Two words, two votes

I wrote up that e-mail I promised. It was sent to various addresses at his domain, and it was also sent to most of the places he will be interviewing tomorrow. I wanted them on the CC list, but it was all webforms, dammit.

Feel free to post this elsewhere.

Mr Friedman,

A friend of mine recently wrote to you with their concerns on your health care proposal. Now, this e-mail was not worded particularly politely, nor was it from a resident of Texas. A proper response would've addressed how your proposal was fair to those without children, or how it did not violate the Equal Protection clause of the Constitution, or how it did not violate the various Federal laws prohibiting discrimination based on familial status, all of which have been concerns of mine and would be addressed in any sane governmental policy. Or, considering the lack of standing of the author in the Texas elections, the e-mail would've been completely ignored. Sad to say, neither of these possibilities was what happened. Curse my expectation of simple civility and decorum, but the response was short and simple, consisting of two words - "fuck off". Those two words, that have, at a minimum, cost you the votes of me and my wife.

We are childless, and we vote. We are sick and tired of being a piggy bank, abused with out so much as a heartfelt "thank you". Enough is enough. I was willing to overlook my misgivings on your proposal since I am so much in alignment with other portions of your platform. Well, those two words so simply tossed out by your staff have brought those misgivings to the forefront, and have swung our vote away from you. In case you doubt our original willingness to vote for you, please feel free to check the signatures gathered at the <petition signing location> You will find both my name, and my wife's name there. What we so proudly signed at the time is now something we regret.

Please think over any hasty responses, as this missive, and all replies will be publicly posted on the internet. Welcome to the information age.

sqlrob's real name
jenbooks' real name

Austin, Texas

Edit: formatting changes

And the first (non-automated) response

The first response to my e-mail:

If you think we are required to endure verbal abuse in exchange for your votes, you have obviously confused us with our cowardly, say-anything-to-make-you-happy-then-turn-around-and-ignore-you counterparts in the political parties.

Reasonable people may disagree. Unreasonable people may writre me with scatological language. I may respond in kind. I may not. I'm very busy.

Publish whatever you want.

Unafraid, and unimpressed with the correspondent who wrote me in the first instance, I remain, sincerely and unapologetically yours,
John

John Jordan
Field /Operations
Kinky Friedman for Governor Campaign
701 E Ben White Blvd
Austin TX 78704-7400
512 326 5465 x 214
john@kinkyfriedman.com

Second Response

Quite a bit difference in tone from the first one

sqlrob,

Can you tell me who sent you that email, or what email address the reply came from?

I am shocked and appalled. We owe you an apology. I'd just like to find out exactly who that apology needs to come from.

My deepest regrets. I can tell you, having known Kinky for 10 years and having worked with him on this campaign since Feb. 2005, that he would find that kind of response unacceptable.

Thank you,
Laura

Laura Stromberg
Press Secretary
Kinky Friedman for Governor 2006
laura@kinkyfriedman.com
512.326.5465 office
512.689.7393 mobile
512.326.5116 fax
www.kinkyfriedman.com

Third Response

Looks like was too good to be true

sqlrob

I have spoken to the person who replied to your friend. I must have read your email a bit too quickly, because I thought the email came from you rather than your friend. According to our operations manager, your friend's email was filled with foul language and verbal abuse.

I have to stand behind our operations manager. We are not required to endure such abuse in exchange for votes. We won't say anything to make you happy and then turn around and ignore you like other political candidates. I assure you that Kinky is the only candidate in this race who may actually bring something new, honest and refreshing to the table. Something that's sorely lacking.

Thank you,
Laura

Laura Stromberg
Press Secretary
Kinky Friedman for Governor 2006
laura@kinkyfriedman.com
512.326.5465 office
512.689.7393 mobile
512.326.5116 fax
www.kinkyfriedman.com

And my response (referring back to her first response as well)

Yes, the original e-mail was filled with foul language, I agree with you
on that. The proper response in that case, would simply have been
deletion. It's far simpler (and less likely to rebound) to simply click
delete, especially if Mr. Jordan is as busy as he claims.

Ms Stomberg, I have a question for you. Inconvenient truths are often
couched in rude and profane language. You don't know someone, say
within the past 10 years, who has done the same, made a career out of
it and is using the experience and notoriety to, oh, hypothetically,
run for governor?

And through all this, I notice that the original concern still remains
unadressed. How is it fair to put more on a group that is already
overburdened with more than it's fair share of costs? How is it
Constitutional, providing Equal Protection? How does it not violate
Federal laws banning discrimination on family status? So far all I see
is a candidate that parades "For the Children" as a banner, slams a
group that is usually politically easy to slam, and doesn't give a
second thought to the Constitutionality or fairness of proposals.
Sounds like the average politican to me, just one with a more colorful
background.