Senator Scott Brown's campaign office sent out a fundraising email today, inviting donors to submit an essay on "what the Fourth of July means to you" -- with the best essay to be awarded a trip to Boston for a Red Sox game. (During his Presidential campaign, Mitt Romney did something very similar.)My question: how common is this stuff? Let's see...we have here a pay-to-play essay "contest," a fundraising raffle, and exploiting a national holiday for partisan purposes. Nice trifecta! I'm curious: has anyone seen anything similar or better from other candidates?
Apparently, Patriotism comes with a price:
Please contribute $50 for your essay to qualify in this contest.If I was entering, I'd start off my essay like so:To me, the 4th of July holds great meaning -- especially in this increasingly cynical world, where some politicians see the holiday merely as a fundraising gimmick for wringing 50 bucks out of suckers who want to express their patriotism....
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Patriotism the Scott Brown Way
David S. Bernstein, ace reporter and brother, blogs this:
I remember Obama doing something similar. You donated any amount in order to be entered into a raffle for (I think) a backstage pass to his acceptance speech at the DNC. There was a $5 minimum donation.
ReplyDeleteHm. I wasn't aware that the Democratic National Convention was a national, patriotic holiday now. Of course, it should be.
ReplyDeleteWow, Jonathan, can you get this one to Rachel Maddow? She's had so much fun with Brown already...
ReplyDeleteASP,
ReplyDeleteHmmm...I think I'll leave it to my brother. Odd fact: Rachel Maddow is a dead ringer for our sister (at least sitting down; our sister is way short). She's a political pollster, but AFAIK she never does any press hits herself, so odds that she'll ever be on the Maddow show are slim. I don't know whether Maddow reads the Phoenix...everyone in MA should, though: my brother is really an excellent reporter.