Slog
News & ArtsFriday, October 16, 2009
City McGinn Robo-Calls Mallahan’s Wife
Posted by Dominic Holden on Fri, Oct 16, 2009 at 4:33 PM
Mayoral candidate Mike McGinn dispatched automated phone calls across the city to knock challenger Joe Mallahan for opposing a gun ban on some city property. Slog tipper Dan writes, “I just got an interesting robo-call from the McGinn campaign telling me how there is a gun crime epidemic in Seattle and how Joe Mallahan is essentially a member of the NRA that wants people to be able to carry guns in places where children meet."
Who else got the call? Joe Mallahan's wife, according to campaign spokesman Charla Neuman. “Don’t call the candidate's wife,” she says. “Next time do better targeting, especially when you’re just going to lie.”
Neuman says the calls, which claim Mallahan wants to repeal Nickels’s ban on guns in public properties and sides with the NRA, were misleading. “Joe has never said any of those things and has never sided with the NRA,” she says. “He absolutely agrees with mayor Nickels’s efforts to make parks safer for families, kids, seniors to enjoy; he does have concerns about how much it will cost us fighting in the legal process and if that’s the most pragmatic way to make parks safer.”
McGinn issued a press release earlier today, titled, “Clear choice emerging on firearm safety and gun control,” but it says nothing about the robo-calls. The statement concluded, "'Pragmatic solution' seems to be Joe's code phrase for ignoring public opinion.”
Neuman responds, “What his robo-calls say are dramatically different than what he says in the news release. He is lying to voters and lying to reporters.”
Says Slog-tipper Dan, "I will still probably vote McGinn but I find it interesting his campaign is using Republican style robo-calls.”
1
"Pragmatic solution" always means not doing something under the guise of "there isn't enough money". If you oppose something, say it. Don't puss out.
3
na na na na... na na na naaaaa hey heyyyyy good bye
Another faux pas for McGinn
They are really starting to add up!
It's refreshing to hear that Mallahan is on the right side of the "No Guns in Parks" bullshit...
very nice
Another faux pas for McGinn
They are really starting to add up!
It's refreshing to hear that Mallahan is on the right side of the "No Guns in Parks" bullshit...
very nice
5
Roddy, of course you held a Mallahan fundraiser. You are married to one of his "advisers". Funny how it is okay when your candidates campaign, but you go all negative when the "other" candidate campaigns.
What will you and Roger do if Mallahan loses? Move to DC?
What will you and Roger do if Mallahan loses? Move to DC?
6
The McGinn campaign also resorted to Republican style flyers in the primary, when they sent out that gross distortion and out-right fabrication on the cost of the tunnel. It is the main reason I won't vote for him.
7
@5 You're right. McGinn said the tunnel would only cost $4 billion dollars. It's actually $4.2 billion dollars!
8
I got one of these calls today. It's not cool at all that they are spoofing caller ID to show up as "Unknown Name" and "111-111-1111" as the number. And the message was bullshit fear-mongering.
Mr. McGinn, I was leaning towards voting for you but the shine is fading off the apple with tactics like this.
Mr. McGinn, I was leaning towards voting for you but the shine is fading off the apple with tactics like this.
9
@5 Not married. Illegal in this state. My fiancé nor I have nothing to gain from either candidate except that we believe that our community will be better served by Mallahan. Your implication that there would be some sort of special benefit to me or my partner is as amusing as it is offensive.
I have no problem with robocalls. I was under the impression, however, that my cell phone number was unpublished, so I'm wondering not only why it was called, but how.
Lastly, we have no plans to move to DC, despite the friends and opportunities available there. Our stake in the Seattle community is too deep and broad.
I have no problem with robocalls. I was under the impression, however, that my cell phone number was unpublished, so I'm wondering not only why it was called, but how.
Lastly, we have no plans to move to DC, despite the friends and opportunities available there. Our stake in the Seattle community is too deep and broad.
10
@8 I got one of these calls as well, and it had the campaign phone number at the end of it. Not exactly an "unknown". I also got a mailer yesterday from the Mallahan campaign doing their own fear mongering about traffic and the viaduct complete with black and white photo and scare tactics calling McGinn a dictator. Grow up people, it's politics.
11
You know the funny part is most of the Mallahan posters are paid by him or married to people who are paid by him, but the reverse isn't true on the McGinn side.
12
in the end, the important thing is to not let Fear control your mind either way. well, except for 1033, that's a bucketful of fear.
14
@8 Sallyanne, I didn't listen until the very end of the message to hear any callback info. I was referring to the fact that the Caller ID had no relevant name/number, which I thought all telemarketers/pollsters/campaigns were required by FTC/FCC rules to provide.
Per the FCC website: "If you have caller ID, a telemarketer is required to transmit or display its phone number and, if available, its name or the name and phone number of the company for which it is selling products. The display must include a phone number that you can call during regular business hours to ask that the company no longer call you. This rule applies even if you have an Established Business Relationship with the company, and even if you have not registered your home phone number(s) on the national Do-Not-Call list. Before these rules took effect, the words “private,” “out of area,” or “unavailable” might have appeared on the Caller ID display. "
Per the FCC website: "If you have caller ID, a telemarketer is required to transmit or display its phone number and, if available, its name or the name and phone number of the company for which it is selling products. The display must include a phone number that you can call during regular business hours to ask that the company no longer call you. This rule applies even if you have an Established Business Relationship with the company, and even if you have not registered your home phone number(s) on the national Do-Not-Call list. Before these rules took effect, the words “private,” “out of area,” or “unavailable” might have appeared on the Caller ID display. "
16
@14
I don't think politics is considered "telemarketing".
Here's the message I got (seems pretty fair to me):
Seattle is in the middle of a gun crime epidemic, but Joe Mallahan is siding with the NRA and extreme 2nd amendment groups to repeal Seattle's gun ban in parks, that's right, parks. Joe Mallahan wants to make it legal to bring loaded firearms to playgrounds, pools and community centers. Please join me in voting Mike McGinn for Mayor to help make parks safer for everyone. My name is X and I'm a volunteer with the McGinn campaign which paid for this message. For more information please call me back at 206-501-4275.
I don't think politics is considered "telemarketing".
Here's the message I got (seems pretty fair to me):
Seattle is in the middle of a gun crime epidemic, but Joe Mallahan is siding with the NRA and extreme 2nd amendment groups to repeal Seattle's gun ban in parks, that's right, parks. Joe Mallahan wants to make it legal to bring loaded firearms to playgrounds, pools and community centers. Please join me in voting Mike McGinn for Mayor to help make parks safer for everyone. My name is X and I'm a volunteer with the McGinn campaign which paid for this message. For more information please call me back at 206-501-4275.
17
@16: That doesn't sound like lies, unless Mallahan thinks that saying we shouldn't ban them but should find another solution is not a ban.
In which case, he and Charla are stupid.
In which case, he and Charla are stupid.
18
#17
Robo hit calls from the sweet and affable Mc Ginn?
Ghost of Nickels in the air. Mallahan is going to win. Mc Ginn is smoking too much trash weed.
Robo hit calls from the sweet and affable Mc Ginn?
Ghost of Nickels in the air. Mallahan is going to win. Mc Ginn is smoking too much trash weed.
19
The gun park ban is an ill conceived liberal nanny appeaser, and a huge waste of city money defending something that the state constitution forbids. Now the dude is fear-mongering on it? You have officially lost me McGinn.
21
@14 - politicians exempted themselves from call-blocking and all that. Specifically. Read the law, it's pretty clear.
Personally, I wouldn't mind if we could block such calls.
Personally, I wouldn't mind if we could block such calls.
22
Here's how the Nickles/McGinn gun ban in parks will play out. Someone with a gun will approach an office or park employee and say he is carrying a legal gun with a state-issued weapons permit. They will then be arrested and charged. They will then present the defense that a city is not permitted to regulate guns, which it us not. The city will lose in court and be forced to pay reparations to the now wrongly imprisonned gun dude, and the whole process will cost millions.
A winning campaign issue for McGinn? Sure. But for a guy who supposedly is running on the platform or saving money, it's pretty silly. And for a lawyer, who supposedly knows the law, pretty damn cynical.
A winning campaign issue for McGinn? Sure. But for a guy who supposedly is running on the platform or saving money, it's pretty silly. And for a lawyer, who supposedly knows the law, pretty damn cynical.
26
McGinn is really desperate. I just got that robo call about stopping Mallahan from letting guns in parks... with kids!
Wow, that is really sad. I used to have a certain degree of respect for Mike, but now even that is gone.
Wow, that is really sad. I used to have a certain degree of respect for Mike, but now even that is gone.
27
The person in the recording identifies herself as "Renee, a volunteer for the McGinn campaign".
Renee Staton? I hope not, because if it is she is really in the shit.
Renee Staton? I hope not, because if it is she is really in the shit.
30
Too bad for Renee, she has ruined her credibility in the community. Frankly, I am surprised that she would be part of such an unethical scheme. My jaw dropped when I heard the message, it reminded me of the kind of campaigning Karl Rove specialized in.
32
Gee, Ralph, is your real name Pete, Vlad or Tayloe. My money is on Pete, but I'll let you correct me.
35
Will: You are the one that described your grand military strategy for winning the war for McGinn. Sounded pretty Karl Rove to me when you described it, or maybe Heinz Guiderian. However this McGinn robo-call was much more of a cultural revolution denunciation, totally bogus, intended to undermine credibility and not based on any facts. It shows how pathetically desperate the McGinn campaign is, and more significantly - how unethical it has become.
Mallahan has lots of faults, but he hasn’t engaged in negative campaigning, and for that he gets my vote.
Mallahan has lots of faults, but he hasn’t engaged in negative campaigning, and for that he gets my vote.
37
I can verify that there is a pro-Mallahan robo-call push-poll going on - I received it last night. Claimed it was being done by some neutral-sounding Seattle political polling org I'd never heard of - my take was it was a bogus name or a front for Mallahan. Poll lasted 5 minutes, I listened because I'm interested in these sorts of tactics. Question after question, seemed to me most framed Mallahan's position as sensible, McGinn's as wacky, then asking if I preferred Mallahan over McGinn at each one (or was still undecided).
38
Such hypocrites. Robocalls from Republicans: bad. But if it's your favorite candidate: "Hey, everyone does it."
I don't have a problem with them. But I have a real problem with hypocrites.
I don't have a problem with them. But I have a real problem with hypocrites.
39
I have to agree with @35 here, I smell some desperation. Last week McGinn held a press conference and accused Mallahan of politicizing the selection process (and jeopardizing public safety) by putting the SPD Chief search committee work on hold until after the election. I thought that claim was bogus but thought that it was politically effective because it put Mallahan on the defensive. Now we have the McGinn campaign suggesting, fallaciously, an association between Mallahan and the NRA.
A few days ago, the publicola poll had McGinn at 30.5%. Considering the margin of error of the poll, this shows that McGinn's support has not moved since the primary. That's worrying. His opposition to the tunnel was a primary campaign gambit and it got him through to the general. That successful gambit is now a significant liability to his campaign. He has been forced again and again to defend his position on it and to respond to the (perhaps equally fallacious) "obstructionist" tag that the Mallahan camp has pinned on him. He has also been tagged, wrongly, a one issue candidate. However, what is true is that this is pretty much a one issue race. McGinn has himself to blaim for that, but he wouldn't be in this position otherwise.
I think this robo-call shows us McGinn's endgame: negative and personal attacks like we have begun to see. Pragmatic and practical Mallahan will go on attacking McGinn's position on the viaduct/tunnel.
A few days ago, the publicola poll had McGinn at 30.5%. Considering the margin of error of the poll, this shows that McGinn's support has not moved since the primary. That's worrying. His opposition to the tunnel was a primary campaign gambit and it got him through to the general. That successful gambit is now a significant liability to his campaign. He has been forced again and again to defend his position on it and to respond to the (perhaps equally fallacious) "obstructionist" tag that the Mallahan camp has pinned on him. He has also been tagged, wrongly, a one issue candidate. However, what is true is that this is pretty much a one issue race. McGinn has himself to blaim for that, but he wouldn't be in this position otherwise.
I think this robo-call shows us McGinn's endgame: negative and personal attacks like we have begun to see. Pragmatic and practical Mallahan will go on attacking McGinn's position on the viaduct/tunnel.
42
Vlad, baby. You should have just used your real name. Now, I know you would spend your whole day on SLOG. Oh, wait. You do!
43
@ 30, re: Renee's credibility.
As someone who considers Renee a friend, I can't ignore when someone questions her credibility. Her support of a campaign should not negate all of the previous work she has done for her community. It's simply unfair and frankly hurtful.
I can say this from experience, unfortunately.
As someone who considers Renee a friend, I can't ignore when someone questions her credibility. Her support of a campaign should not negate all of the previous work she has done for her community. It's simply unfair and frankly hurtful.
I can say this from experience, unfortunately.
44
To clear the record, here is Joe's response to the October 16th robocalls:
"Seattle voters are wise enough to spot a candidate desperate enough to play politics with a core community value such as public safety. Make no mistake: I absolutely support the goals of the gun ban in city parks. I also support a statewide ban on assault weapons. I look forward to working with community organizations, law enforcement, and neighborhoods to find pragmatic ways to reduce gun violence and crime in our schools, homes, and public parks. I look forward to working with the City Council, and State Legislature to make sure our laws related to common sense public safety issues are enforceable."
"Seattle voters are wise enough to spot a candidate desperate enough to play politics with a core community value such as public safety. Make no mistake: I absolutely support the goals of the gun ban in city parks. I also support a statewide ban on assault weapons. I look forward to working with community organizations, law enforcement, and neighborhoods to find pragmatic ways to reduce gun violence and crime in our schools, homes, and public parks. I look forward to working with the City Council, and State Legislature to make sure our laws related to common sense public safety issues are enforceable."
45
I love that Mallahan admitted that he does not support the gun ban! Joe is such a one issue negative campaigner. And, his followers are such angry nut jobs. I have to laugh when I read all the Mallahan "drama". (Kind of like that balloon family...)
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