Over at whathisnames site they’ve been crowing about some Democrats dissatisfaction with Barack Obama’s lawn sign policy (namely, you’ve gotta pay for them). I heard about this policy a while ago, and was pretty sure that it would result in folks complaining about the $8 you had to spend to get them.
Memo
To: All
From: Sean
There is no such thing as a free lunch. That is all.
After the jump, some more.
So a few things, you can pay for lawn signs from both campaigns (McCain, Obama) or fleece jackets for that matter (McCain’s is 200 smackers, Obama’s a much more reasonable $50) but what separates the two campaigns is their financial policy. John McCain has already blew through a fortune once this campaign and the Obama campaign has spent the last year as the epitome of penny pinching frugality. An example: the employees at Obama HQ in Chicago get reimbursed if they travel on public transit — they get bubkes if they take a taxi. It’s this commitment to the bottom line that allowed (and continues to allow) the Obama campaign to field campaign staff around the country.
It’s worth noting the Obama campaign isn’t cheap — they’re thoughtful and they spend their money wisely. In contrast to campaigns this spring that spent millions and got very little in return (yes, I’m looking at you Clintonites) the Obama campaign has worked to stretch every dollar a little further. This novelty shouldn’t be griped about in the papers, but instead applauded — Barack Obama’s campaign is being run the way our government should be; with a thoughtful eye towards how every dollar is spent and making sure that it is being used as effectively as possible.
The writer of the letter is also remiss in one pretty giant way — lawn signs don’t vote, they are an inefficient and largely wasteful use of money, and their value is somewhere close to zero. He goes on to lecture the Obama campaign:
Here’s how it works. A couple of households unexpectedly put up an Obama lawn sign. Emboldened by their neighbors, others follow suit. Obama ‘08 should be seeking this bandwagon effect: Folks are more likely to put up a sign when they see an increasing proliferation of signs. This effect carries over on Election Day.
Sorry to break it to you paisano here’s how it works: you call your neighbors, or knock on their door, and you tell them you’re supporting Barack Obama, ask them if they want to know why, and then on November 4th you go and tell them to go vote — maybe you offer them a ride to the polls. That’s what matters. Direct voter to voter contact. Everything else, lawn signs, opinion pieces in the paper and blogging — bubkes.
Finally in maybe the most overwrought closing I’ve seen since the sneak peek of the new Beverly Hills 90210 spinoff, Monte, the writer howls at the end…
I will write no check nor will I knock on any door until the person answering that door can get a free lawn sign. I urge Obama supporters of conscience to do the same.
(emphasis mine)
I’d like to remind Mr. Bute that Americans are dying in Iraq right now. I’d like to remind Mr. Bute that our economy is in tatters and his house is probably worth substantially less than it was 8 years ago. If he’s so verklempt about a damn lawn sign maybe he needs to reexamine his priorities.
And finally, for everyone who can’t spare the eight bucks necessary to go buy an Obama lawn sign read between the lines. “An occasional exception might be made for an outstanding volunteer,” you can become part of Barack Obama’s campaign (and probably get a lawn sign) by signing up to volunteer here. There is no such thing as a free lunch; and beating John McCain won’t come cheaply, or easily — and it shouldn’t, nothing good comes easily. So lets keep our eyes on the prize, yeah?
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Obama needs to get on the “priceless” bandwagon.
Although I’m seeing some delightful homemade Obama signs here in St. Paul. See, e.g., Lexington and Selby.
Nice work - this is a solid response, worthy of an update on my post.
Micheal B. Brodkorb, I agree 100%,
I reward you with the mighty “king of the elementary school playground” award.
Your arguments are not only worthy of that reward, but as everyone knows now, that is the only way we Minnesota Republican bloggers can win the permanent election campaign.
Great Job!!
It would be one thing of Obama was hurting for money, but geez he is going to outspend McCain 3 to 1. What does he need even more money for?
I have no problem with the Obama campaign charging their cost for signs. But their $8 signs are the cheesy “printed garbage bags” that cost $2 to $3 in volume including the wire hoop to hold them up. Besides the profit on the signs, the Obama campaign charges twice the Priority Mail shipping rate, so one of these cheesy $2 or so Obama signs will set you back around $15. If the McCain campaign has any brains they’ll buy a few million lawn signs, give ‘em away for free, and make Obama look like a loser on the streets.
I think the idea here is that the Obama campaign is waiting to announce the VP pick before they start sending the orders to the printers. Economies of scale. Why would they print off a shit load off Obama only signs and then have to do it all over again when they announce the VP. If they can get a way with selling them until then… more power to them.
Dyna, didn’t you understand what Sean was sayin’?
“Paisano?” Monte Bute has done more to stop wars than every contributor on MnPublius combined. He’s got more political sense in his little finger than you’ll know in a lifetime. If you doubt that, go hear him speak at the Liberty Parade August 31. As for his column on Obama’s campaign charging for lawn signs, he’s dead on. This is one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard a campaign do. I have never been asked to pay directly for a lawn sign. I’ve already given money to Obama’s campaign, but if they ask me for more to get a lawn sign, there will be a vacant spot amongst the rest of the free signs that will be up. Obama may get away with charging people $29,000 or whatever it was to have dinner with him. But he won’t get far charging for signs, at least in Minnesota. What’s next — charging for literature?
The sign gouging is just the tip of the iceberg with the Obama campaign, which seems to see the grassroots as an ATM to finance their TV ads. I darn near became an Obama intern over a year ago, but had to back out when they wouldn’t even cover my gas expenses on the campaign trail, never mind housing costs. My car and my motorcycles average around 40 mpg and rent in rural midwestern towns is cheap- for a few bucks the Obama campaign could have had me working for them on the campaign trail every day for the last year. Instead all they got was what I could afford- a few weekend trips to Iowa.
Hint to the Obama campaign: Let the lawn signs fall like manna from heaven and blanket the state, or else this place will look like a red state.
Lawn signs have never been a major part of a presidential campaign, and it’s not hard to see why. With a national campaign, doesn’t it make more sense to focus on the more effective-if expensive-methods of advertising? Sure, put up a lawn sign and wear your political heart on your sleeve. The real campaigning is going to be in the expensive media.
http://www.demstore.com offers much better prices and quantity discounts.
Yawn. I think it’s a bad policy, but…really, who cares?
I give plenty to Obama each month. I’m not going to buy a sign, but again…who cares? Obviously, getting tons of lawn signs out there is not a priority at this time.
FWIW…I have still seen MANY more Obama signs than McCain signs. In fact, I have only seen ONE McCain bumper sticker…..ever.
Sorry,guy, but this is a dumb mistake. I have volunteered on several campaigns, and epecting volunteers to spend even more is just foolish. Name recognition counts, and don’t kid yourself.
BTW, I am a 74 year old white woman , who supported Hillary, but I would be glad to put out a sign for Obama, if my association allowed such things. However,I’d think twice if I had to pay for some flimsy sign. Another case of penny -wise, and pound foolish by Obama’s campaign.
Monte Bute is an assclown. Obama should hire him for his political advice and then do the exact opposite of what he says. That letter is just plain funny.
While I agree with most of what you say here Sean, I think for a lot of people the problem isn’t with being able to afford the signs. For instance, for someone that donates $200, are they going to be able to have a lawn sign? Is the $200 not enough of a donation? And sure, 8 bucks may not be a lot to ask, but it’s the principle of it. Just a thought…
Tempest meet teapot…
This will make stealing Obama lawn signs even more fun!
This will make stealing Obama lawn signs even more fun!
Living up to your name again.
Another republican criminal. Go figure.
Republicans will steal Obama lawnsigns, then sell them on Ebay for $5. Then we will give the profits to Republican campaigns.
Wow, Obama really is the one.
dumb, beyond living up to your name… you do realize that doing such is more than just stealing, it is asking to be prosecuted for Election Crimes. Most American citizens do not take elections as cavalierly as you do… I can only assume you are very young and do not realize what you are posting. I have always said that the Republican Party should be prosecuted for being an ongoing criminal enterprise under RICO laws. Your little stunt in this thread only confirms my thoughts.
I guess dumb thinks Rep. Kahn was ok when she stole her opponent’s campaign literature.
Relax crowd. I won’t steal any of your lawn signs, that’s the sort of stuff Democrats do. If lawn signs won elections we’d have Governor Hatch.
If your Obama (or Franken) sign gets stolen, paint over an old candidate sign (we all have them in the garage) and use a marker to write, “They stole my Franken/Obama sign but they won’t steal this election.”
In 2004 we had similar signs professionally printed because of the rash of stolen Kerry signs, but I think homemade are just as effective, and they are less of a target for a theft repeat.
Of course, in rural areas there is the problem of shotgun blasts through DFL candidate signs - it shows you the mentality of our opponents.
bluej, I posted this over at MDE:
***
Tommy Johnson Says:
August 19th, 2008 at 9:16 am
PlymouthD - the reason why Obama has to charge for ‘em, is dirty-trickster-republiCons would take ‘em and toss ‘em if they were free.
But most republiCons are too (cheney)in’ cheap to let a few moths outa their wallets, and pony up a measely $8 for the cheap-trick. ***
Just ordered 25 of the buggers. 5$ each. Cheers to the OP for the kick in the ass. I’m going to distribute them to friends and co-workers.
So, is this a way to get around campagin finance limits? Once you got to the limit, you could just go out and buy a bunch of overpriced signs (25 for $125 such a deal) with the huge profits going to the campaign, but not in your name? Can someone quote the law?
Is there enough TV time available to spend all of that money?
Typical Boy - do you AGREE 100%????? Am I RIGHT!!!!
Mo-
No. Purchases are tracked just like any other contributions. For instance, I had to take the typical citizen pledge, and input my employer.
Sean,
Wbat do you think of the Obama campaign secretly selling tickets to his Denver acceptance speech for $1,000 and up as reported by the Denver CBS affiliate? http://cbs4denver.com/search/Link.ashx?R=http%3a%2f%2fcbs4denver.com%2fdenver2008%2fobama.speech.tickets.2.799164.html Those tickets were supposed to be free too.
My favorite is that the DNC is giving the homeless in Denver free movie and zoo tickets so they don’t have to be viewed on the streets by all of the convention goers.
From Denver’s Rocky Mountain News… http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jul/15/homeless-hey-buddy-can-you-spare-movie-ticket-duri/
Chris, I agree 100%,
I think it is a great exagerration (spin) to change “unpublicized” to “secret”. Obvioulsy, Obama wanted to keep this fact a secret, because we Republicans say he did. We are always 100% correct about these things.
WE Minnesota Republican bloggers tell you Liberals what you think about things, and you Liberals define YOURSELVES incorrectly. Nothing else makes any sense.
I don’t think theres anyone who would disagree with your comments who matters anyway, Chris.
We must win the permanent election campaign by exagerrating the positions and actions of these people, or we will lose. Everyone knows that.
Please, Continue to stalk the websites of people who disagree with Minnesota Republican bloggers and use fallicious argument to defeat them.
Great Job Minnesota Republican blogger Chris