The John McCain campaign and his allies in the Republican Party are stepping up attacks on Barack Obama through television ads, the mail and now on the phone through what are called Robo Calls. The calls are part of a $70 million Republican campaign to get undecided supporters to vote for them.
Receiving Robo Calls from the McCain campaign is a familiar scene in homes across America.
"Hello. I'm calling for John McCain and the RNC because you need to know that Barack Obama has worked closely with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, whose organisation bombed the US Capitol, the Pentagon, a judge's home and killed Americans," says an automated voice on the phone.
Voters in closely contested states are receiving hundreds of Robo Calls, questioning Obama's links to 1960s anti Vietnam War radical Bill Ayers, who is now a professor at a University and with whom Obama served on the board of a non-profit in 2002.
"The last few weeks in the election are always heated and there are outrageous charges being made. But the fact that Obama comes from an African father and was raised in a Muslim country makes it much more complicated. Also, after 9 -11 people are very fearful," said Blake Fleetwood, Blogger, Huffington Post.
For McCain, who is trailing Obama in fund raising, calls are a relatively inexpensive form of message delivery compared to television and radio advertising.
The Obama campaign says the use of Robo Calls proves their point that Senator McCain equals not just President Bush's policies but also his tactics. "The American people believe that John McCain is running an attack campaign. Two thirds of America believes he is only offering attacks not solutions," said David Plouffe, manager, Obama campaign 2008.
Ironically, in the 2000 election, John McCain was the victim of Robo Calls and his reputation was trashed by the George W Bush campaign. The reality is that smear campaign worked in 2000 but the question is will it work in 2008.