The Albany Project and other blogs have been reporting the story of robocalls made during yesterday's Superbowl. The O'Connell campaign claims these are a form of dirty tricks. You can listen to audio of such a call here.

Here's why the story doesn't work: contrary to the calls made last year, the ones launched by the NRCC to hurt Democrats, this one is different. It's in fact wholly positive, as this transcript shows:

"Hello, I'm calling to talk about Maureen O'Connell. I'm sorry I'm unable to talk to you personally, but I wanted to remind you that there will be a special election to fill Michael Balboni's vacant seat here in Nassau County. Maureen O'Connell has worked for you as an Assemblyperson and County Clerk. She'll bring that experience to Albany. Please support tax relief, funding for schools, and changing how Albany does business. Please be sure to vote for Maureen O'Connell. Thank you very much."

It's hard to see the benefit to Craig Johnson of ordering such calls, considering that nationwide, under a third of viewers even watched the Superbowl. If the aim had been to annoy people, that goal would have fallen flat, theoretically, in two out of three households. If Craig's campaign had been behind this - and I'm assured they're not - O'Connell should send them a thank-you note.

That leads inescapably to the next conclusion of who is responsible. My guess? The same team that launched the Osama mailer, and that couldn't even get her résumé right, ordered these calls and blamed the other side when they started getting blowback.

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