genelewis's Blog tag:www.talkingpointsmemo.com,2008:/talk/blogs/genelewis//8458 2008-12-03T19:43:46Z Movable Type Pro 4.21-en living up to the promise tag:www.talkingpointsmemo.com,2008:/talk/blogs/genelewis//8458.246666 2008-12-03T19:39:20Z 2008-12-03T19:43:46Z genelewis http://www.genelewisperry.com/ genelewisperry.com.

The media has given plenty of attention to what Obama will do with his unprecedentedly large and detailed database of voters collected during the campaign.  This was the backbone of their wildly successful fundraising from small donors, but even before election day, the flush with cash campaign's pleas for ever more money grew increasingly absurd.

I laughed out loud at one e-mail from Oct. 30 that cited "unexpected spending against us in Montana and West Virginia."

As we saw on election day, if the GOP was having to spend money to defend Montana and West Virginia, Obama did not need any more of our money to beat them.

(Unlike most e-mails which came from luminaries like Joe Biden, David Plouffe, or Obama himself, it was from "Chief Financial Officer Marianne Markowitz," perhaps because the others were too embarrassed to put their names to that particular beg.)

But hey, them's elections.  I don't hold it against them.  Even when the odds look good, the presidency is too important to worry about e-mail dignity.

But now that it's over, they can devote this valuable resource to more altruistic ends, right?

Not so far.

The most recent plea promises a "limited edition sterling silver Obama keychain" for giving $30 or more to the Democratic National Committee.  Leaving aside that they are relying on tactics reminiscent of the Home Shopping Network, what the Democrats need now is not more money from us.  They will soon control the Congress and Presidency based on millions of selfless contributors and volunteers, and now it's their turn to prove they deserved it.

Not to mention that improving the country, putting our economy back on track, bringing us health care and renewable energy... all of these things will do far more to get them reelected than a $30 contribution for a keychain.

It's not a frivolous complaint.  The economy sucks, many people are hurting, and there are plenty of groups out there that could use that $30 to do much more good than putting it into the ad budget of the DNC.

And if they do eventually put the list to better ends, the attrition of those who unsubscribed because they were as annoyed as I was will make it that much less useful.

Obama has a powerful resource in the database and social network of committed donors and volunteers, but, unlike some of the critics have said, we aren't a mob of mindless supporters.

Appeal to our desire to restore our communities and give us the tools to do so, and we will take action in a million beneficial ways.  Treat us like a bag a money to occasionally shake, and you may get a few extra dollars, but you will lose the potential for real community organizing and a new kind of politics that you claim to represent.

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