The AG Race and the Voter ID Bill

Also, lest anyone accuse me of being a Jeff Harris partisan (0.00 / 0)

I'm only too happy to see Chris Koster and Margaret Donnelly also display proudly that they are against a new voter ID law. This includes frequently telling the press, blasting e-mails to their lists, and/or prominently displaying it on their websites. If so, I'll update my post.

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by: Clark @ Mon May 12, 2008 at 21:44:10 PM UTC

I used Harris' tool to send my senator a message (0.00 / 0)

Of course, my senator is Jeff Smith so I feel confident he would do the right thing anyway.

This is a good point about Koster:

This would be a good chance for Senator Koster to show he is a true Democrat and is willing to fight for the rights of the elderly, the poor, and minorities who would overwhelmingly be affected by the voter purge.

We'll also see if this Harris tool is just a way to harvest e-mail addresses and ask for money.  Oh look - a message from him already asking, yes ... asking for a contribution.  What a surprise.  Not.  And with no link to click for me to unsubscribe.  So hopefully there is no subscription aspect to this and I won't get another e-mail from him.  Shall we place bets on that?  

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by: maryb2004 @ Mon May 12, 2008 at 22:19:42 PM UTC

I'm positive that Harris is harvesting e-mail addresses this way (0.00 / 0)

It's smart organizing. I agree that he should have some way to unsubscribe. On all the mass e-mails I get from the Harris campaign, there's an unsubcribe link at the bottom. Strange that he didn't have one on this e-mail.

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by: Clark @ Mon May 12, 2008 at 22:37:42 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I thought it was strange too (0.00 / 0)

And annoying.  Because I unsubscribe from every politician's e-mails unless there is a specific reason I want to get them.  

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by: maryb2004 @ Mon May 12, 2008 at 23:56:09 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Thank You for Your Comments (0.00 / 0)

Thanks for your comments about the Photo ID email drive on Jeff Harris' website. We wanted to address a couple of questions that you have raised.

First, we accidentally left off the checkbox for subscribing on the form yesterday. It has been added. We apologize for that error, and we will try to ensure that it doesn't happen again. We are committed to doing whatever we can to make sure that we do not send emails to anyone who doesn't want to receive them. If you have any concerns or want to make sure you are not on our list, simply email us at info@electjeffharris.com, and we will make sure that your address is not on our list.

Second, whenever we send messages to our email list, they always include an option to unsubscribe. However, when someone completes a form on our website, they often receive a thank you email that may also direct them to take another action, such as helping spread the word about Jeff or asking to make a contribution to his campaign. These thank you emails are only sent when an action is taken through our website, not unlike emails that one might get after making a purchase with Amazon.com or even when registering to comment on a website like Show Me Progress.

Again, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@electjeffharris.com.

Thanks again,
The Harris for Missouri Team

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by: HarrisforMissouri @ Tue May 13, 2008 at 15:49:40 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Great (0.00 / 0)

Now I get candidate spam even when I'm blogging.  

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by: maryb2004 @ Tue May 13, 2008 at 17:27:37 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Hey now (0.00 / 0)

Team Harris is giving good feedback. If Koster, Donnelly, or any other Missouri candidate did that here or any other blog, I'd be really happy.

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by: Clark @ Tue May 13, 2008 at 18:16:54 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

No (0.00 / 0)

It's creepy.

Posting it simply as a comment at the end of the thread might have been good feedback.  THIS was creepy.  

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by: maryb2004 @ Tue May 13, 2008 at 19:15:55 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

well, it's a public thread on a blog (0.00 / 0)

You voiced a concern, and someone from the campaign responded specifically to the person who had the concern. I don't think it's that odd.

Although if there was a name attached, like Tracy Joan from the Edwards campaign or Sam Graham-Felsen for Obama on Daily Kos, I suppose it might seem less like the Borg talking to you.

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by: Clark @ Tue May 13, 2008 at 21:47:10 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Agreed (0.00 / 0)

You have to at least think it is nice that Jeff's people are paying attention to what we are doing. At that is not a knock on Donnelly who is great or Koster who isn't great but is a Republican who voted to kick 100,000 people off health care.

Jeff's people seem to be on the ball as much as any campaign I can remember.  

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by: Jenny @ Wed May 14, 2008 at 03:26:34 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

You're nothing if not consistent, Jenny! (0.00 / 0)

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by: Clark @ Wed May 14, 2008 at 14:06:04 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Well, I think it's odd and after all (3.00 / 1)

I'm the one it happened to.  So my opinion should count.

Why do I think it's odd?  Because I've been commenting on blogs since 2003 and it's never happened to me before.  In fact I'm racking my brain to think of an instance when a CAMPAIGN came in and responded to anyone and I'm coming up short.  And I criticize campaigns all the time. And other people criticize them more than me.  I've had people who have disclosed they are working for (and being paid by) the campaign come in and respond - that's ok.  I've had ardent volunteers respond to me - that's normal.  Those are PEOPLE trying to enter into the conversation.    

Heck - if Jeff Harris himself had come in  to respond to me - that would have been cool.  Although I might have wondered about his priorities.  

But this?  This was just creepy.  And YOU know it:

... I suppose it might seem less like the Borg talking to you.  

Yep.  

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by: maryb2004 @ Wed May 14, 2008 at 16:42:57 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I'm not trying to dictate how you feel (0.00 / 0)

I'm just telling you what I think of the situation. As a blogger, I'm thrilled that a campaign not only reads my blog, but also cares enough to respond to the complaints of a commenter. Isn't that part of what this is all about, or are we just venting here?

I agree that it's a bit strange to have a generic "Team Candidate" handle suddenly address you. Like I said, I've seen plenty of such interactions with campaign staff on Daily Kos and MyDD, but the handle was always a known name, usually the person's real name.

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by: Clark @ Wed May 14, 2008 at 17:53:24 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Yep (3.00 / 1)

There is lots of interactions with campaign staff on blogs.  And I hope they all sign up here and interact.   I don't care if it's their real name or a handle that is specific to them as long as they identify they are with the campaign.  

As far as your question - in truth I have to say that for me, personally, being a blog commenter is NOT about trying to get the attention of a campaign (although I understand that may be one of the purposes of the blog's BLOGGERS - and see my last paragraph below).  For me it is about interacting with other like minded people to have a discussion about whatever the BLOGGER blogged about.  So, it IS "just venting"  - but "just venting" has a purpose because it is one way of finding like minded people when they reply to agree or disagree with your venting.  

When I have a complaint about a campaign that I care about - I e-mail them.  I'm not shy.  And in that case I don't mind getting faceless "thank you for your comment" e-mails. But to be venting on a blog and get a faceless "thank you for your comment" reply from a campaign, is at a minimum odd and imo creepy.

Finally I understand your point about being happy that campaigns come here to respond to criticisms.  But if that's what you want - you should think about how it happened in this instance - because someone validly and strongly criticized something they did.  I would draw from this the lesson that if you want them to interact on your blog - the actual BLOGGERS should do more direct criticism of the campaigns.  

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by: maryb2004 @ Wed May 14, 2008 at 21:23:08 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Thank you for your comment ;) (3.00 / 1)

Obviously we are coming at it from slightly different perspectives. And I definitely agree  - we at Show Me Progress should sometimes criticize candidates loudly and directly, even the ones we like. I can only speak for myself, but I intend to do a little more of that in the future.

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by: Clark @ Wed May 14, 2008 at 22:48:42 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Koster voted for the voter ID legislation in 2006 (0.00 / 0)

Back in 2006, when cats were cats and the Senator from Cass County was still a  Republican, Koster voted for the Voter ID Bill. As
The Political Fix notes, this puts Koster in a pretty tough predicament. Either he is a flip-flopper or he continues to be in favor of disenfranchising thousands of voters. Twenty bucks says Donnelly and most certainly Harris have their press releases ready, regardless of which position Koster takes.

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by: jhawk1024 @ Mon May 12, 2008 at 23:16:33 PM UTC

He's going to have to flip-flop on a lot of things (0.00 / 0)

since he flip-flopped on his party affiliation. Flip-flopping can be good, as long as you're going the right direction.

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by: Clark @ Mon May 12, 2008 at 23:18:14 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

If he's going to be a Democrat (0.00 / 0)

he's going to have to flip flop.  The problem with Koster has ALWAYS been that when he was a Republican he acted and voted like a Republican.  He wasn't bucking his own party and voting with the Democrats and finally woke up one day to the fact that he should BE a Democrat.  

And THIS is a perfect issue to judge someone who wants to be our Attorney General.  It is a good reflection on where a person's priorities are - with the little people?  Or with corporate interests?  

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by: maryb2004 @ Mon May 12, 2008 at 23:55:09 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I'd hope Koster does the right thing (0.00 / 0)

Voting for that bill, or for cloture means that he doesn't get my vote in August.

I can put up with some of his bad positions as a Republican (even if he refuses to backdown from them) if they're not tied to this job. But voting for voter ID is too much.

I say this as someone who is undecided on the Attorney General's Race, and who didn't get lured into getting Jeff Harris e-mails through nefarious means (I actually subscribed voluntarily for Jeff to repeatedly hit up my Hotmail)

So I hope Chris "Conan" Koster does the right thing here and keeps me in the "totally undecided" camp.

Hailing from the land of milk, honey, and Democrats

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by: RBH @ Tue May 13, 2008 at 01:38:12 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Who gets to write the 'impacts' of an amendment? (0.00 / 0)

You know, the "this proposal will cost [x]" sort of thing?

Just curious since I was reading through my 95/96 Blue Book (thanks Dennis Bonner), and spotted the Hancock II vote, which had an impacts section that presumably tilted the undecideds against it big time (not that it wasn't doomed before election day, but..).

Just curious, is the impact a commission decision, a decision by Carnahan's office? or by Nixon? or someone else?

(For reference, the Hancock II whupping is preserved here.)

The other example of the power of impacts is here. But JAIL for Judges is vastly more insane than Voter ID. So it makes sense to put "If approved, the proposed amendment will likely be challenged in court and may be declared to be in violation of the US Constitution" for the JAIL Amendment. Nothing says whupping like a 89/11 victory for No on an amendment.

Hailing from the land of milk, honey, and Democrats

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by: RBH @ Tue May 13, 2008 at 02:04:25 AM UTC

The auditor's office (0.00 / 0)

The state auditor's office consults with each government agency that might have to alter their behavior, and they all come up with an estimate. See the Fiscal Notes section at the state auditor's website.

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by: Clark @ Tue May 13, 2008 at 02:44:23 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Hm ok (0.00 / 0)

I'm guessing there's no option to note the possibilities of lawsuits and such from this.

Hailing from the land of milk, honey, and Democrats

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by: RBH @ Tue May 13, 2008 at 03:28:45 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I'm not sure (0.00 / 0)

but I believe the impact is only noted in terms of how it impacts state and local finances directly, like will a proposed tax credit sap the budget, or will a measure on new voting machines cost more money to switch machines and collect the voter tallies?

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by: Clark @ Wed May 14, 2008 at 14:08:10 PM UTC

[ Parent ]