Gwinnett Buzz

(Note: I am straying a little from my Gwinnett focus in order to post a general political rant.  While my comments below do not involve Gwinnett specifically, the same logic would apply to Gwinnett politicians should they engage in similar tactics.  Fortunately, given that District 4 is not up this cycle nor is commission chairman, I am not receiving any calls for Gwinnett county offices this time around.)

Let me say first, I hate robocalls.  They are annoying, obnoxious, and rude.  Are they illegal?  Unfortunately not, but that is hardly a shock. Congress wisely created the Do Not Call Registry to allow us to setup a blanket opt-out of telemarketing calls.  Conveniently, the politicians exempted themselves from the rule.  Big surprise.  Despite this loophole, you would hope that a conservative Republican, who is supposed to respect the individual, would honor the wishes of those who do not want unsolicited phone calls.  Yet, every two years, I get flooded with “political telemarketing” calls that show no regard for my wishes.

About a month ago, I got a robocall from Karen Handel for Governor.  I went to her website and sent an email to her campaign to request removal from her call list.  I also tweeted this situation to create some, albeit a tiny amount, negative publicity, publicity apparently being the only language many politicians speak.  This afternoon, my phone rings with an “Out of Area” caller.  Red flag.  I answer to be greeted by Karen Handel’s cheery voice.  Ms. Handel’s voice was greeted with the click of me hanging up both on her call and any chance of her receiving my vote in next month’s gubernatorial primary.

This is a real loss for Ms. Handel.  I am a reliable conservative vote, meaning I am about as close to 100% as you can be in voting for Republicans.  Three weeks from the primary election, I have no strong opinion for which candidate to vote for either Governor or 7th District Congressional representative.  I am truly one of those “Undecideds” you see at the bottom of most political polls.  According to a poll taken earlier this month, Handel has a very slight hold on second place which would get her into a runoff with current front-runner Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine.  Former Congressman Nathan Deal sits in third but appears to be gaining in recent months.  Ms. Handel really should not be alienating voters whose votes she obviously needs.  I have not received any annoying robocalls from Deal so at this point and, though I am not sure I want him as governor, I am inclined to vote for him to setup a runoff between himself and Oxendine.

As an individual we cannot do much about politicians who show so little regard for us.  Granted, I have become jaded enough to naturally assume that most politicians, no matter how much I may agree with them politically, are self-serving and insincere in their assertions of caring about the everyday voter.  However, when their actions reinforce this perception, we as voters should put our collective foot down and let them know there are consequences for doing so.  I may be a lone voice, but this voice is saying no to Karen Handel due to her disregard for my wishes.  Her robocalls have backfired and resulted in me voting against.  (Ok, the fact that Mike Beaudreau supports her is another strike in her column, but that is a different post for a different day!)

Tags: Do Not Call Registry, governor, John Oxendine, Karen Handel, Nathan Deal, politics, robocalls, telemarketing, United States Congress

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