John Stossel Would Say, "Gimme A Break!"
A few weeks ago we read about how powerful having the right email list can be for a campaign. Many email lists equal big dollars, loyal volunteers and activists. But, as with any political resource, email is not foolproof. With the click of a mouse, a potentially embarrassing message could be sent to hundreds, thousands, or millions of people who were not meant to get the message. This can lead to a whole host of problems that can easily be avoided with some extra care.
In Dennis Johnson's Congress Online, a perfect example of this is cited. In 2002, a mass email was sent from the executive office of the President referring "to Senator Robert C. Byrd (Democrat-West Virginia), a leader in the opposition to Bush, as "doddering old Bob Byrd, the senile senator from West Virginia" and referred to the Hispanic Democrats in the House of Representatives as "self-centered, do-nothing, $150,000/year plus perks yo-yos." "A senior White House aide directed a young aide to forward the email to Hispanic Republican activists, but it was accidentally sent to a mostly Democratic Hispanic group." What terrible PR in a group of crucially important voters, Hispanics!
Example #2; one of my posts last week highlighted a NY state legislator who accidentally sent a mass email to a group of 300 constituents referring to them as "idiots." I'm willing to bet he'll be checking twice (or four times) the next time he sends another email. Or maybe his emailing privileges have been revoked indefinitely (and rightly so).
A third example is ex-lobbyist, Jack Abramoff. Last September, Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, presiding over the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, confronted him. Campbell referenced emails he had sent referring to his clients as "monkeys, mofos, morons and idiots." Yikes!
On the D side of things, is MoveOn.org. GauRag’s post points out an email sent out by the group stating Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) voted against fully funding the CPB. Two problems were pointed out; Holmes Norton doesn’t have a vote on the House floor and she supports public broadcasting. MoveOn.org blamed the mix-up on a “data-base error.” (An easy out!)
With this many examples, you would think email mistakes wouldn't happen, but they do and I doubt they'll ever cease to exist. Because of this, it doesn't surprise me that Congressional offices are weary of communicating via email.
It's been said that society sees email as a more informal means of communication and in turn we do not pay as much attention to spelling errors, language, punctuation, or the recipient line. When you send out an important email do two or three people proof it like a letter?
The lesson we need to take away from this is email (especially business and political) is communication and must be treated with extreme precaution like a phone call, letter, direct mail piece, etc. By simply taking 10-15 minutes to proof every part of an email, blunders like these can easily be avoided. We all make mistakes, but come on…gimme a break!
In Dennis Johnson's Congress Online, a perfect example of this is cited. In 2002, a mass email was sent from the executive office of the President referring "to Senator Robert C. Byrd (Democrat-West Virginia), a leader in the opposition to Bush, as "doddering old Bob Byrd, the senile senator from West Virginia" and referred to the Hispanic Democrats in the House of Representatives as "self-centered, do-nothing, $150,000/year plus perks yo-yos." "A senior White House aide directed a young aide to forward the email to Hispanic Republican activists, but it was accidentally sent to a mostly Democratic Hispanic group." What terrible PR in a group of crucially important voters, Hispanics!
Example #2; one of my posts last week highlighted a NY state legislator who accidentally sent a mass email to a group of 300 constituents referring to them as "idiots." I'm willing to bet he'll be checking twice (or four times) the next time he sends another email. Or maybe his emailing privileges have been revoked indefinitely (and rightly so).
A third example is ex-lobbyist, Jack Abramoff. Last September, Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, presiding over the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, confronted him. Campbell referenced emails he had sent referring to his clients as "monkeys, mofos, morons and idiots." Yikes!
On the D side of things, is MoveOn.org. GauRag’s post points out an email sent out by the group stating Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) voted against fully funding the CPB. Two problems were pointed out; Holmes Norton doesn’t have a vote on the House floor and she supports public broadcasting. MoveOn.org blamed the mix-up on a “data-base error.” (An easy out!)
With this many examples, you would think email mistakes wouldn't happen, but they do and I doubt they'll ever cease to exist. Because of this, it doesn't surprise me that Congressional offices are weary of communicating via email.
It's been said that society sees email as a more informal means of communication and in turn we do not pay as much attention to spelling errors, language, punctuation, or the recipient line. When you send out an important email do two or three people proof it like a letter?
The lesson we need to take away from this is email (especially business and political) is communication and must be treated with extreme precaution like a phone call, letter, direct mail piece, etc. By simply taking 10-15 minutes to proof every part of an email, blunders like these can easily be avoided. We all make mistakes, but come on…gimme a break!
