Things seem to be rather mental over there in the US of A. I just read this story in the Boston globe. Apparently the Republican NRCC has set up an automated phone system to call people and purport to be calling about a Democrat candidate. The recording doesn’t announce up front that it’s the NRCC making the call, so it would be easy to think that the call was on behalf of the Democrat. That would certainly annoy me, and would discourage me from voting for the candidate. Of course, that would be the objective of this sneaky tactic, no?
Of course, they proclaim that they aren’t doing anything illegal. This misses the point: is it ethical? I say no. When you’re representing a political party that holds ‘values’ and ‘morals’ as a core party platform, don’t you think you should at least attempt to hold yourself to a higher moral standard? I think this kind of behaviour is a big warning about the character of the people who want you to trust them to make your life better.
Just because something is legal doesn’t make it a good idea.