It seems
that the medal for first robocall in Iowa following the 2008 general
election goes to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Huckabee’s recorded voice is used on the call, which is a phone
survey that, based on the questions asked, seeks to identify
politically active opponents of abortion and to request contributions.

Call recipients are asked if they have ever voted, if they agreed
with President-elect Barack Obama and if they ever contributed to a
political campaign or candidate. The call goes on to discuss the U.S.
Supreme Court ban on so-called partial birth abortion, then brings up
the Freedom of Choice Act,
legislation designed to codify reproductive rights. Huckabee’s voice
goes on to inform callers that if this proposed legislation passes that
there will be no limits on abortion.  Then Huckabee requests a donation.

Iowans who received the phone survey said the funds were to go to the National Right to Life Council.

The call reportedly appeared on recipients’ caller identification
screens as "Call Center, VA – (703) 263-1658." This same information
has been connected
to calls received by Georgia residents, which have been described as
push-polls against Jim Martin, the Democratic U.S. Senate candidate in
that state who will face Republican Saxby Chambliss in a Dec. 2 runoff.
In Georgia the calls were paid for by the Americans in Contact PAC, a
group which lists its mission as being identification of social and
fiscal conservatives throughout America and engaging them at the
grassroots level in the political process of elections and legislation
at all levels of government.

This particular PAC also conducted calls during the month of October that attacked Obama’s economy stance. According to a press release on the group’s Web site,
the PAC kicked off a "grassroots campaign in the state of California to
identify hundreds of thousands of supporters of traditional marriage
who will help protect Proposition Eight," the recently passed ballot
initiative that outlawed same-sex marriage in California.