And the winner is … Rudy Giuliani

That suspected anti-Barack Obama "robocall" that my husband got at home Wednesday afternoon? Turns out that it’s connected to a series of anti-Obama calls using the voice offormer New York Mayor (and ex-presidential hopeful) Rudy Giuliani.

The New York Post reports that voters in other states are hearing Giuliani’s actual (recorded) voice when they get the call, which accuses Obama and Democrats of being "weak on crime" and "dangerous." Here is the text of Giuliani’s recorded message:

"Hi, this is Rudy Giuliani, and I’m calling for John McCain and the Republican National Committee because you need to know that Barack Obama opposes mandatory prison sentences for sex offenders, drug dealers and murderers.

"It’s true, I read Obama’s words myself. And recently, congressional liberals introduced a bill to eliminate mandatory prison sentences for violent criminals — trying to give liberal judges the power to decide whether criminals are sent to jail or set free. With priorities like these, we just can’t trust the inexperience and judgment of Barack Obama and his liberal allies. This call was paid for by the Republican National Committee and McCain-Palin 2008 at 866-558-5591."

The call that came to our house was apparently someone reading from a similar script — in spite of the fact that when my husband tried to interrupt her, she just kept going.

The "Obama is soft on crime" calls within Minnesota, in which an operator reads from the script, are coming from St. Paul-based FLS Connect, the political telemarketing firm run by Republican heavyweight Jeff Larson, according to Dan Ronayne, who spoke Thursday on Larson’s behalf.

However, FLS Connect has nothing to do with the Giuliani robocalls that are reaching voters in other parts of the country.

"I’ve been assured 1,000 percent that they aren’t doing robocalls (in Minnesota)," said Ronayne, managing director of communications for Howard Consulting Group, a public affairs group in Washington, D.C.

A new message posted on FLS Connect’s website Thursday says this:

"To date, FLS Connect has made no anti-Obama automated (robo) calls on behalf of Senator John McCain’s campaign. The only calls made to Minnesota households by FLS Connect for Senator John McCain’s campaign were made by live agents."

Somehow getting lost in all this is the plain fact that nobody seems to like robocalls — or campaign calls in general — except, perhaps, for political telemarketing companies like Larson’s, which has earned $8 million from the Republican National Committee in the 2007-08 election cycle alone.

A reader from Janesville, Wis., posted this on the New York Post website:

"First, it was the RNC with their robocalls of racial rhetoric. Second, (Sarah) Palin denounced the use of robocalls. Third, she makes her own robocalls to back up the RNC’s robocalls of racial rhetoric. Lastly, now Rudy Giuliani is making his crazy cheap robocall. Hey, McCain! Now it is your turn! How many other McCain-Palin campaign ‘messengers of misinformation’ are going to use this immoral procedure?"