With many of the big-name donors tapped out, campaigns have turned to the Internet to try and wrangle up new funding in the fourth quarter. And what’s a fund-raising campaign without a few gimmicks? A roundup of some recent offerings:
John Edwards: If your mother’s stuffing recipe isn’t good enough, then try the Edwards family’s . Taking a page out of Ann Romney’s book , the Edwards campaign offers recipes as a reward for making a donation to the campaign. Dishes include: macaroni and cheese casserole and sweet potatoes with apples. Unclear if milquetoast is on the menu.
Mike
Huckabee:
Million-Dollar Homepage
, meet Mike Huckabee. Huckabee launched his ”
Discover Huckabee
” campaign on Nov. 5 to try to boost his fund-raising numbers this month. The more money Huckabee supporters give, the more tiles are revealed to show a photo collage of Huckabee’s life. Along with learning more about Huck’s life, supporters are treated to little tchotchkes like Huckabee buddy icons, blogger badges, and videos. No word on whether a digital Chuck Norris bobblehead doll will be the grand prize.
Barack Obama:
Obama’s campaign wants its supporters to
put Obama back
on the trail in Iowa rather than have to trot around meeting with funders all over the country. The fundraising drive is simple: Raise 850 grand in a week, and they’ll cancel a terrestrial fund-raisier so Obama can spend the day in Iowa. For some context: Mike Huckabee wants to raise about $2 million in a month, while Obama wants $850,000 in a week.
Mitt Romney: Mitt Romney hopes you’re willing to sell your junk for his benefit. The campaign has partnered with auctionPAL, an eBay knockoff, to offer ” Mitt Market ,” which is basically a forum for Romney supporters to clear out their garages. auctionPAL sells your items for you on eBay and takes a cut of the earnings. Then you can elect to send the rest of the proceeds toward the Romney campaign, which will be happy to profit off of that eight-track player your spouse made you get rid of.
Have ideas of what kind of fundraising drives the gimmick-less candidates should be holding? Visit our suggestion box .
