What was he thinking?

KT Khan proudly announces autodialing program, catches blowback

We've all received these calls during the campaign seasons - the annoying autodial messages. Is there anything as irritating?

It was with some amazement that Elk Grove city council candidate KT Tran proudly announced the launch of his autodial election campaign on Elk Grove Online. In his announcement Tran said:

KT will postpone fundraising event until after Leary's event on September 11, 2008. KT for Elk Grove City Council purchases new multi-line autodialer system. KT promises no more than two dialed calls per home.

Audio message(s) with English and multi-language version read:

"In this election, vote for Greentech jobs and hosting a new hydrogen few cell auto plant. KT needs your help to bring Greentech to Elk Grove. Proudly bring back Made in America for Americans, Elk Grove, California."

Predictably, EGO members howled in protest.

Realizing the misstep, Tran quickly reposted on EGO the following statement:

Our campaign will limit the use of autodialer to one or two calls until the election. Previous election results and surveys show voters are tolerant for autodialer if calling less than one time per month and the message is short. Our campaign does not exclusively use the autodialer, KT also is making personal calls to the constituency often spending an average of 20 minutes or more discussing issues.

Again, thank you for your comments and recommendations. If you do want to receive autodialer calls, please email kt@KTPlanforElkGrove.com and provide your voter information.

While we have not met Tran (we have made an e-mail request for interview) and don't doubt his sincerity in running for office, we can't help but wonder, what was he thinking?