Those Pesky Republicans

Somewhere in the world there is a computer hard disk drive spinning around vigorously and on this disk drive is a data file and in this data file is my name and contact information. And somewhere in the world there is a computer whirring away while running a piece of software that the Republican Party is using to access the information from the data file that is on that disk drive. Including my information.

The result?

Unwanted paper junk mail (like this) sent to my mailbox from Republican candidates and causes. Unwanted email spam from Republican candidates sent to my email address.

What is notable about the spam is that NOWHERE is there any mention of the word "Republican" or "GOP" or anything that would indicate what party affiliation these people have.

For instance, I just got an email from the organization trying to get Lynn Swann elected Governor of Pennsylvania. (I live in California. Why I get emails from the Republican candidates in Pennsylvania is beyond me.) Here it is:

Initially I was wondering, "who is Swann Matthews"? Sounds like an anchorman on CNN or something. And what is that red blob stuck between the "a" and the "n" in the logo? Oh, I guess it's the red state of Pennsylvania?

Amusingly, the disclaimer at the botton of the email says, "You are receiving this email because you or someone on your behalf signed up to receive email updates from our campaign." Heh. It is so nice to know that someone went to all that trouble and acted "on my behalf" by signing me up to receive emails about a candidate for governor of a state I do not even live in.

And then there is the mystery. Nowhere in the email does it say what party affiliation Swann has. I don't follow Pennsylvania politics so I have no idea.

So I went to his site. Here's the home page:

Nowhere on his home page does it mention he is a Republican. Nowhere on his "About" page does it mention he is a Republican. I had to go to Google Advanced Search and scour Lynn Swann's website to find any mention of the word "Republican". It's in there, but it is in very deep obscure pages and mentioned in some press clippings and testimonials. The casual visitor to the site is simply not going to find it.

Of course, Wikipedia's page on Swann mentions it in the first sentence of the first paragraph. Thank you, Wikipedia.

Why is it these Republicans are so reluctant to identify their party affiliation? Could it be because to do so is hazardous to one's chances of winning an election? Me, I think they're just embarrassed to admit it. (After all, they've pretty much given up on their Republican oath).

Posted by brian at August 9, 2006 12:25 PM