Primo's campaign manager, whom we love as a friend, came to him with an idea.
CM: This guy wants to sell me a mailing list of 7,000 good, local names. They have good data for Our County. It appears to be better data than we can get from the Party.
Primo: OK.
CM: It's only $300. We could maybe raise some money for your campaign.
Primo: Are they vetted? Are they opted in? Did you expect my campaign to pay?
CM: No. My firm would buy it. You would reimburse me.
----
CM: I got the list.
Primo: They are opted in, right? We can use them with Mail Chimp? Because their terms are really clear about this.
CM: I asked the seller. He said not to worry about that - that everyone does it, even if people aren't opted in.
Primo: I don't do it.
CM: But everyone does it.
Primo: I don't.
Thursday, May 3, 2018
Tuesday, May 1, 2018
The Candidate's Wife: Junior High and Mean Boys, continued
I told you how Not Running Again (NRA) told Primo that a mutual acquaintance told him that Primo had put a sign in Yard SignWoman's (YSW) yard and how that kind of bad publicity had hurt NRA in a campaign once.
Primo tried again to reach YSW but to no avail.
He tried to call NRA to no avail.
We tried to deconstruct why NRA would even get involved in this.
Me: Why does NRA even care if City Council Candidate's (CCC) sign is in YSW's yard?
Primo: Oh! Because he doesn't like CCC.
Me: How do you know?
Primo: I heard that NRA called CCC to tell her not to run - not necessarily rudely but very aggressively.
Me: Why would he even do that?
Primo: Because he was the first one to sign the nominating petition for CCC's opponent.
[I have met CCC's opponent and he is a good guy. But CCC, according to Primo, who has met both candidates, is also a nice person. ]
Me: That gives him no standing to tell her not to run!
Primo: I know. But this is all about power in our city. This is about the pro-development forces and the anti-development forces.
[There are people who want to re-zone certain residential areas - like a spot two blocks from our house, in a neighborhood full of 1928 single-family homes - for high-density housing. Apartment buildings that would hold 66 units in the space that nine houses would fit.]
Me: NRA is totally pro-development. He has to have some financial interest in this.
Primo: He's friends with the architect. [The architect who designed the proposed 66-unit complex and tried to convince Primo that our property value would go up as a result.]
Me: Jerks.
Primo: Anyhow, I don't trust NRA.
Me: I have never liked him. And if he wanted to make sure all his rich developer friends got their projects through city council, he shouldn't have decided not to run.
Primo: I just wish I could speak to YSW. I thought it was OK to put a sign there. I never would have put it up if I had known she didn't want it. I could have sworn she told me I could always put up a sign in her yard for any campaign.
Me: Sweetie, it was an innocent mistake and you have apologized. Stop beating yourself up.
Primo: Oh! Oh! She's messaging me! And she sent me a friend request! That's good, right?
Me: I would think sending you a friend request means she's not angry.
Primo: She wrote, "Hi Primo."
Me: And?
Primo: And now it just shows that she's typing.
Me: That doesn't always mean you'll get something.
Primo: She's an old lady. It'll take her a while.
Me: She might be waiting for you to answer. Say, "Hi YSW!"
Primo: No! She's typing!
Me: Or not. She might want to make sure you're there before she writes anymore.
Primo: This is so stressful. It's been eight hours. Why hasn't she answered my phone call or responded to my post?
Me: I don't know. Maybe answer her now?
Primo: No. The three dots are moving. She's typing.
Me: I told you. That's often a trick.
Primo: Wait. Wait. Here! Look!
Me: She's not mad.
Primo: She's not mad.
Primo tried again to reach YSW but to no avail.
He tried to call NRA to no avail.
We tried to deconstruct why NRA would even get involved in this.
Me: Why does NRA even care if City Council Candidate's (CCC) sign is in YSW's yard?
Primo: Oh! Because he doesn't like CCC.
Me: How do you know?
Primo: I heard that NRA called CCC to tell her not to run - not necessarily rudely but very aggressively.
Me: Why would he even do that?
Primo: Because he was the first one to sign the nominating petition for CCC's opponent.
[I have met CCC's opponent and he is a good guy. But CCC, according to Primo, who has met both candidates, is also a nice person. ]
Me: That gives him no standing to tell her not to run!
Primo: I know. But this is all about power in our city. This is about the pro-development forces and the anti-development forces.
[There are people who want to re-zone certain residential areas - like a spot two blocks from our house, in a neighborhood full of 1928 single-family homes - for high-density housing. Apartment buildings that would hold 66 units in the space that nine houses would fit.]
Me: NRA is totally pro-development. He has to have some financial interest in this.
Primo: He's friends with the architect. [The architect who designed the proposed 66-unit complex and tried to convince Primo that our property value would go up as a result.]
Me: Jerks.
Primo: Anyhow, I don't trust NRA.
Me: I have never liked him. And if he wanted to make sure all his rich developer friends got their projects through city council, he shouldn't have decided not to run.
Primo: I just wish I could speak to YSW. I thought it was OK to put a sign there. I never would have put it up if I had known she didn't want it. I could have sworn she told me I could always put up a sign in her yard for any campaign.
Me: Sweetie, it was an innocent mistake and you have apologized. Stop beating yourself up.
Primo: Oh! Oh! She's messaging me! And she sent me a friend request! That's good, right?
Me: I would think sending you a friend request means she's not angry.
Primo: She wrote, "Hi Primo."
Me: And?
Primo: And now it just shows that she's typing.
Me: That doesn't always mean you'll get something.
Primo: She's an old lady. It'll take her a while.
Me: She might be waiting for you to answer. Say, "Hi YSW!"
Primo: No! She's typing!
Me: Or not. She might want to make sure you're there before she writes anymore.
Primo: This is so stressful. It's been eight hours. Why hasn't she answered my phone call or responded to my post?
Me: I don't know. Maybe answer her now?
Primo: No. The three dots are moving. She's typing.
Me: I told you. That's often a trick.
Primo: Wait. Wait. Here! Look!
I got your phone message while I was at work, and just found this. I didn't see it until I went to your timeline to leave a message. In any case, don't worry about the sign. I can see where the confusion originated as we did talk about yard signs and I gave you carte blanche without discussing this particular race. I'll take signs for the liberal/progressive in almost every other race. I might be pickier in a primary. If you want to place a sign for the gubernatorial primary, just shoot me a message and I'll let you know who I'm backing. Once there's a candidate, I'll back whoever can beat [incumbent]. Please feel free to place a sign for your race. If there's anything else I can do for your race, let me know. This race felt a little different to me as I've been involved with city activities for a few years and plan to continue. That will mean working closely with the District X council representatives from time to time. That's why I'd rather not publicly back either one. So, don't worry about it.
Me: She's not mad.
Primo: She's not mad.
Monday, April 30, 2018
The Candidate's Wife: I told you we are all back in junior high
This is the kind of crap that ruins a Saturday.
And this is the BS they mean when they say, "All politics are local."
Primo met a woman a while ago who told him that he could put campaign signs in her yard anytime.
Over the past few campaigns, he has put up signs for himself and for other candidates in his party.
Never any problem.
He ran into Yard Sign Woman again a few weeks ago at a forum for city council candidates.
Again, she re-iterated that Primo could always use her yard for signs.
Two days ago, Primo put up a sign for one of the city council candidates. YSW wasn't at home, but Primo thought he had standing permission because of the conversation they'd had.
Late last night, YSW wrote an angry post on City Council Candidate's facebook page that SOMEBODY had put a sign in her yard AND SHE DID NOT WANT IT THERE.
CCC apologized, explained that nobody in her campaign would put up signs without permission, and said she would remove it immediately.
Primo woke up and saw the post.
He got out of bed, got dressed, and immediately went to YSW's house to apologize.
She wasn't home.
He came home and apologized on facebook, then tried to call her. The phone number he had is no longer valid.
He messaged CCC and apologized. She assured him it was not a big deal and it was over forgetaboutit.
Then he gets a message from not running again city council rep - the one who has been to our house several times and has never once remembered who I am (just the person who lives here with Primo) or my name (you know, the wife of Primo).
Not Running Again texts that someone known to both NRA and Primo had called him to complain about YardSignGate.
Primo got YSW's phone number from NRA. Called. She didn't answer, so he left a message.
Lord. Have. Mercy.
I hope this is over. This is way too much drama.
And this is the BS they mean when they say, "All politics are local."
Primo met a woman a while ago who told him that he could put campaign signs in her yard anytime.
Over the past few campaigns, he has put up signs for himself and for other candidates in his party.
Never any problem.
He ran into Yard Sign Woman again a few weeks ago at a forum for city council candidates.
Again, she re-iterated that Primo could always use her yard for signs.
Two days ago, Primo put up a sign for one of the city council candidates. YSW wasn't at home, but Primo thought he had standing permission because of the conversation they'd had.
Late last night, YSW wrote an angry post on City Council Candidate's facebook page that SOMEBODY had put a sign in her yard AND SHE DID NOT WANT IT THERE.
CCC apologized, explained that nobody in her campaign would put up signs without permission, and said she would remove it immediately.
Primo woke up and saw the post.
He got out of bed, got dressed, and immediately went to YSW's house to apologize.
She wasn't home.
He came home and apologized on facebook, then tried to call her. The phone number he had is no longer valid.
He messaged CCC and apologized. She assured him it was not a big deal and it was over forgetaboutit.
Then he gets a message from not running again city council rep - the one who has been to our house several times and has never once remembered who I am (just the person who lives here with Primo) or my name (you know, the wife of Primo).
Not Running Again texts that someone known to both NRA and Primo had called him to complain about YardSignGate.
Primo got YSW's phone number from NRA. Called. She didn't answer, so he left a message.
Lord. Have. Mercy.
I hope this is over. This is way too much drama.
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