Barack Obama and I were pretty good friends during the general election. He’d email me every couple of days and I’d toss in 10 or 20 bucks to keep him in the fight. As the movement grew larger and November 4th loomed near, Obama would email me almost every day – telling me where he was, what he doing, and what we were all up against. By October of 2008, I received more emails from Barack than I did many of my friends. It was a pretty serious relationship, but one I opted into. I didn’t read every word of every email but I liked knowing what was going inside the campaign. Our email relationship was clear earlier this year: he wanted support in the form of donations, time, and ultimately my vote; I wanted him to become the next President. Done.
Now, over a month after the election, I still get emails from the campaign, but the communications seems to have shattered into a ten different directions. One email suggested a join a house party to “reflect on what we’ve accomplished and plan the future of this movement.” I’ve been to brainstorms with just as murky objectives so I had a feeling this collective “reflecting and planning” was going to be a waste of time.
A few days later, I received an email offering me an Obama wool hat if I donated 25 dollars to support the ongoing movement. Huh? I thought we already won, he’s soon to be one of the most powerful men on earth and he wants to sell me a ski hat? I seriously don’t get this.
I won’t opt out of the emails because I still feel part of the movement in a way. I just wish I knew what, exactly, we’re all apart of.
I was actually relieved to see the ski hat email come through. Why? It’s the first piece of post-election swag that has held any appeal whatsoever. These branding genii won the election and then wanted me to spend $30 on one of the ugliest shirts known to man, followed by a 4 year desk calendar. Huh? At least I can wear the ski hat when I walk the dog.
@Virginia – I didn’t receive the skirt email. I guess they’re doing some gender targeting on the swag emails. Maybe an Obama football or wrench set is coming my way soon….