Losers Suck

In talking about Ben Chandler's win, Josh Marshall raises an issue that he's raised before - that perhaps Democrats have a comparative advantage in raising money over the internet, relative to direct mail due to the charcteristics of their supporters. I think he's given his reasons for this in more detail previously, and to some extent I probably agree. But, aside from the medium of direct mail I'd argue that there's something wrong with the message.

I get a reasonable amount of political junk mail. Frankly, most of it goes into the trash unread these days. But, to the extent that I do read it I have the impression that it reads something like this:

REPUBLICANS ARE GOING TO EAT YOUR BABIES UNLESS YOU GIVE US $25

There's a kind of "we're pathetic and can't do anything unless you send us a couple of bucks" vibe. Now, that may in fact be true - that they're at a financial disadvantage. But, look - nobody likes a loser.

I'd prefer direct mail which went something like:

Last week we took Tom DeLay out back and kicked the crap out of him. This week, we plan to do it again. Help support this ass-kicking! For only $25, your name can be on a bootprint on DeLay's mottled ass!

Democrats are tired of being on the defensive. We've been on the defensive since the Failed Clinton Presidency began being reported 2 hours after election day '92. It's time for those days to be over.