• Campaigns in the past have used negative messages to elicit sympathy for candidates. For instance, Robert F. Kennedy was behind anti-Catholic phone calls and literature during his brother's presidential race.

Fifty years later, the religious intolerance believed to have been fostered by the telephone surveys provided Romney an opportunity to denounce it as "un-American" and an affront to religious freedom.

The Romney campaign, however, rejects any notion that it is "involved with efforts against our own candidate," according to a response to the story in National Review.

"Even cursory reviews of news reports would indicate that the research firm in question, Western Wats, is a prominent research collection company that was used by firms that are currently employed by rival campaigns," Romney's campaign said.

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Contributing: Associated Press
E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com