I think all of us know this election year is not like other election years. It already feels like we’re on a runaway roller coaster – we know if we just puke up the last four years we will all feel better – and we still have weeks to go before there will be even a hope of relief. But even our hope of relief is going to be a test of patience as we wait for mail-in ballots to be counted.
As our anxiety mounts, my own side seems to be making it worse through hysterical (and not the good kind of hysterical) fundraising texts and emails. That’s right, this is what you get for a generous contribution in the midst of an economic crisis – the beneficiaries are setting your hair on fire.
After weeks of teaching my dad to recognize what’s happening, I’d like to share. While I have never worked in the elections industry, I wanted to, and I went to graduate school for it. (Yes, there are programs that teach you how to run a political campaign and I loved mine.) There are very deliberate techniques behind political ads, fundraising pitches, and campaign websites. These are the main ways that the campaigns communicate with voters, so they come up with messages and they test them to see which ones resonate best.
To be clear, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this. Essentially, the candidates and their platforms are products and we are the stakeholders. The campaigns need our buy-in to succeed. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t do this. It undermines the hard work of the messaging folks a little, but we are going through a national trauma under the hardest of circumstances, and it’s not right to amplify the misery in the name of fundraising.
So – Time Out
First, know what you are reading. For better or worse, money does make a difference in political campaigns. Your contributions are hugely important, even a few dollars here and there. The campaigns will use the most successful messages to get the most people to contribute the most money the most often. This year is not the first time they have employed guilt trips and fear tactics like saying X candidate you donated to is absolutely going to lose their race if you don’t send another $20 by Y deadline so they can make the next ad buy by tomorrow. This is unlikely to be true. Getting ads on TV or the internet may be faster than ever, and the companies that do ad placement are faster than ever, but there is no way it happens in a matter of hours. Don’t let anyone guilt you into spending money you can’t afford. Your $20 or $50 or $500 will not make or break the campaigns large enough to have a messaging machine. A local race perhaps (the $500, not the $20), but local races are unlikely to employ these tactics with the same effectiveness and precision as the larger ones.
Second, do your own research. Check voting records or previous experience for less experienced candidates. Look up the organization sending the message. It could be from the candidate or it could be from the national party and its offshoots or it could be from a political action committee (PAC). Check polling for your chosen candidates. It can be a little sparse depending on how competitive the race is, but local newspapers are a good place to look for that and insightful analysis of the races.
Third, accept that your candidate might not win, and it is not your fault. I can think of one particular race where I hope, I pray, I dream that the challenger wins. But the incumbent is a zombie and keeps getting reelected no matter how unpopular they are. No amount of money is likely to unseat them. In cases like that, you just have to wait until they retire.
Fourth, unsubscribe from their messaging outlets and set your own calendar to contribute. I assure you they will still take your money even when you are not receiving their messaging efforts, and most campaigns have ways for you to set monthly or weekly gifts.
Fifth, let yourself think about it for a moment. The stakes are higher than they’ve been in my lifetime. These tactics are effective. If you separate the motive from the method and remove yourself from the fear it creates, as well as the realization that it is plain old emotional manipulation, you are left with people who are as scared as we are and trying their best to fix what they can.
So, take a deep breath, douse your hair so it doesn’t catch fire again, increase the grains of salt with which you take the messages, and jump back in with whatever you can do.
Time in.