More Points!

Here's the text of the letter that Team McCain sent my alter ego when "Ahmed" sent ae an invitation (see previous installment for text of the invitation).

First, this curious graphic:

which has two John McCains, kind of like that YouTube green screen video.

Then this prologue:

Dear Steve,
Ahmed Singh would like you to join Team McCain.
Please click here to join John McCain's team today. Only with your help and support can we elect John McCain the next President of the United States.

I hate to disappoint Team McCain, but if they really can't do it without my help....

Then the message from "Ahmed" quoted earlier, and a big green CONTRIBUTE button (that button seems to show up everywhere).

In the bottom panel this link appears: Please visit this page if you want to remove yourself from the email list. So apparently anyone who is sent a request by a friend is opted in to the email list.

And at the bottom of the panel, this disclaimer: This is a personal communication from Ahmed Singh and has not been reviewed by John McCain 2008. which is pretty much what I thought. Later I might try a message with a few suspicious words, just to see if the Team McCain robot uses a filter. But for now, I'm just Ahmed Singh, bustin' my chops for some points.

My alter ego "Steve" clicked on the Join link (using another browser, since the site uses cookies to keep track of login information). I'm now back on the "Tell us More About Yourself" page with its list of coalitions. I notice two things this time: every word except "us" is capitalized in the title (perhaps a moment of humility for Team McCain) and that there's an interesting pattern in the list of ethnic coalitions: African Americans, American Indians, Arab Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanics, Lebanese Americans. Did you catch the exception? All the groups except "Hispanics" have the adjective "American" associated with them. Is it possible that Team McCain is seeking the help of Hispanics who are not Americans? I. e. undocumented workers, for whom McCain had proposed amnesty, a position he changed after getting flack from conservatives in the media (see the January 30 Republican Candidate Debate). So I checked out McCain's platform on "Border Security and Immigration Reform" and found these statements: "a secure border will contribute to addressing our immigration problem most effectively if we also ... Recognize the importance of pro-growth policies -- keeping government spending in check, holding down taxes, and cutting unnecessary regulatory burdens -- so American businesses can hire and pay the best. Recognize the importance of a flexible labor market to keep employers in business and our economy on top." Hmmmm.

Also interesting on the coalition list is the way various religions are labeled: "Americans of Faith," "Catholics," "Jewish," and "Muslims for McCain." What about Protestant Christians? Apparently they're "Americans of Faith." Which would suggest that Catholics, Jews, and Muslims are not Americans of faith. Hmmmm.

At any rate, alter ego "Steve" selected "Americans of Faith" and "Sportsmen" from the Coalition list, and signed up.

But most important, Ahmed's page now reads
2 Recruit Messages Sent
1 Friends Recruited
20 Total Recruit Points

even though I haven't sent a second recruit message yet.

So now I've got 20 points. It's time to start thinking about awards.