If you’re elected to be the next president of the United States and a reporter asks you how you plan to implement your policies, you:
A – Answer the question; or
B – Ask the reporter to buy a T-shirt from you.
In the case of Barack Obama, the answer seems to be B. Last Tuesday, Network World Canada requested an interview with the U.S. President-Elect by filling out a Web form on the media portion of his Web site. Network World Canada is looking for an interview because we are curious as to how (or, more importantly, if) he plans to bring broadband to every community.
On Wednesday, your editor received an email from Obama campaign manager David Plouffe with the subject line “Before anything else.”
Plouffe wrote: “We’ve been reviewing the books, and the (Democratic National Committee) went into considerable debt to secure victory for Barack and (VP-Elect) Joe (Biden). It took unprecedented resources to staff up all 50 states, train field organizers, and build the technology to reach as many swing voters as possible.
“So before we do anything else, we need to help pay for this winning strategy,” the e-mail stated. “Make a donation of $30 or more now and you’ll get a limited edition 2008 Victory T-shirt.”
The e-mail contained a link to the Obama-Biden campaign Web site, complete with a Web form with the name of the Network World editor filled out.
The front of the shirt carries the slogan “Change can happen” and the back says “We are one nation. We are one people. Our time for change has come.”
Well, I supposed I could spare a dime or two, but $30?
