The most sensational piece of mail I received this year arrived just a couple of weeks ago. It came from a candidate in the local election. The large flyer was essentially a thank you note for voting in September’s preliminary election. It included a special THANK YOU (big letters!) to anyone who had voted for the candidate and it went on to ask for my support in the general election on November 5th.
Political flyers, leaflets, and postcards have been fairly regular visitors to what is otherwise my echo chamber of a mailbox. These come from various campaigns. They almost always describe the candidate’s experience, accomplishments, and platform. The bulk of what I know about most of the names on the city ballot comes from these mail distributions.
I thought this most recent THANK YOU note was cut from the same (cardboard) cloth. I scanned its approximately 250 words for more information. What was this candidate’s vision? Did the candidate speak directly to one of my concerns? How did the candidate’s credentials compare to his or her opponents? I’m still looking. The note pointed out the existence of known concerns – trash pickup, affordable housing, traffic (apparently) – but it made no indication of how my vote would alter the various trajectories of these issues.
I determined that this note provided my fellow voters and I with only two pieces of information. The first was a website. The note promised more about ‘my platform and record of results’ to those who dared venture online. I suppose as a good citizen I should have just logged onto the Information Superhighway (despite the traffic) and had a look. Maybe the reason to vote for this candidate would have become Obvious. I can’t fault a candidate for this approach but as I pointed out above many candidates have found a way to summarize their positions without the aid of the internet.
The second was a photo. The photo takes up most of the front side. Let’s play a game called ‘Guess What The Photo Was’ – here are your choices:
(a) White guy
(b) Other
We don’t do spoilers on TOA so I’ll just leave the choices up on the board for your pleasure, reader. I’ll finish with this – we can pretend the day and age of voting with our eyes is long in the past. I disagree. And as long as I keep finding mail like this where the only argument presented for my vote is a photograph, I'll be right.
