by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
Democratic Congressman Scott Peters of California's 52nd congressional district is, by most accounts, an effective legislator who is fairly consistent in his support of a progressive agenda. Peters, whose district represents the pricey areas of northern San Diego and Coronado, lives in La Jolla, the seaside community where Mitt Romney had his famous home with the car elevator, and he is reported to be the sixth richest member of Congress.
By most measures, the Democratic Party is undoubtedly lucky to have someone of Mr. Peters background and prominence as a member of its caucus. Nevertheless, Pa Rock is not a fan.
As someone who occasionally contributes (very modestly) to select political candidates, I understand that party functionaries like Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Nancy Pelosi, and Chuck Shumer eagerly collect donor information and spread it far and wide to candidates in need. During an election cycle my email inbox begins filling with with pleas for campaign donations from Democrats in every corner of the country. Once or twice a cycle I set aside a couple of hours and very patiently go through those unwanted solicitations and "unsubscribe" from communications which I never "subscribed" to in the first place.
It takes a lot of work to unsubscribe from a raft of unwanted emails. The print on the process is always small, and sometimes it takes a very careful reading to determine the exact place to click in order to sever the relationship. But still I persist - and usually my efforts are met with an honorable response. Last summer, for example, I "unsubscribed" from Hillary's campaign after tiring of the unrelenting barrage of begs from Hill, Bill, and Chelsea imploring me to send "just a dollar" to be an active part of her campaign. Hillary's people responded to my unsubscribe request by immediately dropping me from her mailing list. (Of course, they had McCaskill start sending requests for cash for Hillary the very next day - but the important thing is that they stopped asking directly - and to this very day I still do not receive emails from any of the Clintons.)
The Hillary campaign proved itself to be honorable - as did all of the other campaigns to which I unsubscribed. All, that is, save one.
Scott Peters, the rich congressman with a family net worth in excess of a hundred million dollars and a man who could easily afford to self-fund his candidacy, even in an expensive market like San Diego, will not honor my repeated request to "unsubscribe" from his mailing list. I have, over the last few months, requested an end to our relationship over fifteen times, yet still he arrogantly and annoyingly persists in sending me emails begging for money. In fact, the volume of emails that I get from Scott has increased since I began my ill-fated campaign to remove him from my inbox.
Every day I get at least one email entreaty from Scott Peters asking for a donation, and other days multiple begs arrive. Some are brisk and businesslike, while others are more personable - often with a photo of his Stepford family that would look great on any upscale dentist's brochure. And almost every day I reply with a request to "unsubscribe." Those requests are always followed up with acknowledgments that my request has been processed - and the next morning I again find Scott lounging in my inbox!
Here is Scott's message from yesterday:
Will someone not rid me of this meddlesome politician!
Scott, if this campaign is any indication of your management skills, the people in California's 52nd could do a heck of a lot better. If your campaign needs money, write a check - but leave me alone.
Please cease and desist - and stay the heck out of my inbox!
Citizen Journalist
Democratic Congressman Scott Peters of California's 52nd congressional district is, by most accounts, an effective legislator who is fairly consistent in his support of a progressive agenda. Peters, whose district represents the pricey areas of northern San Diego and Coronado, lives in La Jolla, the seaside community where Mitt Romney had his famous home with the car elevator, and he is reported to be the sixth richest member of Congress.
By most measures, the Democratic Party is undoubtedly lucky to have someone of Mr. Peters background and prominence as a member of its caucus. Nevertheless, Pa Rock is not a fan.
As someone who occasionally contributes (very modestly) to select political candidates, I understand that party functionaries like Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Nancy Pelosi, and Chuck Shumer eagerly collect donor information and spread it far and wide to candidates in need. During an election cycle my email inbox begins filling with with pleas for campaign donations from Democrats in every corner of the country. Once or twice a cycle I set aside a couple of hours and very patiently go through those unwanted solicitations and "unsubscribe" from communications which I never "subscribed" to in the first place.
It takes a lot of work to unsubscribe from a raft of unwanted emails. The print on the process is always small, and sometimes it takes a very careful reading to determine the exact place to click in order to sever the relationship. But still I persist - and usually my efforts are met with an honorable response. Last summer, for example, I "unsubscribed" from Hillary's campaign after tiring of the unrelenting barrage of begs from Hill, Bill, and Chelsea imploring me to send "just a dollar" to be an active part of her campaign. Hillary's people responded to my unsubscribe request by immediately dropping me from her mailing list. (Of course, they had McCaskill start sending requests for cash for Hillary the very next day - but the important thing is that they stopped asking directly - and to this very day I still do not receive emails from any of the Clintons.)
The Hillary campaign proved itself to be honorable - as did all of the other campaigns to which I unsubscribed. All, that is, save one.
Scott Peters, the rich congressman with a family net worth in excess of a hundred million dollars and a man who could easily afford to self-fund his candidacy, even in an expensive market like San Diego, will not honor my repeated request to "unsubscribe" from his mailing list. I have, over the last few months, requested an end to our relationship over fifteen times, yet still he arrogantly and annoyingly persists in sending me emails begging for money. In fact, the volume of emails that I get from Scott has increased since I began my ill-fated campaign to remove him from my inbox.
Every day I get at least one email entreaty from Scott Peters asking for a donation, and other days multiple begs arrive. Some are brisk and businesslike, while others are more personable - often with a photo of his Stepford family that would look great on any upscale dentist's brochure. And almost every day I reply with a request to "unsubscribe." Those requests are always followed up with acknowledgments that my request has been processed - and the next morning I again find Scott lounging in my inbox!
Here is Scott's message from yesterday:
With your outstanding help, we hit our end-of-quarter goal.
I’ll be honest, I was worried we might fall short. Thanks to grassroots activists like you, we hit our all-important end-of-quarter goal.
With the generous support of friends and neighbors, our team will be able to continue to build up our campaign so we can continue to fight protect and preserve our Democratic values that are directly under threat from the current administration.
Thank you again for being a part of this team,
Scott(Just imagine how gushy that might have been if I actually had sent a donation!)
Will someone not rid me of this meddlesome politician!
Scott, if this campaign is any indication of your management skills, the people in California's 52nd could do a heck of a lot better. If your campaign needs money, write a check - but leave me alone.
Please cease and desist - and stay the heck out of my inbox!
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