I think Joe Biden’s campaign has decided I’m not helpful.
| Emails | Campaigns | |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 4 | 1 |
| Non-Donor | 4 | 1 |
| Donor | 0 | 1 |
For all new readers: Welcome! I am currently on the mailing lists of Joe Biden and Donald Trump, though I have previously been on the mailing lists of 28 Democratic candidates! This blog breaks down recent emails with charts and excerpts. If you already know all of this, feel free to skip to the next chart!
It took some time for the Trump emails to kick in, so I started officially tracking his list on July 7. I have been tracking Biden’s for longer, but I will start comparing them as of July 7. All of these emails are going to a new email, and I have not donated, filled out surveys, signed petitions, or otherwise interacted with either candidate’s emails.
The rules I try to follow for the various categories are laid out in The Framework.
Joe Biden sent me 4 non-donor emails yesterday, but absolutely no donor emails. (I also didn’t receive emails on my personal account). While it’s possible that this is a hiccup in the system… I think it’s far more likely that his campaign got frustrated with my frustration with them and took me off the list (my email is not exactly subtle: @ButTheirEmails.33mail.com).
I hold that the right to criticize something you support is inherently American. You can love America and still be angry at how it’s dealing with things. I can like Joe Biden and be angry at how his campaign is handling their emails. Furthermore, I can actually be a “part of the campaign” and be angry at how my money is being used.
It’s the end of the month, which means racking up the donations is most important. Biden sent me four emails to that effect, stressing how important it was to donate.
He also stressed something else…
Those were just from yesterday’s emails.
Does Biden’s email team not live in today’s world? How many times has Donald Trump stood behind a microphone and said “Trust me, I know…” and then spun a huge ribbon of BS? It’s not just Trump, either, he’s just made it mainstream. Maybe I’m just cynical, but when I hear someone say “trust me,” that is an immediate red flag that what they’re about to say is not to be trusted.
Like being humble or being smart, being trustworthy is not something you (usually) have to tell people. (There are certain situations where these words are appropriate and good, but in general, that’s not the case.) Trust is earned by your actions and your follow-through, not by insisting that you are a trustworthy source. For example, people have come to trust what I say on my Twitter account, because I try to fact-check what I say and provide sources and corrections. I’ve never once told my followers to trust me. I’ve never had to.
This is not the first time Biden has used a turn of phrase that is irritating. While “trust me” is quite popular among all politicians, I’ve also pointed out how Biden would use “it would be a shame if we elect someone who can’t beat Trump…” when talking about Bernie Sanders being the likely nominee. Again, that is not what someone with good intentions says. That is 20s mobster talk: “Nice country you got there. It’d be a real shame if something happened to it…”
But hey, what do I know about words?
Out of the four emails yesterday, all of them were asking for money. The three written by Biden’s email team were talking about the importance of money and having money and having more money than Trump, while the fourth email was sent by Carole King (with that same footer as always saying that yes, she actually wrote this email) talking about how horribly Trump has handled COVID-19 and how we need to get Biden in the White House to fix the mess.
It’s… topical, but I think a better topical would have been talking about the distress unfolding in Minneapolis, grieving the loss of life, and pivoting to explain Biden’s policies on dismantling institutional racism in America and what (especially white) people can do right now to help.
Or, you know, tell me I need to give you money so you can have more money than Trump.
But their emails! 