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Had enough of Barack, Hillary and John yet? No, of course not—this presidential campaign has been the gift that keeps on giving. How could anyone tire of it?

For the few who have, there are thousands of other federal, state and local political races being run, and DMers wishing to learn what doesn’t work, marketing-wise, need only look at their elected officials. These object lessons may be the most valuable constituent services these pols provide.

1. Take, for instance, John Huppenthal, an Arizona Republican state senator who, when considering a run for Congress, programmed an automatic dialer to contact 3,000 of his supporters and deliver his pitch. The effort was supposed to start at 10:00 am. Problem was, someone dropped a zero from the starting time, meaning that his loyal supporters were woken from Grand Canyon State dreams in the wee hours of the morning.

Huppenthal spent the next few weeks personally calling everyone the machine had automatically dialed. Now, while this could have happened to anybody, Huppenthal had, a few years before this incident, helped pass a bill in Arizona that banned automated dialers for marketing purposes—but not for political telemarketing.

2, Next, how sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have an ungrateful political consultant! Shortly after Congressman John Sullivan (R-OK) won his seat in a special election, Dave Pearson, a communications consultant who had worked with the campaign, sent a letter to all of Sullivan’s contributors. The letter read, in part, “Many people credit my activities for [Sullivan’s] win…If that is even partially true, I have a sin to repent for, because Mr. Sullivan is the most dishonest, disingenuous and crooked politician I have ever known.”

And how does Dave Pearson know Sullivan is as larcenous as the letter claims? Because Sullivan had an outstanding bill of $20,000 from his campaign…payable to Dave Pearson.

3. Not that the Democrats are without sin: An automated call recorded by Steve Kramer, a political consultant who specializes in Election Day turnout, informed voters that they were lucky former state Senator Pedro Espada had failed in his election bid. Kramer’s message was full of interesting facts including “…the Bronx District Attorney’s office and the FBI are both currently investigating Pedro Espada, as you may have read in all of New York City’s newspapers.”

Yup, that certainly was true: Espada was alleged to have diverted money intended for social programs to his political campaign. But what somehow failed to be part of the message was that Espada supposedly owed Kramer $1,200. As Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper, commented at the time, “If you’re going to stiff an employee, make sure it isn’t the guy who has access to massive banks of telephone numbers and e-mail addresses!”

4. Some lawmakers run afoul of Web marketing basics through no fault of their own. Rep. John Boozman (R-AR) twice was victimized by Web shenanigans. First, he was the victim of cybersquatting: boozmanforcongress.com led to a pornographic Web site. (Don’t bother clicking through: It’s been reclaimed by his office.)

But Boozman was also caught up in a bit of cyber-laziness. The Web site of Republican Rep. Jeff Sessions (who has since become a senator), featured the following copy: “Sportsmen, hunters, gun enthusiasts and citizens concerned for their personal safety have a right to own guns for these legitimate purposes, and I am committed to fighting for these rights for the constituents of the 3rd District of Arkansas.”

Which is all well and good, except Sessions didn’t represent the third district of Arkansas. Sessions is based in Alabama. Arkansas’ third district is Boozman’s—and his Web site featured identical copy as Sessions’ site. Turns out the two shared a Web design firm, and the firm apparently wasn’t above a bit of double billing.

5. At least both Congressmen were comfortable with what was said about them. Michigan Rep. Bart Stupak, a Democrat, has supported 72-hour background checks for gun purchases and trigger lock requirements, and both of these positions are anathema to the National Rifle Association.

Despite holding these positions, Stupak himself is an NRA member. As such, he once received two member mailings in a single week from the NRA, both of which slammed him for his views.

“I’m going to have a long talk with myself in the mirror,” Stupak said about the mailings.

6. Finally, consider Democrat David Wu, a representative from Oregon. Wu once produced a television commercial in which he leapt off a bridge, attached only to a bungee cord, to promote his work in protecting Social Security. His signoff line? “I approve this ad—and I do my own stunts!”

This doesn’t have a specific connection with direct marketing, but I offer the following advice to insurance DMers: Take Wu off your life insurance solicitation lists.

To respond to this column, please contact richard.levey@penton.com