When Jon Stewart had Barack Obama on his show in November 2005, Stewart asked about Obama’s colleagues in the Senate: “Is there somebody who you just thinkk ‘Man, that guy, he can’t even read.'” Obama replied: “There are a couple guys where you do sort of think: How did you get here exactly?” Comedy Central photo.
by Mike Dorning
Barack Obama isn’t waiting for his appearance on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” next Wednesday to use the invitation as a chance to expand his following.
Campaign manager David Plouffe sent out an e-mail to Obama supporters just a few minutes ago offering an all-expenses-paid trip to the popular comedy show’s taping as a prize in a contest to recruit new donors to the campaign.
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In a twist on the kind of recruiting promotions regularly empoyed by health clubs, anyone who recruits a new donor by the end of the week will be entered in a drawing for a pair of tickets to the shows taping: one for the supporter who recruits the new donor and one for the donor he or she recruits.
It’s the latest example of the kind of mass-marketing fundraising incentives in the current presidential campaign that has candidates’ appeals for donations sometimes reading like they might have come from Ed McMahon of Publishers Clearinghouse.
As the campaigns raced for dollars just before the end of their quarterly fundraising periods on June 30, Republican Mitt Romney was offering anyone who contributed $100 or more a chance to win box seats at a major league baseball game hosted by the candidate’s son, Tagg Romney. Democrat John Edwards celebrated his June 10 birthday by offering his mother’s pecan pie recipe to anyone who contributed at least $6.10.
But Obama has been the most aggressive in deploying incentives to rally low-dollar donors. In June, the campaign offered a chance at an all-expenses trip to have dinner with the candidate himself to four winning donors, no matter how small their contribution. And the campaign just completed a repeat of the contest, with Obama soon to host a second dinner for low-dollar donors.
With widespread access to the Internet lowering the cost of contacting potential supporters to virtually nothing and reducing the hassle of donating to a few keystrokes, look for more such promotions arriving to inboxes across America as the political season continues.