Truly startling desperation

One day before an election, you get a phone call. It's a recorded message. It purports to be about a Democratic candidate. Then you get an attack ad. At the end, you're told the ad was sponsored by a Republican campaign.

You get this same phone call eight times that day.

Actually, though, if you're a GOP-leaning voter, you probably hang up in the first few seconds, the first time (not just every time thereafter) because you've already made up your mind. Damned Democrats won't leave you alone! It riles you. You're gonna vote against these turkeys, and especially so because of their harassing phone calls!

If you're a Dem-leaning voter--well, maybe your chance of getting this call is much lower. The GOP machine has the phone numbers of many GOP voters. They can figure out who you are just by what diet cola you drink and what car you drive.

It's happening. It's sneaky, desperate, and not too likely to work, I think. It might be illegal, but the fine in New Hampshire is only $5,000, not exactly a major deterrent when you think of the millions being sunk into campaigns.

As one pundit put it recently, the American electorate is waiting to vomit, but is still staring at the porcelain. Robocalls are just another finger down their throats.