I don't HEART Huckabee

Okay, I'm all for political campaigning. I think it's important for the voice of the politician to be heard before it's mired in the smarminess of the corruption that's inherent in a power position on Capitol Hill (wow, that sounded almost eloquent!).

I can even deal with the new trend of automated endorsements being sent over the phone lines (Really, I hate that, but in the spirit of marketing, I'm trying to be understanding).

But I absolutely have a dinosaur sized bone to pick with Presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee.

Please STOP CALLING MY HOME!
I swear if he calls me one more time I WON'T vote for him just because of THAT!

Honestly, I've tried hard not to get too close to any of the candidates, their positions, or any of that hoodoo until October. I should vote in the Primaries, I know, but I figure more than half of them won't be in the final run-off anyway, so why get attached? Besides, their positions will appear to have waffled back and forth at least as many times as Hillary Clinton changes her hair.

So why am I so miffed - because someone from Mike's Campaign has called me no less than 3 time today.

Some Representative just called and as soon as he said "Let me tell you why I support Mike Hucka...."

I hung up the phone.

I honestly don't remember the guy's name, but after 2 previous calls this evening, I was not impressed - or amused.

What ever happened to the good old days when people would knock on doors, or at least all in person? Have we gotten so impersonal that a phone call from Dr. Phil will make me sit up and take notice?

I kid you not. Dr. Phil called me today too. Not to promote a candidate (although, I wouldn't be surprised), but to thank me for donating blood and to ask me to donate again.

Obviously he didn't get the voice mail from Red Cross that says I'm scheduled to donate double reds on the 28th. Perhaps he was screening his calls.

I wonder though, how effective this form of marketing is? I know that automated phone campaigns are efficient and generally cost-effective on a per-thousand basis. But do they REALLY think that I believe Dr. Phil would call to talk to me?

The silly thing is, I saw this done at the local level during our mayoral race last fall. Both candidates had local "celebrities" calling to endorse their campaign. The elections were nearly a dead heat. Frankly, I was shocked the defeated candidate didn't ask for a re-count when fewer than 100 votes were the deciding factor.

But then again, they didn't call me every day either - and they most CERTAINLY didn't call me THREE TIMES in one day.

And you know this is serious, because I just did a blog post today. So for me to do another one in the SAME day - whoo. That's saying something!

So now I'm going to enjoy some quality time with my sick kids and my nearly sick husband. Did I mention the eldest has a mid case of pink eye, too? Joy of Joys. But hopefully things around here will be a little more mellow tonight.

Are you listening Governor Huckabee?
You really don't want to test me on this.