This Aug. 1, 2017 file photo shows call records viewed through the AT&T app on a cell phone in Orlando, Florida. John Raoux/AP Hide caption
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pin! This is Nancy Pelosi. pin! Now it’s JD Vance. pin! Now that’s someone running for Congress somewhere saying my contribution in the next five minutes could be civilization’s last chance. Let me think about it. pin!
I received a lot of text messages from politicians asking for money. Perhaps you do too.
Alex Quilici of the call-blocking service YouMail said there could be a billion political text messages – yes, a billion with a “B” on them – sent each week leading up to the election. Many of them claim to be personal appeals from well-known politicians.
“Text messages are very cheap,” says Michael Kang, a campaign finance professor at Northwestern University School of Law. “Even if the revenue from text messaging is very low, it’s still cost-effective.”
“Wait!” you might think. I never gave my phone number to Ted Cruz, Elise Stefanik, or Cory Booker. Why are they texting me? ”
But you’ve probably given your cell phone number to different companies for different reasons. Marketers buy those numbers by the millions. When you were asked to check the “I agree” box to order those shoes, did you think the cookies they mentioned were Chips Ahoy?
I wondered why I receive text messages from left-wing, right-wing, and centrist politicians that I don’t believe belong to the same algorithm. Kang says, for example, you may consider yourself a political conservative, but you can also drive a car or prefer brands of beer and toothpaste that are statistically preferred by progressives. Or vice versa.
“There is no penalty for politicians to be overly inclusive, other than to annoy some recipients who are not sympathetic to them anyway,” he says.
And the more money the campaign raises, he says, the more it will continue to raise.
“Election campaigning is an arms race. They just find more ways to spend their money,” Kang explains.
And, he added, there’s not much to stem the flow of political text messages. These are freedoms of speech protected by the First Amendment.
But what about allowing people to respond directly to politicians who send us messages?
You can tell them some of your most urgent cash needs. “Senator, a gallon of milk can cost up to $3. Peanut butter, lettuce, and apples have gone up in price. Give me your credit card number now. I’ve got a vote here!”
