Head and Heart (Again)

Once again we find an interesting contrast in rhetoric. One day last week, same day, two fundraising letters arrived, one from 7th District Congressman Joe Sestak and the other from 8th District Congressman Patrick Murphy. Both are freshman Democrats in their first re-election campaign. Both have Republican opponents and both have been targeted by outside groups like Freedom's Watch.

So how did the letters compare? One went head, with reason and logic, one went heart, with references to past victory and current challenges.

Sestak starts out with facts and figures, with eight bulleted points. Here are a few of them:

Of all the 19 Congressional Districts in PA, our District has not only the highest number of registered voters, but also the highest number of registered Republicans (53%) and the lowest number of registered Democrats (36%) in the state. There are 236,041 Republicans versus 177,266 Democrats.

I am only the 2nd Democratic Congressman in our District since Abraham Lincoln was President.

Our District has been the most visited Congressional District -- of any in the nation -- by Senator McCain in this presidential election cycle.

This is followed by the "ask," where the reader is thanked by name for past support and asked for a donation.

Murphy uses a more emotional appeal. The letter starts out with:

We have always known that this race could be a priority for the right wing establishment, but now we know for certain that it is. In the past few weeks they have turned my district into a "who's who" of D.C. Republicans. Over a matter of weeks, Sen. John McCain, Sen. Arlen Specter, and House Minority Leader John Boehner have all made visits to Bucks County, and all to stump for my opponent.

but the money shot comes later:

My opponent has his allies, but I have mine. I have you.

Oh, whoa!!! That got me.

So, there you go. You can decide if either approach leads you to part with a campaign donation. In additional to their own campaign site, they are listed on ActBlue.