Robo-calls swamping Iowa, NH, yet no 'fatigue'

by Mark Silva

Imagine living in Iowa or New Hampshire: Nearly two-thirds of the likely voters in Iowa's Democratic Party presidential nominating caucuses say they have been called by a campaign rerpresentative -- and one third have received campaign visitors at their doors.

The contact sport hasn't been quite as intense on the Republican side, according to a survey that the Pew Research Center has conducted. The door-knocking traffic, in particular, has been much slower.

Yet, voters in the early primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire "are being inundated with mail, phone calls and other contacts,'' Pew reports. In particular, "overwhelming majorities of likely voters in both states have received pre-recorded calls, or 'robo calls,' about the campaign.''

And, amazingly, there are few signs of "campaign fatigue'' in these states which traditionally s erve as the opening gates of the presidential campaign.

Pew reports:

"Nearly two-thirds of likely voters in Iowa’s Democratic caucuses (65 percent say they have been called by a representative of one of the campaigns, and 33 percenthave been visited at home by someone talking about the campaign.

"By contrast, 46 percent of likely Republican caucus-goers have received a personal phone call about the campaign, and just 8 percent have been visited at home.

"Robo-calls are much more common than personal calls in the early states – 81 percent of likely caucus-goers in Iowa, and 68 percent of likely primary voters in New Hampshire, say they have received pre-recorded calls about the campaign, with Republicans about as likely as Democrats to be on the receiving end of these calls.

The survey run by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, in collaboration with the Associated Press, also fiound:

"Campaign activity is not as intense in South Carolina, which holds its primaries later than Iowa and New Hampshire, than it is in those states. Four-in-ten likely voters in South Carolina say they have gotten pre-recorded campaign calls, about half of the number of likely caucus-goers in Iowa who have received such calls.

"There are no signs of campaign fatigue in Iowa, despite the fierce primary contests in both parties; 71 percent of likely voters in the Iowa caucuses say they find the campaign interesting, compared with 57 percent of likely voters in New Hampshire, 48 percent in South Carolina, and 45 percent nationally.

"Voters across the country, as well as in the early primary states, are using the internet to engage in political activity. As many as 28 percent of voters across the country have watched campaign video clips online. Social network sites, such as Facebook or MySpace, are particularly popular with younger voters: 17% of likely voters under the age of 35 say they have visited a social network site to learn about the campaign or to sign up as a “friend.”

See the full report.