Stupid Political Watch: Republicans Spamming Part II

Boy, the subject of politics sure can send some people over the edge, can’t it?

Every time I write a piece on political e-mail and publish it here, I brace myself for the inevitable backlash from people who think they’ve spotted some bias one way or the other.

That I’ve been bashed by both sides tells me I’m doing something right.

Last week’s piece criticizing conservative causes for apparently passing e-mail names around for spamming was no exception.

The piece apparently really got to a man calling himself Rick Horner. He left his thoughts in the comments section.

His comment is reproduced here unedited:

“i really have enjoyed all the emails and newsletters that i get until the partisan political hate the republicans email stab in this one. i'm not a republican but during the election and continuing until current, i get dozens of really stupid, bush bashing emails from democractic pundents such as this one. i quite sick of the hate mail. no critical analysis just bash bush mail, and he's not our president anymore, hate all the stupid repulicans, and worship and blind sheep following the almighty democrats. i'm in business, not politics and ken magill may be an advertising guru but an uneducated, partisan hack at politics. a coolaid drinking fool that has no opinion other than that which is given to him by the drug addict of hollywood movie stars that he watches on TV! keep politics out of this fine enews. you never served you babyboomer nucklehead, i did! so keep your branwashed opinions to yourself and get off of your soapbox. you just lost all your credibility, can this enews can this feeeble minded nucklehead please.. thank you...”

Wow.

Horner’s style notwithstanding, his comment gives me an opportunity to continue a discussion here that needs to be continued.

Here’s the deal: Just because I criticize or praise a politician’s or political party’s marketing doesn’t remotely mean I either endorse or am against that politician or party.

I happen to think President Obama ran one of the great branding campaigns of the 21^st century. That doesn’t mean I like his politics.

This is a marketing newsletter. Politics is the ultimate game of marketing and if anyone thinks I’m going to avoid the subject just because some readers work themselves into a spittle-flicking lather over it, they’re wrong.

As far as political philosophies go, Magilla Marketing is Switzerland—except without the chocolates. [I’m diabetic.] The assessments of political e-mails that appear here are never based on politics.

Of course, I do make political statements when I criticize anti-advertising activists and politicians who do things to the detriment of marketing, but even that criticism is party neutral.

The piece that worked Horner into a lather did not express a single political opinion. It didn’t even mention George Bush. Where he got that is anyone’s guess.

That conservatives are spamming is a fact. That they’re engaging in activity that will damage their efforts is also a fact.

I received two e-mails from people active in Republican politics complimenting that piece, one from a woman thanking me for giving her ammunition to help her convince her fellow Republicans to stop passing e-mail lists around.

Also, when I write politically oriented pieces, I always give them to a colleague whose views are the opposite of mine to check for political bias.

He didn’t find any in last week’s piece. Why? Because there wasn’t any.

Lastly, in response to Horner’s assertion that I “never served.” I assume he’s referring to military service. I am an Air Force vet. I served from 1979 to 1983 just in time to be part of Ronald Reagan’s escalation of the Cold War. I did the first half of my tour in the 32^nd Tactical Fighter Squadron in the Netherlands, and the second half in the 23^rd Tactical Air Support Squadron in Tucson, AZ.