Obama invited ME to dinner

Today at 9:33 a.m., Senator Barack Obama invited me to dinner through facebook. I copied and pasted the e-mail below

Dinner invitation

9:33am Today

Refusing money from PACs and Washington lobbyists makes this campaign different in one very important respect.

We are not beholden to anyone but you.

We've rejected the traditional Washington fundraising strategy -- including countless dinners hosted by lobbyists -- and put our trust in millions of Americans owning a piece of this campaign.

Senator Clinton and Senator McCain have a different approach.

Both have accepted millions from lobbyists and special interests, and both have relied on high dollar donors for the majority of their funding.

This campaign is different, and I'm looking forward to supporters like you joining me for a different kind of fundraising dinner.

If you make a donation in any amount between now and 11:59 pm EDT on Monday, March 31st, you could join me and three other supporters for an intimate dinner for five:


https://donate.barackobama.com/dinner

Together we can put an end to pay-for-influence politics.

We can turn the page in Washington, and it all begins with you.

Thank you for your support,

Barack

So I'd like to analyze this a bit for my post today, even though I have no basis for comparison because I don't subscribe/get e-mails from other candidates (which is actually a good idea if you want to see how the candidates treat their supporters differently, like Benji taught me)

1) He uses his first name, he puts the emphasis on our personal relationship. He makes it sound like we are grand old friends, even though we haven't met. He makes me feel special and important! Maybe a good quality, as superficial as it is? He can talk the talk, but that isn't anything new.

2) He takes this opportunity to differentiate himself from the other major candidates. He paints them as part of the "old boys club" - accepting money from dirty sources that could carry over to a dirty presidency. Using this tactic, he makes himself seem much more grassroots, as if he has been completely carried upon the shoulders of real people.. like you and me!

3) It's an incentive to get involved. He offers this super cool opportunity to meet him for a very personal "dinner for five", so it becomes a prize to a game that we all can play! And once we're hooked to play the game (donating however much money you want), we tend to give more, because "what the heck, I love the guy!" Very clever, Barack.



So I guess go donate and win a chance to have dinner with the dude. For the record, I didn't give any money - not because I don't like Barack Obama, but because I am a poor, starving college student.