I have a silly question that I hope my readers will help me answer. I've lived in the United States since 2003 but there are still things that surprise me. One of those things is: how do the political organizations know about my poltical convictions? For a while now I have been receiving letters from the Democratic National Committee, letters asking for support for President Obama and various Democratic politicians. I never get similar letters from Republicans asking for any kind of support. Since I'm not a citizen, I obviously have not registered as a Democrat or anything like that.
So how do they know to send these letters to me? And how do the Republicans know not to?
Does anybody know how this works?
11 comments:
In this case, it's probably because of where you live and your income bracket, tied with direct marketing.
Have you studied much of the history of marketing and advertising - PR? If not, Adam Curtis's docu series, "The Century of the Self" is a great intro...
If you've ever signed a petition - "tell so-and-so to save social security" or "save the environment" or "end the Iraq war" or "give us health care" or just about anything really -- that's what those petitions are for, to build lists which can then be direct mailed to hell and back, and sold to other like-minded organizations. So it could be that at some point you signed a petition and thus got on a list, which may then have been sold and transferred, etc.
I tend to get mail from the Republicans. Should I be insulted? :p
Which party likes immigrants the least?
Steve Hayes: Probably the one not led by the guy with the last name of Obama. :-)
I don't think they go by the area of residence because I live in what is considered a very conservative area. Signing petitions is a possibility. Also, I've been thinking that maybe my magazine subscriptions are a tell. I mean, New Left Review, The Nation, etc.
Still, it feels a little weird that it's so easy to figure me out. I've been hoping to seem more mysterious. :-)
Khephra: Thank you for the recommendation. This sounds like something I definitely need to check out.
Years ago, I got mailings from both parties. Now only from the Democrats. My sentiments are more with the Green Party.
I presume that you live in Edwardsville close to campus. You will get Democratic mailings simply by living in a particular zip code, in this case, a "college town". Professors and other professionals involved in undergraduate liberal arts education tend to be liberal and tend to vote Democratic. You'd get Democratic mailings even if you didn't subscribe to magazines or sign a petition or join an organization.
That's news to me that you're not American. I don't see a profile; maybe that's why I didn't know.
Where were you born?
Voting with Kephra, Human, and Nancy P. I get mail from both because I write my representatives and they are both.
You're an ethnic Jew and a liberal arts professor who teaches, if I remember correctly, hispanic studies. From a purely statistical viewpoint, the odds of your being a Republican in addition to those things are probably less than 0.1% Honestly, I'm kind of surprised you were even confused enough to ask.
Post a Comment