Vermonters First Robo-Calling in Support of Wilton (AUDIO)
First they were on your tee-vee. Then they were in your mailbox. Now, Vermonters First, the conservative super PAC, is in your voice-mail.
Oh the humanity! Will it ever stop?!
As we reported Thursday, Vermonters First sent out a mailer last week with an absentee ballot request form — and a letter asking voters to fill it out and vote for Republican state treasurer candidate Wendy Wilton. This afternoon, a colleague of ours who received that mailer received a robo-call with a reminder to fill out the form and — in case you forgot — vote for Wilton.
Here's a recording of the phone call (sorry for the hiccup at the start):
We've spent a little time on the phone with Vermonters First treasurer Tayt Brooks lately, so we recognize the caller's voice as his. But, to be clear, Brooks did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
As you can hear, Brooks describes Vermonters First in the message as, "a brand new organization dedicated to restoring balance to Vermont government."
"You may have received an absentee ballot mailer recently encouraging you to vote for Wendy Wilton, a candidate for state treasurer," Brooks says in the recording. "I encourage you to fill out the application as soon as you can and return it to your town clerk. Wendy Wilton will be a results-oriented treasurer, who will bring fiscal sanity back to Montpelier."
What does this mean?
It means that, in addition to committing to another $100,000 worth of television ads this and next week (in addition to its first $100,000 buy), Vermonters First is now spending freely on a coordinated direct-mail and robo-call campaign. Which means Lenore Broughton, the wealthy Burlingtonian who single-handedly financed the super PAC's first round of ads, may be all-in 'til November.
