Political Automated Callers are Just as Bad as Telemarketers

I don't know what good it does me to be on the Do Not Call List. I still get annoying calls all the time by companies that are presumably exempt from the list. For example, I get calls from survey companies at least once a week, and every other week a get a call from someone promising to lower the interest rate on my credit cards. However, the caller can never verify which card that he's calling on; he just says that there is nothing wrong with my account and that I need to press 1 to learn about this oh-so-exciting offer. Yeah, I let that one go to voice mail a long time ago.

Today I got two calls from 1-800-611-0244. Each time I answered the call, no one bothered to answer me back, no matter how loudly I said, "Hello." Doing what anyone annoyed by a breather would do in the Internet-age, I Googled the number. Supposedly, it's a robo-caller for a Kentucky gubernatorial election. Uh, I live in Georgia. Why am I getting calls for a Kentucky election? Despite what some people may think, one Southern state is not like every other Southern state, and the last time I checked I can't vote in a Kentucky election.

I would assume that maybe the number is being recycled and now being used by one party or the other for Georgia's upcoming elections. In that case, why didn't the person or the automated voice say something? I said "hello" five times. Surely I was loud enough for them or the computer to hear me. Moreover, why couldn't the company or candidate identify themselves on Caller ID? In my opinion, it's just rude not to. A candidate is required by election laws to say that he supports this message when it's advertised on TV. Why isn't he required to do so on the phone? That way, we could choose whether to answer and to listen to the message, just like we can choose whether to vote.

There are only a few more weeks to go until the elections. Then maybe the only breathers that I will get are the ones who want to know if I can answer a few quick questions.