Mind-bogglingly enough I got a fundraising letter in the mail the other day from the reelection campaign of the Republican state representative for my district. I really couldn’t help myself and had to send a response. My husband says no one will ever read it. That may very well be true, but you can read it dear internet friends.
I think you’ll agree after having walked with me the last year or so that you’d have to be bat-shit crazy to think, after reading any of the emails I sent to his office in the last year, that I’d be the slightest bit interested in helping fund his reelection campaign.
From some of the blog posts and comments floating around out there I would hazard a guess that he’s got some “Friends of Joe” out trolling the internets. Who knows? Maybe they’ll get the message this time?
Nah, probably not.
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Dear “Friends of Joe,”
We’re not friends.
I’m afraid I don’t know when we ever were. I don’t know that there was a point at which we’ve had very much in common at least as could be demonstrated by a mutual respect or shared interest or common goals as it relates to our community, our district, or our state.
I find it odd that you sent me your fundraising letter. I feel a bit like I’m standing at a microphone asking, “Is this thing on?” In whose crazy sense of allegiance would I ever qualify as a supporter? Did you just dump all the names and addresses of those who have contacted Joe in the last year and figure, “Hey, why not?” Does the content of a person’s communications come into play even the slightest bit?
What made you think I’d give your campaign money or agree with Paul Ryan that Joe’s some kind of political hero? Joe’s not a hero, he’s not some sort of number one enemy, and we’re not “friends.”
For the record, lest anyone think otherwise, I read the fundraising letter all the way through, and if there’s anything that letter tells me, it’s that my reasons for not being “friends” are sound and clear. I’m not sure how the “Friends of Joe” define friendship, but I’d hazard a guess that it’s not all that different than mine. Aside from shared interests or perspectives on life, all accounts at which our “friendship” would fail miserably, there are also certain values, codes of honor if you will, that you observe simply because you are friends.
Friends do not lie to each other either directly or about each other to others. The very first line in Ryan’s letter stumping for campaign cash does just that. The threat to Joe’s reelection possibilities is not coming from some outside boogeyman in scary Madison. Believe me, I was born and raised in Dane County, they have enough to worry about up there without coming down here.
The threat to Joe’s reelection campaign comes from within, not without. It’s people like me, residents of our district that would like to see Joe ousted from office, that he should be concerned about. Then again, that’s probably not snazzy or scary enough to motivate folks to give cash, is it? While some of us, like myself in particular, may indeed consider themselves liberal today, that doesn’t mean that we always have nor does it mean that we don’t include within our ranks a number of conservative folks. We’re an amazingly diverse group of people which Joe might have learned to appreciate if he had ever once gotten to know us.
Friends listen to one another. Listen. Isn’t that a novel concept? They pay attention to what others are saying. When it comes to a politician like Joe, it used to be that they’d listen to the people they were duty bound to represent. As far as I can tell there are a whole lot of folks in the district Joe’s never listened to – not since the first day he took office, not since February 2011, and not a single day that’s since passed us by. Joe’s done a great job making noise as he pontificated in the pages of the newspaper about what all the rest of us “should do,” as if what the district really needed was not a responsive representative, but a parent to scold us for what Joe perceives as our childish ways.
Joe hasn’t listened to the emails, phone calls, office visits, or any of the other number of ways we’ve tried to contact him. About the only way I haven’t tried to get him to listen is by giving him money. Is that how this works? Is it like pay-per-view? Do I have to join some secret inner circle in order to get my concerns addressed? Alas, I’d sooner give money to Joe’s reelection campaign than sign up to be voluntarily mauled by a bear so I guess the chances of Joe listening to me are slim to none.
I haven’t voted for a Republican since the 2004 election when I voted for George W. Bush, but I left the theoretical door open. The 2010 midterm elections when Ron Johnson took over Russ Feingold’s seat followed by the Spring of Unrest was the point at which I decided I’d never again vote Republican. Ever. Thanks to the antics of your party post-2004 and especially post-2010 I’ve literally changed electoral identity.
I grew up Republican, Friends of Joe. Before 2006 I only ever voted Republican. I was the lone Republican in my High School class in “evil liberal” Dane County and often found myself on the outside of the favor of my classmates as I spoke about eliminating the capital gains tax in my economics class and any other number of things that Evangelicals these days rail about. I only ever felt at home when I made it to Bible college and found myself amongst only Republicans. In those days I couldn’t imagine how you could vote anything other than Republican.
Looking back now, I claim ignorance. My only excuse is that youth makes one stupid and that raising children changes one’s perspective in a hurry.
I’ll gladly vote for anyone but Joe this year just like I’d vote for anyone other than Scott Walker – anyone other than Paul Ryan. Indeed, 2012 is going to be my year of “anyone but,” because frankly, anyone and anything but what currently passes for an elected representative in this state would be better than what we have.
I can say with relative certainty that this coming round of elections will be a rare treat and I look forward to it immensely. I’m going to look at it as a way for attoning for the political sins of my youth.
Anyone but Joe as the representative for our district, Friends of Joe. Anyone but.
PS – Kindly remove me from your mailing list. It would be wise to save your money in postage, paper, envelopes, and staff time by not sending the letters our way. And really, let’s face it, Friends of Joe, if your fundraising letter is any indication, you’re going to need it.