Too bad the polls dont show the election is tighter. Its called “campaigning”

    If labour can send out repulsive pamphlets to young mothers and scream “dont sell assets” every two seconds, National can robo call.

    This has been the ugliest campaign that Labour has ever run, even worst than, when Marion Hobbs was controlling the party (and that is saying something)

    Obviously National has won, I just wonder how close it would of been if Labour had of actually ran a clean campaign.

    • ianmac 1.1
      25 November 2011 at 10:16 am

      Poor tired National have run out of support staff so rely on robo calling. Not a good sign.

      Nor is the fact that they could persuade Air NZ to divert the Nelson Auckland plane to call in at New Plymouth this morning around 8am, to pick up National Party staff. Arrogant? Desperate? Risky?

    • Eddie 1.2
      25 November 2011 at 10:22 am

      No-one’s saying National *can’t* robo-call, Zet’s just talking about what the tactic shows.

    • lprent 1.3
      25 November 2011 at 10:25 am

      ..when Marion Hobbs was controlling the party..

      Huh? Somehow I must have missed that despite my long long active association in the party. She wasn’t capable of the task and was never in contention.

      I think that your fantasies are showing through.

      This was one of the cleaner campaigns I have seen over the last 30 years apart from the habit John Key had of using spurious charges to get the police to attack critics (I’m up to 4 so far outside of the teabag saga – two of which have gag orders).

    • fender 1.4
      25 November 2011 at 4:05 pm

      brett Dale would have made those calls on behalf of monKey.
      The only poor tactics I saw were the constant lies from the National camp.

    • Mutante 1.5
      25 November 2011 at 4:20 pm

      Brett, there’s these things called facts. They’re really useful. You might like to acquaint yourself with them before going off half cocked. Then there might be a very small chance of you coming off as slightly less of a blatheringly misinformed boofhead with a shit blog.

    • QoT 1.6
      25 November 2011 at 10:21 pm

      “if Labour had of actually ran”

      I want to marry this shitty syntax, it’s beautiful.

  2. ghostwhowalksnz 2
    25 November 2011 at 10:58 am

    Best thing about ‘robo calling’ is that if they use an Australian provider, they dont have to count the expenditure in the expenses.

  3. Gary 3
    25 November 2011 at 11:08 am

    The best comment i saw in relation to this was, “Just had a phone call from a recording of John Key. I didn’t listen, in case it was private.”

  4. js 4
    25 November 2011 at 11:21 am

    People get grumpy about being interrupted by a spambot in the middle of cooking the dinner, watching TV etc. Very risky strategy.

  5. mike 5
    25 November 2011 at 12:28 pm

    I got the call last night. It really did sound like robo-Key – borderline unlistenable. And not just because of the message nor the messenger.

    • Jilly Bee 5.1
      25 November 2011 at 12:47 pm

      We got one too, at about 5.50pm, my husband answered the phone and I nearly fell off my chair when he yelled ‘F***K OFF’ – I wondered what had happened and who was on the other end of the phone. It all made sense when he stomped back into the lounge and said between gritted teeth ‘that was John Key’!!

  6. JB 6
    25 November 2011 at 12:54 pm

    I was angry to the point of tears when i got that call last night. It was gross invasion of my privacy. I listened to the end as I thought I might have had the chance to talk to someone.. but no! I would never, ever in a month of Sundays have voted National anyway (I grew up under a right wing government in the UK, so I know what it’s like John), but this kind of tactic is just rude.

    (I should now go and make that call to Telstra to apologise to the poor guy who bore my wrath last night as I reported an abusive phone call…)

  7. hellonearthis 7
    25 November 2011 at 1:16 pm

    If I check my phone tomorrow for missed calls and find a John Key robo message, will that be breaching the NZ election-airing rules?

  8. Rodel 8
    25 November 2011 at 3:46 pm

    Oh Joy! Got a Key robo call. Realised that he and Farrar (is that his name?) have the same speech impediment and sound somewhat retarded.
    There was a carpet cleaner who some years ago ran the same kind of robo-message call and while he annoyed so many people and made them furious he still made a lot of money.

    • Vicky32 8.1
      25 November 2011 at 10:40 pm

      I wonder why I haven’t got one? I am in the wrong area, probably.. low SES, state housing etc..

  9. Gruntie 9
    25 November 2011 at 4:47 pm

    my guess is that the robots will be calling the robots in Epsom giving them final instructions

  10. Glenn 10
    25 November 2011 at 7:23 pm

    Don Brash robocall on my phone 2 hours ago. It was like a scene out of night of the living dead. Hope he returns to his political grave tomorrow.
    I voted on Wednesday so the zombie is too late.

    • logie97 10.1
      25 November 2011 at 10:00 pm

      Had one from Brash on my answerphone this afternoon.
      This is unsolicited communication. Is there a law against it?
      Think it’s time to get rid of the landline. The more who
      go ex directory on mobiles, the more the pollsters will be in the shit.

      Had a thought.
      3 nights ago UMR called. The girl asked me my voting intention and her manner changed
      when I said I was a floating voter having voted for Key (I lied) last time but was appalled at his deceit over the last 3 years as the reason for my changed vote. She then confirmed my number details and asked if her supervisor could contact me.

      Now that maybe routine practice but who knows if they log such responders and pass the information on to creep organisations such as ACT or others.

      (incidentally, that’s the first time that I have had a phone voting-poll-survey in over 30 years of elections)

      • Deuto 10.1.1
        25 November 2011 at 10:36 pm

        Interesting!

        Have had a busy day but when flicking through the comments on (I think) a Herald opinion piece this morning, there was a comment to the effect that the commentor’s sister was registered with three of the main polling companies and had been contacted and interviewed by all of the three on every occasion they were running a poll. The commenter’s point was that he/she did not see how the landline polls were representative etc on the basis of his/her sister’s experience.

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