Election winner skipped Obama call

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich., Dec. 10 (UPI) -- A U.S. congressman-elect says he mistakenly screened out a call from U.S. President-elect Barack Obama that came in on his cellular phone.

U.S. Rep.-elect Gary Peters, a Democrat from Bloomfield Hills, Mich., told Wednesday's Detroit Free Press he's sorry now about his policy of sending calls bearing "restricted" identifications to voice mail. It turns out the one he got a few days after the Nov. 4 election was from Obama himself, calling to congratulate him on his victory over incumbent Republican Rep. Joe Knollenberg.

Peters decided not to interrupt the call he was on when the "restricted" call came in, rolling it over to voice mail, the newspaper said. But when he checked his messages later that evening, a distinctive voice said, "Gary, this is Barack Obama. I just wanted to congratulate you on your victory. You don't need to call me back."

Peters said he would have loved to return the call, yelling at his phone, "I want to call you back, what's your number? So the lesson is: Answer those restricted calls when you get them."