Ping! It鈥檚 Nancy Pelosi. Ping! Now it鈥檚 JD Vance. Ping! Now it鈥檚 someone running for Congress somewhere who says my contribution in the next five minutes could be the last chance for civilization. Let me think. Ping!
I鈥檝e been getting a lot of text messages from politicians asking for money. Perhaps you have, too.
Alex Quilici of the call-blocking service YouMail told us there may be a billion 鈥� yes, billion with a 鈥淏鈥� 鈥� political text messages sent out each week leading up to the election. Many of them claim to be a personal appeal from a well-known politician.
鈥淭ext messages are quite cheap,鈥� explains Professor Michael Kang, who studies campaign finance at Northwestern University Law School. 鈥淓ven a very low yield from text messaging can be cost effective.鈥�
You might think, 鈥淲ait! I never gave Ted Cruz, Elise Stefanik, or Cory Booker my number! Why are they texting me?鈥�
But you probably have given your mobile number to many different companies, for many different reasons. Marketers buy those numbers by the millions. Did you think when they asked you to check an "I agree" box to order that pair of shoes, those cookies they mentioned were Chips Ahoy?
I wondered how it is that I get text messages from politicians, left, right, and center, who wouldn鈥檛 seem to inhabit the same algorithm. Kang says that though you might consider yourself, say, a political conservative, you could drive a car, or prefer a brand of beer or toothpaste statistically favored by progressives. Or vice versa.
鈥淭here's no penalty from politicians being over-inclusive,鈥� says the professor, 鈥渙ther than annoying some recipients who aren't sympathetic to them anyway.鈥�
And he says the more money campaigns raise, the more they鈥檒l keep fundraising.
鈥淓lection campaigns are arms races,鈥� explains Professor Kang, 鈥淭hey鈥檒l just find more ways to spend the money.鈥�
And he adds there鈥檚 not much to curb the tide of political text messages. They鈥檙e free speech, protected by the First Amendment.
But I wonder, why not let people reply directly to the politicians who send messages to us?
We could bring them some of our most urgent cash requests. 鈥淪enator, a gallon of milk is up to $3. The cost of peanut butter, lettuce, and apples is up, too. Give me your credit card number now. I got a vote here, you know!鈥�
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