I've been getting at least three phone calls a day from them, begging me to vote for Texan democrats. My answer is always the same: "I will not vote for a party that is responsible for genocide against Palestine. I will not vote for a party that fully endorses Israeli crimes."

In previous years they would try arguing me if I said something like I don't vote for imperialists, or that democrats have horrible records on issues like homelessness or healthcare. They would talk with me and try to get at the crux of the issue, usually just resorting to telling me that Republicans are even worse, which is usually fair I guess, but at least they'd argue a little, you know?

This year it's nothing. I say that I'm with the people of Palestine and it's like I said the secret word. Immediately it's "Ok, thank you." and they hang up. What is up with this? Did they do some kind of internal polling to decide it's not even worth arguing about? If you're gonna call me at 10:14 am on a Saturday to be a lib at least let me dunk on you a little

phoenix-evidence

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[–] LaGG_3@hexbear.net 42 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I say that I'm with the people of Palestine and it's like I said the secret word. Immediately it's "Ok, thank you." and they hang up. What is up with this? Did they do some kind of internal polling to decide it's not even worth arguing about?

Yes, they're busy courting "good" Republicans and centrist liberals. They don't give a fuck about convincing you, but they'll definitely blame you if trump gets reelected

[–] Flocklesscrow@lemm.ee 20 points 1 week ago

Bingo

[–] edge@hexbear.net 39 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

Maybe try to bait them with a question. Act like you haven't made up your mind.

"What's their policy on Israel?"

[–] axont@hexbear.net 27 points 1 week ago

Ooh this is good, should try this one next time

[–] Lovely_sombrero@hexbear.net 13 points 1 week ago

I hear that politics is about compromise. In order for Kamala to get my vote, would she be willing to decrease the level of genocide by 50%?

[–] RiotDoll@hexbear.net 32 points 1 week ago (2 children)

opponents of israel are treated like enemies of the state

i'd say it's weird but it's not at all, it's been a thing that has been slowly ramping up for a very long time

the feds are getting really good at boiling the frog.

These psychopaths turn everything into metrics. The pro-palestinian calls are probably marked, they're probably associated with the name on the voter registry, and that probably goes somewhere nasty.

This is kinda paranoid but in general people should probably not offer their genuine opinions to officials of a major political party or any operative of the state or federal government, even if it gives you some wicked sick catharsis, because these losers absolutely keep score and I am pretty sure we're going into a phase of governance in this country where having plausible deniability for your 'disloyalty' is a good thing - and for whatever reason, support to israel is seen as a critical indicator.

[–] axont@hexbear.net 14 points 1 week ago

I'm probably on every list imaginable by this point lmao. I actually am surprised I've never had a visit from feeds over tweets or membership in all the orgs I'm in

[–] MayoPete@hexbear.net 14 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Democratic Party data is a huge mess and most of the data collected goes nowhere. On the other end the person interacting with you is marking you a 5 ("Strong Republican") or 6 ("Other") and taking you off their list.

Those records might be shared with other campaigns indirectly through the Democratic Data Exchange, but there's a lot of legal hurdles to transfer that data. So most organizations aren't doing it.

[–] BobDole@hexbear.net 7 points 1 week ago

Those records might be shared with other campaigns indirectly through the Democratic Data Exchange, but there's a lot of legal hurdles to transfer that data. So most organizations aren't doing it.

They’re probably trying to sell the data to each other

[–] Xiisadaddy@lemmygrad.ml 29 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I got a volunteer texting me today and as soon as i said genocide the texts stopped. It was like a switch got flipped.

[–] axont@hexbear.net 24 points 1 week ago

Yeah this has been my experience. The last call was this very chipper excitable lady that said like "Heya! Hope you're having a nice day. Sorry to bother you" type of thing. After I told her I won't vote for any party that facilitates genocide, it's like that switch got flipped. Instantly her voice got monotone and she became hesitant, then said "Thank you. Bye." without anything further.

They must have something in their script to instantly cut off contact once the topic of Palestine comes up.

Maybe it's because they have no answer, or maybe because they know they truly want to say Palestinians are simply the sacrifice necessary to prevent Trump from becoming president. Either way these people are ghouls.

[–] ihaveibs@hexbear.net 27 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It's probably happening so often they had to come up with a strategy so people wouldn't burn out

[–] AmericaDelendaEst@hexbear.net 21 points 1 week ago

Not working i got 4 ffucking texts today

[–] peeonyou@hexbear.net 19 points 1 week ago

I took a page from another Hexbear's page and have begun replying "death to israel" then "stop" to some of the spam texts.. i realize it's all bots but i hope it hits somebody's eyeballs somewhere at least once

[–] Evilphd666@hexbear.net 17 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Right. At least make it worth the time and sanity hit of answering their pathetic interruptions of our life. Just a little dopamine hit is all.

[–] axont@hexbear.net 6 points 1 week ago

All I ask is that if I'm forced to interact with ghouls I at least want them freakish enough for it to be a little funny

[–] BashfulBob@hexbear.net 12 points 1 week ago

This year it's nothing. I say that I'm with the people of Palestine and it's like I said the secret word. Immediately it's "Ok, thank you." and they hang up. What is up with this?

They're trying to hit a call-quota. The people on the other end of the line don't actually care if you vote or who you vote for. They just want to make their 1000th call and go home. You'll notice you still keep getting called so its not like anyone is registering what you're saying.

When I dabbled in electoralism I used to see this on the other end. There would just be a line of phone numbers getting dialed. 90% of them wouldn't pick up. Anyone who answered the phone promoted you with a "R / D / Undecided / Other" option menu. If someone on the other end of the line is saying "I won't vote for genocide!" what do I select? Undecided/Other. But that doesn't take you off the phone list, it just spits you into the "Try again later" queue.

The best way to get these calls to stop is to identify who is making them and say you're staunchly supporting the other one. That still doesn't work too well, because you're getting called independently from Presidential, Senatorial, and House phone bankers who don't bother to coordinate because that would mean functioning as a party rather than a random assortment of self-centered egomaniacs. But it does at least get the network you said "I'm voting for the other guy" on to flag you as "Opposition, do not call again".