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Nancy Pelosi Caught Using a Bait and Switch to Raise Cash

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Anyone who gets a few political fundraising emails that slip through the spam filter know that the subject line can be misleading. Even by the standards of this dark art, however, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s office sets some kind of new high-water mark. It’s kind of like James Joyce, if James Joyce wrote you letters asking for your money. (And really, it wouldn’t be terribly effective, since late modernism doesn’t really work when you’re asking for people’s money.)

Take a June 22 letter from her, which was titled “NOT asking for money.”

And then it asked for money.

The email was received by Keith Koffler, who wrote about it at Independent Journal Review. Koffler was decidedly unimpressed, writing, “Maybe next we’ll find her outside the Capitol playing Three-card Monte with passersby.”

I’d argue she’s been doing this with Democrat voters on a metaphorical level for quite some time now, but whatever. The email — sent out under the auspices of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which fundraises for House Democrats — was ostensibly about gauging interest in party policies.

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“Please, before midnight — will you complete your survey? Your voice is more important than you know,” the email read.

Koffler was interested enough to click through to the poll. It wasn’t exactly, um, a rigorous scientific study.

“Do you oppose the Republican Party’s heartless budget?” one question asked.

“Did you know that the Republican budget includes $4 BILLION in cuts to Social Security?” another query went. The responses were “Yes, it’s awful” and “No, but I do now.” Apparently, there wasn’t an option for “Yes, entitlements are something we need to look at very closely if we’re going to make this country fiscally sustainable.” I’m guessing that was just an oversight.

Do you think that Pelosi is a good leader for the Democrats?

So, then you get to the end of the poll, that poll for which your voice was so urgently needed and for which clearly no money was being asked of you. And you find this:

“Will you pitch in $3 (or more!) to support the DCCC in its mission to help Democrats take back the House?”

“You’re given five choices with different amounts, including your own,” Koffler writes. “Surprisingly enough, each response starts with ‘Yes!’”

Brilliant. Eat your heart out, James Joyce. Sure, you may be the master of the novel, but Pelosi is the master of the art form of the 21st century: shamelessly begging for money.

As Koffler pointed out, this wasn’t Nancy’s only hit when it comes to fundraising letters. Just two days later, she wrote a letter with the subject line “need input NOT money,” which promptly said “My new budget survey is the most critical I’ve sent to you all year — but my records show you haven’t responded to me yet.” Translation: give me cash.

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These emails were repeated in July, Koffler notes. However, he forgets to mention my favorite: the email where she accused the White House of firing Robert Mueller even though they’d (obviously) done no such thing.

The subject line was “Muller FIRED,” and it began with Nancy saying that “I’m so furious I can barely write this email.”

Then she got to the bait-and-switch: “President Trump is inches away from firing Robert Mueller and derailing the entire Russia investigation.” Oh, but you can stop it by giving the Democrats money. “I need a MASSIVE 24-hour fundraising surge to send them a powerful message: If they let Trump fire Mueller, we’ll kick each and EVERY one of them out of office,” Pelosi wrote.

Good luck with that. I’m not sure who actually buys this in space year 2018, but perhaps Democrats who still believe Pelosi is a good choice to lead their party in the House are really this gullible.

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C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he's written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014.
C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he's written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014. Aside from politics, he enjoys spending time with his wife, literature (especially British comic novels and modern Japanese lit), indie rock, coffee, Formula One and football (of both American and world varieties).
Birthplace
Morristown, New Jersey
Education
Catholic University of America
Languages Spoken
English, Spanish
Topics of Expertise
American Politics, World Politics, Culture




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