Ok, I have been thinking for some time that the way we do
politics in this country is all messed up, but the onslaught has gotten so
frenetic these days that it’s time to call a halt. Let me show you what we’re up against.
And it must be said that all I did to deserve this was to
donate a few bucks to Bernie Sanders last presidential election, and a little
bit here and there for the few local races in which I have a vote. I try to keep my nose out of other people’s
business, so I keep my political contributions confined to this state, and my
own district within it.
So here is just one day’s worth of emails alone sent to me
for political reasons:
It started this morning at 9:17, when Adam Smith chimed in
ask for a few bucks to help him run in the 9th district here in
Washington. I don’t have a problem with
that, I’ll probably donate at some point, he does represent me, and seems to be
doing a decent job.
Then Bernie Sanders himself chimed in, at 9:40 AM, with a
four page diatribe about what a pivotal moment in American History we are in
right now. He said all the right
things: Medicare for All, rebuilding the
middle class and economic, racial, political and environmental justice. At least he’s consistent. That’s why I like Bernie. He’s always in the thick of it and walks his
talk. I can’t donate any money to him
unless he runs for president again, so we’ll see what happens. In the meantime, you tell ‘em, Bernie!
Then at 10:43, Suzan DelBene sent me an email, or somebody
named Tracy on her behalf. She said a
lot of people will be looking at her numbers to judge how strong her campaign
is, so that’s why I should send her some money before the end of the 1st
quarter fundraising deadline. There’s a
theme in there to which I object, that you can keep score in a political race
by counting dollars, but, for the record, Suzan, you’re not in my district, so
you don’t get any money from me. Does
that make sense?
At 11:02 AM, I heard from Martin Heinrich, the junior
senator from New Mexico, of all places!
Tell you what, Senator Heinrich, why don’t you just listen to the people
you represent in that state, and I’ll keep my nose and my money out of your
pocket. This out-of-state money seems to
be at the root of the problem, and I for one would like to see it stopped. You say if you get 575 more $27 donations
before Saturday night that will put you over the top and break last quarter’s
record, proving you have the momentum to win in November? How does showing you can beg money successfully
from people all over the country prove anything about your abilities as a
legislator? Is that what it takes to win
a Senator seat these days?
At 12:29 PM, Ro Khanna wanted to thank me. I’m not sure what for, I never sent him any
money, he’s running in California. He
pointed out that the corporate PACs, with their bottomless pockets, will stop
at nothing to defeat us, but we can win if we finish this fundraising period
off strong.
Excuse me, Ro, but didn’t the Democrats outraise the
Republicans in the last presidential race by billions of dollars, something
like 50% more money, and you still lost?
You say you’re bringing progressive values to Congress and
boldly fighting for a future that works for all of us, but all I see is your
hand out.
Donald Trump finished off the lunch hour with a message at
1:02. All he wanted was a dollar, just one lousy dollar, so he could count me
as one of his official Sustaining Members.
That’s down from the $3 he wanted to get me in the sweepstakes for the
all-expenses-paid dinner with him and 50 other winners at Mar-A-Lago that never
happened last fall. Once bitten, twice
shy, baby…
Then, at 1:51 PM, the Democratic Legislative Campaign
Committee sent me one, with the latest poll results from Florida, New
Hampshire, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, which apparently show that
Democrats are winning in all those races, and isn’t it great!? Furthermore, a coalition of progressive
donors has stepped up to match every donation made in the next 48 hours by five
to one!
So I wonder, how does this relate to overturning the
Citizens United Supreme Court decision?
What did you say the names of those progressive donors are? You say you are dedicated to winning and
defending Democratic majorities all over the country, but you don’t say how
many of them are old tired Democratic hacks that stab their constituents in the
back every chance they get, as long as they keep building those pensions.
Things began to get weirder as the day spun on. Next up was Ron Wyden, the senior Senator
from Oregon, at 2:53, but he didn’t want anything for him, he wanted me to send
money to a guy in Tennessee! Again, it
was all about the money, and it seems everyone these days on the Democratic
side had Act Blue standing ready to tap my bank account, they had my
information right there, just click that little blue button… Bernie started Act Blue, but it seems to have
expanded to everyone on the blue side.
Then Claire McCaskill chimed in at 3:12. She’s the Senator from Missouri, and she
informed me that it was mission critical that she get 4,181 supporters to chip
in before midnight Saturday, because, “..if we fall short here, we WILL fall
short on Election Day, too.”
She’s so grateful to have me on her team as she fights for
Missouri in the Senate. But I’m not, of
course, I don’t even live in Missouri, so why is she bugging me for money in
Washington? Must be a form letter…
But I gotta ask one thing, Claire? Why are you so excited when you don’t even
know who your opponent is going to be yet?
I cut this off at 3:41, when some obscure entity calling
themselves The Legislative Majority PAC sent me an email wanting to know if I
supported Robert Mueller. They
identified me, and them as well, of course, as Champions of Democracy working
to defend out country from Foreign Collusion!
They need 200 of us Champions to sign on and donate by the end of
Saturday so they can send an open letter to Congress calling on them to protect
the Special prosecutor, whose Russia probe is heating up, and Trump is Terrified(!)
and can I donate to elect Democrats who will defend the integrity of our
government from Trump’s attacks! I’m
like, “Do you guys actually read this shit before you send it out?”
So, here’s a couple of conclusions, and the questions they
bring up:
All of these messages, every one of them, even the
Republican one, used the same fonts, in the same red, white and blue colors,
with the same heavy use of red ink to show how exciting it all was.
So did each of the various campaigns from all over the
country that sent me emails today just happen to have the same design elements
in their messages, or did all of them come from just one company?
To each of these candidates with your hands out, including
the Orange guy, what do you buy with all that money? Can I see a financial report after you get
your first quarter figures together? You
can send me a copy, I see you all have my email address. I’d like to see how much money this technique
that you all seem to share raised for you, who it came from, and how you spent
it. Name names, please.
How do you measure the effectiveness of a donation, if
you’re a PAC, or an ad buy if you’re a campaign?
I have a sneaking hunch that much of the money goes to
professional outfits that sit around and think up these approaches, generate
the attack ads and criticism that they spread, and tabulate the results, for a
percentage, or do they bill by the hour?
I have a sneaking hunch that, in many cases, it’s the same companies
that do the same work for both sides. I
also suspect that those same companies employ the sales forces that convince
the politicians that they have to play the game if they want to win. It’s a game that we, the citizens, seem to
lose every time.
So until I see those financial reports, you will not see any
of my money, thank you. I think you
would best serve your constituents, and by extension the entire country, if you
pulled your strings back within your own state borders and concentrate on
taking care of the business for which they elected you. And keep your noses and your hands out of my
pockets. :-{)}
No comments:
Post a Comment