In a season of countless campaign emails, this one seemed especially strident. | REUTERS Inbox: Team Obama lays on guilt

The Obama campaign is now resorting to bill-collector language to rouse folks on its email list who haven’t donated — a tactic that’s sparked some sharp blowback even among supporters.

A campaign email sent over the weekend provides the recipients with their customized “online giving history” that includes a 10-digit “supporter ID number.” That’s followed by a list of the recipient’s “most recent online donation” and “total amount donated online.”


“It looks like you haven't made an online donation to the campaign yet,” the email continues. “If you were waiting for the last minute, you're pretty much there.”

( Also on POLITICO: Romney raised $170M in September)

In a season of countless campaign emails, this one seemed especially strident — even to seasoned professionals like Scott Goodstein, external online director for Obama’s 2008 campaign.

“The Obama team is smart and tests everything, but while squeaking out a little more cash, is it worth it if it turns off base supporters that are reading your narrative and doing the hard work?” Goodstein said. He described the appeal as “a ‘collection-style’ bill from the campaign's auditor.”

( Also on POLITICO: Email overload dilutes message)

An Obama campaign official told POLITICO that the campaign has received only positive feedback from recipients and that people are impressed by the personalization.

The campaign must not be looking at Twitter, where the email is being referred to as a “ shakedown.” One conservative blog, Weasel Zippers, is enjoying a flood of traffic, with hundreds of readers likening the Obama-generated ID numbers to Big Brother.

“The president of the United States allots you an ID number and tells you that you haven't paid money to his campaign?” one commenter wrote. “This is so Orwellian that I am totally aghast. ... This is nothing less than thuggery.”

( Also on POLITICO: Opinion: Obama, Spamander-in-Chief)

Another offended recipient was financial services regulatory lawyer Michael S. Smith of New York, who said the FTC would be quizzing him if he’d have sent such a note when he worked for AIG.

“They’re skating right on the line,” Smith said. “This is like if I were trying to sell you a health insurance policy and I sent an email, and then two months later I said, ‘We looked in the records you didn’t buy the policy, don’t you think it’s time?’”

Republican digital strategist Peter Pasi doubted there’s anything illegal or even inappropriate in the tactic, even if it “may appear unseemly.”

“Most direct marketers are careful to avoid words that suggest some sort of legal obligation like ‘invoice’ that really sends up red flags with authorities,” said Pasi, whose firm consulted for Rick Santorum’s presidential run. “In my experience, these techniques can be very effective because they get attention. As [conservative direct-mail pioneer] Richard Viguerie has said of techniques like this, they generate a high stack of complaint letters along with a high stack of checks.”

Vincent Harris, a GOP digital strategist running the Web campaigns for Senate candidates Ted Cruz and Linda McMahon, has long admired the Obama online operation. This, however, goes too far, he said.

"The Obama campaign is good at raising money online but his campaign's recent email comes mighty close to sounding like a desperate bill collector," he said. "While his tactic might have been effective, it mimics more of an IRS agent than a presidential campaign."

This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 3:06 p.m. on October 15, 2012.