Relentless fundraising spam

sendMoney

I’m so fed up with countless Dem fundraising emails asking for money to fund a non-existent impeachment fight – especially given that the U.S. House Judiciary Chairman, Bob Goodlatte, who heads the House Committee that would have to pass on any impeachment resolution, said there is none under consideration nor contemplated; in agreement, we have House Speaker John Boehner who heads the Republican Caucus saying the same thing.

Yet we folk who have been identified as partisans (or even possible contributors) are receiving gigabytes of sky-is-falling e-alerts that, we’re told, just have to be answered immediately to fund the defense of the impeachment that never was or will be, concluding with the imperative direction – you’d better “donate” and “now.”

I’m no less angry at the Rs for the BS law suit against the President they’re pushing that has no legal legs, prosecuted with faux outrage at the discretion they’ve so recently “discovered” the President has to execute the laws of the land. 

So why are they doing this? Same reason as the Dems. It allows the Republicans to gin up fundraising, and motivate their political base for the mid-term elections.

One long-time political reporter and commentator said this kind of fundraising is “one more symptom of [our government] ignoring everything that is actually important.”

Other present and former (Capitol) Hill rats (like yours truly) are familiar with the underhanded political technique of creating some political issue to earn points of courage before an untutored trusting public, while the unscrupulous raise campaign funds for just as long as the outcome of the chimerical issue they’re pushing continues to be uncertain.

A local republican friend of mine wrote “both parties need a swift kick [in a part of the anatomy that would hurt].”

One Democratic activist wrote, “I’m absolutely shocked to hear that candidates let their spam, er, strategic direct marketing consultants, use such words as ‘bad news,’ ‘urgent,’ ‘help hold back.’”

Some emails try to introduce guilt with words like – “final notice” – and listing your donating history – if it’s “0” – to whomever (or whatever entity) originated the obnoxious fundraising request.

One Republican activist who has donated in the past wrote, “I’ve received more than 600 e-mail fundraising requests in the past 70 days (I store them in a separate folder so I can keep count).  … As a result, I’ve stopped giving to political campaigns.”

My unscientific anecdotal and statistically insignificant bi-partisan sample agreed without dissent on one clear point – the only way to teach these menacing spam spawners is to click “unsubscribe, unsubscribe, unsubscribe, as many times as necessary.”

One Dem wrote, “I’m not sure how to differentiate between the R & Ds anymore.”

A loyal Republican explained, “The difference is, the Rs want your money so they can keep it.  The Ds want your money so they can give it to someone else.  Either way, they both want your money.”

“The best one [fund-raising appeal],” another wrote, “is the group that is trying to get true campaign financing reform.  Guess what?  They want MONEY!!!”

No question about it.  This is a disgraceful and desperate way to raise money, and our so-called leaders should cut it out now, right now, while there are months remaining in this election cycle.