Tuesday Night's Thinly Veiled Attempt at Trying to Get Me to Vote for Rick Perry

The phone rang Tuesday night at 9pm. And because the shortest person in the house was already asleep, even though I didn't recognize the number I didn't just let it ring like I normally do. I also didn't hang up like I should have. I also didn't just punch myself in the face like I should have, but I guess that feeling didn't actually come until I hung up.

So the lady says she's not selling anything, which isn't actually true because if you consider the fact that when you call people to try to get them to vote for one candidate over another you are kind of trying to sell your candidate, but if you use the definition where I get something physical and have to send them some money for it, then no, she wasn't selling anything. She just had this survey.

And because I'm a sucker, and because I've had jobs where I have to talk to people on the phone and because I know this lady probably gets $10 extra for a completed survey and I know someone who has actually held a similar job and she hated it because people hung up on her. I told her I'd do it. Which I regretted later, but whatever.

So she asks me if I will be voting in the Republican primary in March. And I think "Wait, I haven't even figured out which proposals and stuff I'm supposed to be voting for in November and you want me to think about March?" I'm all "Yeah, I don't know, because I don't know who all the candidates are yet, so I don't know who I'm supporting, but maybe." She asked me a bunch of questions about how voteriffic I am (I'm totally voteriffic, by the way.)

She then says "I'm going to read you a series of terrible things about Kay Bailey Hutchison and you tell me if it will make you less likely to vote for her. Other people are hearing similar questions about Rick Perry." [I may not be remembering exactly how she put it.] And then the questions began. And then she used the phrase "pro-abortion groups." And I should have clicked at that point that this was clearly a Rick Perry ad very thinly veiled as a survey.

And if it didn't click then, it should have clicked when she gave me the next line of questioning. "I'm going to read you a series of wonderful things about Rick Perry and you tell me if it would make you more likely to vote for him. Other people are hearing similar questions about Kay Bailey Hutchison."

I should have hung up. I should have at least asked her to take me off the list when we were done. I'm pretty sure there were none of those other mythical people who got to hear the good things about Kay Bailey Hutchison, or the bad things about Rick Perry.

I guess asking the government to add themselves and their marketing campaigns to the do not call list is kind of futile, isn't it?