Tim, I made a few small changes to your email draft — you’ll see them below. Would have sent to the entire list myself, but I could only figure out how to send this test. I know you’re concerned about sending another fundraising email, but we’re only $40,000 short of hitting our November goal, and that money will help keep us on the air and talking about ending the war in Iraq and the Constitution. And honestly, our supporters online are so terrific and have come through for us every time. Plus, with votes on the war and retroactive immunity coming up, our leadership will help keep the pressure on other presidentials to keep their word. Ask people to give at this link so we can track the goal publicly.
And here’s the piece of the email from Tagaris:
Dear Friend, Think about it for a second. Do you truly know what you’ll get from the other candidates if they win the nomination? If you really want the answer to that question, don’t ask a person where they are going — ask them where they have been. Why do some candidates spend as much time apologizing for a career full of bad votes as they do talking about how they’ll remedy the fallout if elected? Why can’t we get the simplest of answers to the straight questions from others? And why do some just flat out skip the tough votes? From authoring the Family and Medical Leave Act to his often single-handed efforts to restore the Constitution, you know what to expect from a Dodd Administration. We set a goal about a week and a half ago to raise $100,000 online and we’ll need your help right now if we’re going to meet it.
It is funny, and a bit deceptive, in its doublespeak. It features a (fake) conversation with Cohen talking about how she knows the donors don’t want yet another email solicitation, but since we’re only $40,000 short of our goal and we have such important stuff coming up in the Senate – re: the war and “retroactive immunity” – well, we just have to mail our great donors one more time, so take a look at the proposed email below, etc. Then of course you have the regular email appeal for cash to fund the Dodd-mania that has broken out in Iowa and New Hampshire. The whole thing’s Orwellian, but rather clever. People in the trade have been saying that Dodd’s Internet campaign is the best of the Democrats’. If only the rest of the campaign were as effective.
