direct mail, Marketing, Politics

Fall Seat Sale: The Check’s In the Mail

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A dollar a seat… get ’em while they’re hot!

My walk to the mailbox today was rewarded with a letter from John McCain’s desk.

It was especially exciting to get his letter, because he enclosed a personal check!   Usually this works the other way around.

Anyway, I opened his letter to find a check for $36 bucks.  Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending upon your political stripe, it was made out to the Republican National Committee.

This is a very crafty gambit.

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Is it really the desk writing?  I wonder.

Seldom do we receive checks, and this one, measuring a modest 6″ x 2-3/4″ looks like the real thing.

What I liked about the approach of this fundraiser was the rationale.   The U.S. Senate has 36 seats up for grabs in the mid-term election, and McCain is donating a dollar for each seat.

I know, I know.  It should be more, but hey, have you seen his suits?

Sartorial comments aside, the dollar-a-seat strategy is a door opener for the tight-fisted, like me.   He is asking me to match his donation.

But I am puzzled. The RNC goes on to say it requires only $8,000,000 in the next ten days.  This seems like chicken feed compared to the dollars normally needed to buy an election.   I hope they know what they are doing.

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The envelope needs to be opened, just to see the check!

In any event, they are counting on 222,222 folks like me, at $36 each, to respond.   At a 2% response rate, they must be asking over 11 million people.

I will leave the financial logistics to the back room guys.

I would point out, however, that after wresting $36 from my cold, thrifty mitts, John could have at least coughed up an additional 49-cents for the stamp on the return envelope.

A stamp! A stamp! The Senate for want of a stamp!

A stamp! A stamp! The Senate for want of a stamp!

You see, the face value of a stamp may seem like a lot to the RNC, but in this case, each one is worth $36 dollars.

Don’t forget to vote!

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6 thoughts on “Fall Seat Sale: The Check’s In the Mail

    • Hi Phyllis! I always get excited over a good mail design, and this one just seemed to click. Politics aside, I was moved by it, which is the main mission. Hope you are having a good week!

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  1. Hi Phil, The Check in the Mail is always a good one. I think Marie Antoinette said “let them eat cake” . Maybe affixing a 49 cent stamp would have been the icing on the cake and is really what the republicans want all along?

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  2. Maybe the Republicans, like any one else, have just cottoned to the fact that 49 cents is too much postage for a one ounce letter. 49 cents!! I will consider walking some Forever stamps down to the Lake County Republican headquarters. Thanks Gordon!

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  3. Jim Clohosey says:

    Hi Phil- I believe that including a check was a very effective technique. On the other hand his personal net worth was recently published as $10.35 million, so $36.00 makes him look a little stingy! Maybe he was just trying to relate to us little guys.:)

    Thanks for sharing!

    Jim C.

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