I have written on this subject on these pages in the past, and as the runup to the mid-terms foreshortens, the subject rears its exasperating head once again. Party leaders and functionaries are rattling off emails at an amazing rate in efforts to collect funds for battleground contests. In the process, they have allowed common manners to fall by the wayside.
The character of communications from arms of the Democratic Party went through a transition that I noted long ago, specifically in August 2008, when the leadership of the party changed. The morning after Michelle Obama spoke at the convention (and apparently to the writer, less notably, Teddy Kennedy who appeared despite disapproval from his family and doctors), I received an email from Barack Obama addressing me by my first name with no salutation asking me if Michelle was not the most electrifying speaker at the convention thus far. I was appalled! First by the lack of regard for Teddy’s gallant gesture (even though I disagreed that he should ever have endorsed Obama) and secondly by the shameful lack of etiquette. I was more accustomed to the courteous ways of the Clinton campaign.
Well, the behavior remains intact. While Gentleman Bill is out there trying his best to set an example of how to approach voters, the Democratic leadership continues on its insistently rude path. Here are three examples of communications in my inbox over the past two days. There were many more, but these three are sufficient, I think, to make my point.
First this, from I-am-the-POTUS himself. N.B. This is edited to break the links and a live-linked graphic has been removed. If being addressed in this way motivates you to contribute, you will have to seek out the website. I will not provide the link here.
Still4Hill — (of course my real first name was here)
Two years ago, you joined millions of Americans to assemble a grassroots movement to move this county forward.
Even though we’ve made extraordinary progress, entrenched power concedes nothing without a fight. Thanks to a Supreme Court decision called Citizens United, the very same special interests that we are finally holding accountable are now spending unlimited amounts of money on political attack ads to try and take our country back.
That’s why we’ve got to fight their millions of dollars with millions of grassroots supporters who are ready to finish what we began in 2008.
Right now, my Democratic allies in the House are preparing for the final days of this campaign. Your support to help them raise $1 million before Tuesday will determine how many doors they can knock on, how many phones they can dial, and how many Democratic voters they can get to the polls.
Contribute before Tuesday’s deadline to fund our final get-out-the-vote efforts on behalf of my great Democratic partners in the House. Your support will be matched by a group of generous Democrats.
My partners in the House led by our remarkable Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have done extraordinary work to get our economy back on track and clean up the mess left over by the other side.
But rather than remind ourselves of all that we have accomplished, now is the time to recognize all of the things that will remain undone unless we are just as focused, just as energized, and just as excited as we were in 2008. That is what will make the difference in the days ahead.
Contribute before Tuesday’s deadline to fund our final get-out-the-vote efforts on behalf of my great Democratic partners in the House. Your support will be matched by a group of generous Democrats.
If you can dig a little deeper, knock on a few more doors, talk to a few more of your friends and neighbors, we will be successful in this election and continue working to reclaim the American Dream for the next generation.
I am grateful for all that you’ve done already in this election. But now I need you to do a little more. When polls close on Election Night, we cannot have a single regret, not when the stakes are this high.
Barack Obama
P.S. Right now, my Democratic allies in the House are preparing for the final days of this campaign. Your support will help to determine how many doors they can knock on, how many phones they can dial, and how many Democratic voters they can get to the polls. Contribute before Tuesday’s deadline to fund our final get-out-the-vote efforts.
Then there was this charming piece of correspondence.
hey everyone- the great polling we’ve seen this week had an inevitable consequence. Karl Rove just announced another $4 million of spending into 4 key races: WA, IL, NV, CO. This is a significant amount of money and threatens the gains we’ve made in these states.
we’re are on the cusp of a complete turnaround from a month ago, but we need money to fend this off. There are 9 races within 2 percentage points, so Rove’s move here could very easily tip the balance. We can’t let this slip away only 12 days out.
If we get $60,000 in the bank by midnight tonight we will counter the GOP through the weekend. if we don’t, attacks will go unanswered.
chip in $5 so we can fight them thru the weekend
Thanks for helping us fight.
Martha McKenna
Political Director
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC)
Hey? No uppercase initial letter? What? Well, at least she said “thank you,” but this hardly motivates me to dedicate my hard-earned cash.
Here is a final example, and a fine one, from Gentleman Bill, Hillary Clinton’s country squire who is doing his best to repay her supporters with his own backing while exemplifying the way some of us are accustomed to being asked to help.
Dear Still4Hill, (again, my real first name was here)
12 days from Election Day, and you’ve got to hand it to the Republicans — they’re honest. They say in no uncertain terms what they’d do if they get control of Congress.
Exactly what they did before. All that bad economic policy that got us into this mess? There’ll be a lot more of it if they win. So we need to come together right now and stop these guys before it’s too late. I need your help immediately.
The pundits say we’re going to get clobbered — but there are 15 Senate races that could go either way. If they win 10, they take control of the Senate. Yes, it’s that close.
That’s why what you do this second matters. Please make an immediate contribution to the DSCC. The DSCC must raise $300,000 by midnight tonight to move some of these tight races our direction, and they can’t do it without your help.
Please click here and make an immediate $5 donation to the DSCC. There’s no path to victory unless the DSCC raises $300,000 by midnight tonight. Meeting this goal is so important that if you give today, your gift will be matched—doubling your impact. Let’s stop all the prognosticating and prove we can win.
We Democrats have a sensible plan to create jobs in small business, manufacturing, clean energy, and infrastructure, and to bring the budget back into balance as the economy grows.
Republicans are resting their political hopes on three things: anger, apathy and amnesia. We Democrats don’t work that way. We come up with solutions. So why don’t we come up with a solution to this problem we’re facing right now—the problem of this upcoming election? How are we going to stop the anger, apathy and amnesia and get people to look at the issues?
The answer is for each and every one of us to remember what it’s like to live under Republican control. And when we do that, we’ll realize that we have to give as much as we can right now to the DSCC, which can help bring the issues to the fore and get our Democratic candidates elected.
Click here to make an immediate $5 contribution to the DSCC. They simply must raise $300,000 by midnight tonight so Democratic candidates have the resources they need to compete in these tight races. Meeting this goal is so important that if you give today, your gift will be matched—doubling your impact.
Remember, folks, if we don’t win in November, here are some of the Republicans’ “solutions” to our current economic crisis that we’ll have to live with: cut taxes for the wealthy, give handouts to corporations and deregulate the financial sector. That’s right. They want to repeal our financial oversight bill that limits risky, job killing lending and bans future bailouts. They want to add $100 billion to the debt by repealing health care reform and giving control back to health insurance companies. They want to repeal landmark student loan reform, to make college more expensive, loans harder to repay, and add $60 billion to the debt. They want to cut $100 billion from education, the environment, clean air, food safety, air traffic control and homeland security and still increase the debt another $1 trillion. Correct me if I’m wrong, but haven’t we seen all this before? Aren’t these the kinds of policies that put us in this hole to begin with?
If I can leave you with one thought, it’s this: You can make a difference. You can give $5, $10 or $20 to the DSCC. You can get out and talk to your friends. And you can hold your head up high and work for a better America.
Sincerely,
Bill Clinton
Salutation: “Dear”
Complimentary closing: “Sincerely”
“Please click here….”
“If I can leave you with one thought….”
(I can see why Hillary loves her Bill.)
Is it the digital revolution that has provoked this disconcerting lack of common courtesy? I tend to think so. Obama’s youth coalition may have been impressed by his young techie team’s use of the “social” networks, but their mastery of social skills leaves a lot to be desired. Before anybody goes calling me a nitpicky old fogey, let me point out that crucial in this bad job market is the impressive letter of recommendation. Yes, these are still required along with resumés and applications, both for jobs and for university programs – you want to know someone who can write a good one!
As a person who writes a good many letters of recommendations on a regular basis, I refer the current Democratic leadership to the following very simple to follow model with terminology. Or, you can just actually look at and read Bill Clinton’s lovely example before simple-mindedly hitting “send” and zooming it all over cyberspace.
Old American proverb: You can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar.
If you want my money, and you want my vote, respect me. I am not a cash cow. I am a citizen, voter, and to you, Mr. POTUS, your employer! Treat me with some common human courtesy, please. It is very simple, a matter of a few words. You see, as I am always saying, words are important. They mean something. It is very easy to use a magic few and, in doing so, acknowledge human respect. It is ill-bred not to. The Clintons know this. They always have. There is a place for the niceties in life.
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