“36 hours. That’s all that’s left before the current fundraising quarter ends at midnight PDT on Wednesday, June 30 – and I don’t have to tell you how important it is that we finish strong,” writes Amalia Stott, the Finance Director for the Boxer for Senate re-election campaign in an email sent out today. She doesn’t need to tell us? No, Ms. Stott, when you ask for our money, you do have to tell us why it’s important that you have that money.
Whenever I hear people asking for donations in a hurry, and those people say that they don’t need to explain why giving the money matters, I take a big step back. When people argue that their reasons or asking for money can remain unstated, that’s exactly the time that those reasons need to be brought out into the open and examined.
Barbara Boxer’s campaign is not alone in this tactic. I just happened to look at the Boxer email. All across America, congressional campaigns are sending out alarmist messages, claiming that there’s a “midnight deadline” when June turns into July.
There is no midnight deadline. On July 1st, you can still make a donation to a congressional campaign, and the congressional campaign can still use it. The only thing that will be different is that the donation will be reported in a different quarter.
The supposed midnight deadline is nothing more than a prestige show. Campaign insiders want to use your dollars as a signal – of how many people they convince to give them money. Kind of circular, isn’t it?
The commoditization of citizen activism is not a pretty thing. If you get one of these messages, no matter who it comes from, I urge you to take a deep breath, stand at arm’s length from your computer, and click “Delete”.
i’ll use my scant resources for gardening, thanks anyway.