Republicans Robocalling against Rep. Megan Smith (D- Rut-Wdsr 1)

by: odum

Sat Jun 27, 2009 at 11:06:20 AM EDT

Democratic Rep. Megan Smith, whose district spans Bridgewater, Chittenden, Killington, Mendon, is the subject of robocalls into her towns attacking her votes on taxes, the state budget, and lifting Pre-K caps (pesky kids).

Interestingly, the calls show up on caller ID as from a number in the Washington DC area: 202-747-7306. There is no answer when the number is called back. Not only has the phone number been associated on the web with calls against a Democratic-Party-associated judge in Pennsylvania, as well as in support of former Republican US Representative Melissa Hart, also from PA (h/t/ Barlow).

But sharp-eyed readers will recognize it as the phone number behind some of the anti-marriage equality robocalls in Vermont earlier this year.

So the question then is, why? The timing doesn't seem very useful. It is rather a long time between now and election day, and robocalls are getting to be a touchy subject among many in Vermont and are generally being approached with more care of late, rather than less.

The possibilities that jump to mind are that its a) message testing against a "live" target, or b) something funded by the local-level GOP. Robocalls are amazingly cheap, so it wouldn't take much fundraising to make it happen (and local organizations can be a little more impulsive than their larger-scale, professionally staffed counterparts). If so, given that these calls apparently represent a go-to firm for state Republicans, its likely being at least coordinated at the State Committee level through our pal Rob Roper.

The question is, then, are these calls happening in any other districts against any other incumbent Dems (or Progs, for that matter). Anybody hear anything? Better yet, anybody record anything?