The RNC's firing of its entire telemarketing staff (an operation famous for giving luminaries like Ed Gillespie and Ari Fleischer their starts) aligns with a certain view of the immigration debate. But as someone who's a little bit familiar with the operation, I think the decision had little if anything to do with the current political climate.

The real culprit: technology.

It's no secret that phones are on the decline as a way to market to potential voters and buyers. Political entities are exempt from the do-not-call list, but people are becoming less responsive as cell phones (and now VoIP) change the landscape. For the same reason that random digit dial telephone polls will eventually go the way of the dodo bird, telemarketing will soon be a thing of the past in political fundraising.

This is a milestone in that it's one of the first times (the first time?) that a national Republican organization has recognized the new media landscape by scrapping an old technology, not just adding on a new media component.