From the Direct Mailbag

This evening I got a call from Ted Kennedy. Well, at least his recorded voice. (In the previous weeks, I’ve gotten a similar call from John Edwards, and a real call from an Iowa-based pollster for Kerry. If you’ve ever voted in Iowa, come caucus-time, people want to talk with, or at, you.)

Senator Kennedy was calling to invite me to a reception this Saturday at a Waterloo, Iowa church for his good friend Senator John Kerry. Kennedy’s voice briefly recounted all of the good things that Kerry has done, but notably left out anything about Kerry’s stance against the war in Iraq.

That is notable because Kerry voted for the Bush invasion of Iraq, so he loses this important issue to leading (poll-wise) Democratic candidates Howard Dean and Wesley Clark, neither of whom had to register a vote in Congress on the issue.

As far as advertising goes, I’ve been personally hit the hardest by direct mail, the printed counterpart to the direct phone calls. The tally so far:

Dick Gephardt – 3 (All expensive glossy, multi-page brochures. One begins “His dad delivered milk door-to-door,” illustrating Gephardt’s working class pedigree. Another begins “It’s Time…Time to Finish the Fight,” which focuses on his job growth plan. The third: “The Gephardt Plan: Guaranteed Health Care for Every American.”)

John Kerry – 1 (An expensive, glossy, multi-page brochure. A head-and-shoulders shot of Kerry with a backdrop of the American flag, with the foreground words “Courage. Ideals. Vision.”)

Bob Graham – 1 (An inexpensive postcard announcing the “Family Invasion Tour, August 6-15, 2003.” In the specific local event on the back of the card, Bob and Adele Graham hosted “Grillin’ With the Grahams” at a state park – “Bring your bratwurst, burgers, and a dish to pass…we’ll provide beer and beverages!”). There is no picture of Graham.

Howard Dean – 1. (Today I also received the first Dean mailing. The approach is much less glitzy, and more straightforward. The mailing is a two-page letter in an envelope that begins “Dear Friend, My name is Howard Dean and I am running for President. I’ve heard that you are not a friend of George W. Bush. Me neither.” The letter –a simple, two-color document – outlines his reasons for running, and then asks for money: $250, $100, $50, $35. There is no photo of Dean, but one hardly seems necessary after all of his newsmagazine covers.)

On television in Eastern Iowa (the composite Waterloo, Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, Iowa City market), John Edwards seems to be the main candidate advertising these days. I’ll be talking about that in another entry.