This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

If you live in the fourth district, chances are you might have picked up the phone to a robo-call from Mitt Romney endorsing Mia Love's bid to oust Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson.

It's significant because, aside from a shoutout Romney gave Love at his most recent Utah fundraiser, Romney's presence in the race has been limited to the roughly 3 million times Love has mentioned his name. Now she's got the candidate, mentioning his own name.

The call goes like this:

"Hello, this is Mitt Romney calling on behalf of Friends of Mia Love.

"I'm asking you to join me in supporting Mia Love in the upcoming congressional election. Mia is the only candidate in the race that will fight to rein in reckless spending and to lower taxes.

"I hope you will join me in supporting Mia in the upcoming election so that Utah's voice can help lead this country back to an economic recovery. Thanks for your time."

Now, I know the "Mitt Romney is a robot" joke has received more mileage than just about any of the hackneyed late night comedian retreads. But, if you haven't heard it already, give the call a listen. I think it's possible that Mitt has redefined "robotic" in robo-call.

— Robert Gehrke

Twitter: @RobertGehrke