the sound of silence.

wait. do you hear that? no? because that's the sound of post-election phone silence.

superette was the grand central station of politics-related calls this election season. the city of boston had two mayoral candidates, eight city councilor-at-large hopefuls, two south end district councilor wanna-bes, and a partridge and a pear tree. they all called the house repeatedly over the past month (which became a crescendo in the past week) to talk* to either ann or dabney. the superette household regularly received between six and ten calls per day, from either candidates themselves, pollsters, or lobbyists. bill clinton even called. add that to the regular on-going fundraising calls from their four alma maters, and that's a lot of solicitation.

election calls do serve a purpose. there's no doubt. they get candidates name recognition, garner funds, and (hopefully) increase voter turnout. as a former non-profit fundraiser, dabney understands this. there has to be a way to do it without the turn-off, ire-inducing factor. is that answer the internet, like howard dean's efforts in the last presidential race? no idea. personally, ann and dabney would much rather look at an email - or ten, or fifty - on their own time, when ready, than stop what they are doing (remember, they also work at home) to answer the phone ten times a day.

*and when they say talk, they mean those automated messages that give no opportunity to tell candidates that they: 1) aren't interested in voting for them, and such and such reason is why; 2) they already have their vote; or 3) to please stop peppering them with phone calls. messages went something like this:

"this is -insert white irish male candidate's name here-. i know you receive a lot of these calls, but i am hoping you will vote for me, -insert white irish male candidate's name here- on tuesday's election. i believe in making rents even higher, and further gentrifying this beloved city. i also firmly support the skyrocketing costs of the big dig. let's make this city the best it can be. so be sure to vote for me, -insert white irish male candidate's name here-, on tuesday. go pats! now get back to your dinner."