...I'll call you… Let this be your warning, I am breaking my no political blog entries vow with the following statements

I am on the Do Not Call list – that protects me from telemarketers who are trying to sell me things. But why doesn't it protect me from the endless stream of volunteers and paid individuals who are calling me at election time to try and sell me on the latest proposition?

I think that it should. These are telemarketers too, they're just selling something different. They're selling me a line, and providing a hook, hoping to sink my vote in their direction. This past weekend there was one that called almost every hour. Since we have caller id, we don’t answer the calls that we don't recognize, and when one says "Out of Area" with no phone number, we are clearly not going to answer it. Every *hour*. They’d let the phone ring 3 times and then hang up before the machine could catch it. Very annoying. They're still calling. You'd think that they would have given up by now, and if it were a friend trying to get ahold of me, they know my cell number and that phone was silent all weekend.

Then there was the call two nights ago. A very frantic sounding mother crying about how she was trying to get to her child, her child needed her, and they wouldn't let her near her daughter. Apparently that's the new campaign to ensure that Proposition 73 passes. For those not in California, or with your head buried in the sand living in this state, Proposition 73 would require minors to notify parents prior to obtaining an abortion. It's getting a yes vote from me tentatively (I still need to finish the research), and I'll tell you why – it's not because of the phone calls.

First off, let me make it very clear – I am not about to start in on whether I am pro-abortion, anti-abortion, pro-choice or pro-life (and yes, they are *all* different viewpoints) because that's not the point of this. If my kids need any medical attention, or even an aspirin from a school nurse, they have to notify me. They have to have my permission/consent to operate on my child, except in a life-saving situation where I or DH cannot be located (or are at the hospital for similar reasons – unconscious, needing operations, etc). An abortion, whether it be surgical or chemically induced is, for all intents and purposes, a medical procedure. It involves painkillers, aftercare, counseling... there are potantial side effects – physical and emotional – for the patient. And since the patient may be young, and definitely under the age of being able to consent themselves, a parent *must* be involved. There. That's my stance, and you know how I'm probably going to vote. Again – don't mistake that for me being in approval of abortions, or not in approval – I'm for the parental notification of medical procedures being done on my child prior to them being done aspect of this.

Don't notify me of a medical procedure on my child, and I just may contact a lawyer. Definitely would contact legal counsel if something goes wrong afterwards.

Of course, there may be something hidden in the proposition that I don't know about yet, which is why I need to read it more carefully - on the surface though, it actually makes sense and for something that's appearing on a ballot, that's very unusual.

Now, that aside – stop calling me. I want the Do Not Call list to be active for campaign calls as well. I do my research on the propositions. I recycle all the campaign materials that I get in the mail without even looking at them half the time, with the exception of the voter guide and the sample ballot. I'll do my own research on the state of California website, and anywhere else that I can find an unbiased, unpaid for rundown of the propositions. Forget the pro and con websites and positions – because they're biased and paid for too.

DH asked something interesting the other day – he really wants to ask some of these folks that are calling, and they seem even more relentless this year as opposed to past years, which organization is paying them to do this. Granted, many are volunteers but many are not. I really want to ask these guys what's in it for them? What do they PERSONALLY have to stand to gain from a proposition passing or not passing? I know that that would be a fruitless question to ask, although I'd love to have someone say "for personal satisfaction" so that I can rip into them about not being for the greater good of the people of California. Heck, half of them probably don't live in California or have ever set foot in the state.

Maybe next year I really need to educate myself on the intricacies of a couple of hot button propositions and then debate a campaign caller to the death over it when they call and ask for my support. And honestly, when they hang up on me, I *could* call the organization that backs the proposition and ask why they have people who are rude hanging up on people who are asking legitimate questions. It might get them all to start using machines.

Honestly, I really should disconnect my land line, because they don't have my cell phone, and I have nothing to learn from these overzealous callers who are focused on only one side of the issue. But I'm digressing again – I don't see why campaign calls need to be excluded from the National (or State) Do Not Call registries. They're all marketing calls no matter which way you look at it. They're just marketing something different than a new mortgage, or a better credit card rate, or some sort of insurance and looking for your money. They're marketing a political position, and they're looking for your vote.

So, while I say Go Out And Vote because that's important, I also fully encourage you to not answer your phone and listen to these telemarketers of political statements...

...because no matter which way you look at it, it's still a few unsolicited minutes of your time away from your dinner table.