The politician always rings twice, at least for Larry Belyea.

Five times on Thursday was Belyea, who lives in Lewiston, bothered by pre-recorded and unrecorded – read “live” – calls from Republican presidential candidates, urging his support to be the next leader of the free world.

First rang Ron Paul, about 4 p.m.

Then two from Mitt Romney.

Then two from John McCain’s people, who last called at 7:20 p.m.. Belyea notes, with a touch of disgust in his voice, the Republican front-runner’s second call actually asked for somebody else…a wrong number re-dial.

Calls from political candidates during campaigns are an evergreen nuisance. Yet their bothering nature turns into absolute infuriation when it targets people like Belyea, who dutifully logged his home number into the federal “Do Not Call” registry to avoid such interruptions.

And when it targets people like Belyea, who works from 3 a.m. to 9 a.m. at a local supermarket. “I go to bed about 5 p.m,” he says. So these calls started coming right around his bedtime.

And when it targets people like Belyea, who checked “unenrolled” on his voter registration card at Lewiston City Hall only last week. He moved from Kittery to Lewiston about six months ago, which means his telephone number is pretty fresh as well.

Belyea has neither voted Republican, nor is he involved with anything that would identify him as so inclined.

He’s just a regular guy, who wants to be left alone from everybody – especially candidates.

“The phone company says I should disconnect my phone,” he says, tiredly. But his mother is elderly, he says, and his sister is going through some serious medical concerns. He’s a lifeline for his immediate family.

And their lifeline to him is his landline telephone.

He could have his number unlisted, but even that costs extra.

“Why should I have to pay for somebody not to call me?” asks Belyea, still sounding quite frustrated, even several hours after the calls.

But there’s nothing he – or anybody who wants the robocalls or script readers to go away – can legally do. In crafting the Do Not Call registry, political organizations were excluded because of First Amendment infringement.

In other words, candidates have the constitutionally protected right to bother people like Belyea during their slumber, even though they have no intention, interest or even ability to vote for them in the upcoming caucus.

What’s a guy to do? Luckily, Belyea isn’t alone.

A former aide to Sen. John Kerry, Shaun Dakin, has launched the National Political Do Not Call Registry, which is available at stoppoliticalcalls.org. Anyone can log their number, which is then entered into the registry’s database.

Here’s the catch: These numbers are sold to presidential campaigns, but not for calling,

They’re for, well, not calling.

Campaigns must promise to abide by the list. Break this trust, Dakin told The Republican newspaper of Springfield, Mass., and violators will be publicly identified – and therefore vilified – right before Election Day.

Research touted by stopoliticalcalls.org claims of the 150 million Americans on the Do Not Call registry, about 80 percent don’t know the law exempts political organizations, as well as charities, surveys and religious groups.

The Do Not Call list is a government moneymaker – some $17 million in fines have been levied on violators by the Federal Trade Commission since it was created in 2003.

The National Political Do Not Call Registry, although based on the honor system, seems no different.

Besides selling their own do not call list, for $1.24, users on stoppoliticalcalls.org can become “charter members” to register more than one number, or e-mail address, or mailing address. They can also identify which candidates they do want to hear from.

This sounds like slick political operation, cloaked in a public service, which makes changing the federal Do Not Call law a better idea. There’s no argument here that political speech is deserving, perhaps more than any other speech, of First Amendment protection.

But political interruptions? Not so sure about that.

Especially when they’re targeted broadly at everyday people like Belyea, who just wants a phone for his purposes, not anybody else’s.

“I can hang a sign on the door saying ‘No Solicitation,'” Belyea says. “That got rid of all the vacuum cleaner and encyclopedia salesmen.”

Not the same for our telephones, though.

Anthony Ronzio is the Editorial Page Editor for the Sun Journal. He can be reached at [email protected], or 1-800-782-0759, ext. 2285.