GOP ad firm defends anti-Obama texts as protected speech

The Republican marketing firm that bombarded people's cellphones with unsolicited anti-Obama text messages is undeterred by criticism of the practice, claiming it is protected by its right to free speech.

Gabriel Joseph, president of Virginia-based ccAdvertising, believes the text messages are an effective campaign tactic and he is open to sending more of them before the election. "The fact that some people are bothered by this doesn't offend me at all," Joseph said. "It means what we're doing is working. It means it's effective." Joseph said he sent the messages on behalf of a client, but he declined to name the client or disclose how many messages he sent. Many people in the Washington, D.C., metro area received the messages, but Joseph wouldn't say whether he targeted a particular region.