One thing that stood out to me with the Not-Ready-For-Prime-Time Michael Sullivan campaign fundraising e-mail fiasco was that the Sullivan campaign rented Scott Brown’s 2012 reelection campaign e-mail list.
So much for the huge swell of grassroots support for his campaign. But who cares about him, that campaign is a dud, let’s get back to Scott Brown or should we refer to him at Scott Brown™.
As is turns out Brown hired a marketing firm who’s job is to pimp out his email lists for a quick buck:
A Sullivan campaign spokeswoman said the campaign rented a list of e-mail addresses from the now defunct Brown 2012 reelection campaign, and that the fine print was included automatically as a disclaimer through the third-party marketing firm that manages the list.
Now it’s one thing to lend your support to a candidate and using your mailing list to send out a message to those who signed up receive email from you, but Brown’s PR staff let it be known that he’s not supporting anyone in the primary.
A spokesman for Brown declined to comment but said Brown is refraining from endorsing a Republican candidate until after the April 30 primary.
IRS details political and business activity including mailing lists, Brown is pushing the idea that this is business activity, so it’s out there for anyone to purchase or rent if you will. This is an example listed:
Example 18: Theater L is a section 501(c)(3) organization. It maintains a mailing list of all of its subscribers and contributors. Theater L has never rented its mailing list to a third party. Theater L is approached by the campaign committee of Candidate Q, who supports increased funding for the arts. Candidate Q’s campaign committee offers to rent Theater L’s mailing list for a fee that is comparable to fees charged by other similar organizations. Theater L rents its mailing list to Candidate Q’s campaign committee. Theater L declines similar requests from campaign committees of other candidates. Theater L has intervened in a political campaign.
Seems like a straight money grab and your e-mail is there for any campaign to buy. Wonder how those who signed up feel about the political spam Scott sent their way for a few bucks in his account.
mike_cote says
that if you give your email to a slimeball tool like Scott Brown, you have no assurance of propriety. Let the idiots suffer.
jconway says
Candidate or campaign?
demeter11 says
One’s taxable, the other not. But really just curious.
johnk says
We’ll know when the paperwork is filed with the FEC.
scout says
with vague petitions.
Christopher says
I just unsubscribe, and since this isn’t spam it works. After all, a candidate has no motive to upset you.
marcus-graly says
I have no idea how he got my address, but I assume someone else sold it to him. It was fun of meaningless platitudes about entrepreneurship, so I cheerfully clicked the unsubscribe link.
jconway says
Who was it?
sco says
if he got the same email I did. It you’re a DSC member or DTC chair and your email address is on the massdems website, you get signed up to all sorts of things.
I know Coakley sold/rented her email list to the DSCC because I signed up to her campaign with a unique email that suddenly got mailings from them as well after her campaign.
Christopher says
“If you want our help you have to let us use your email list and make it available to other candidates.”
marcus-graly says
Christopher has written up a diary with the contents of the email. I had forgotten that Lake ran for Auditor, as he was a bit of a third wheel in the Bump/Glodis contest.