IS THIS THE GILLIBRAND/DSCC IDEA OF A FOCUS GROUP?

As someone who spent the majority of his marketing research life conducting focus groups, this email to my wife, from DSCC Chair/Senator Kirsten Gillebrand (D-NY), is particularly annoying.

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Hi Arleen, it’s Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. I am excited and honored to serve as your Chair of the DSCC.

My entire career, I’ve believed in the power of grassroots activism. I know that campaigns — and Senate majorities — are won by the people who put in the work, from volunteers knocking on doors and stuffing envelopes to supporters sharing their priorities. And that last piece is why I want to hear from you.

Today, I’m pleased to invite you to join my official DSCC Focus Group. Flipping the Senate depends on knowing what issues and messages matter most to this team, so it’s important that I personally hear from top supporters like you. Your feedback will enable me to work alongside Senator Schumer to build our strategy to take back the majority — so please, will you take my survey before midnight?

ENTER FOCUS GROUP

Donald Trump has spent years attacking your personal freedoms, and now that he’s back in office, that will only continue.

The Senate is our best chance at stopping the MAGA agenda and putting forth a positive Democratic vision. Together, we can flip the Senate and pursue that bold path, but we’ll only be effective if we incorporate your invaluable knowledge of the landscape we face.

So please, Arleen, will you take a few moments to join my DSCC Focus Group by completing a brief survey before midnight? Democrats are at our strongest when we hear from supporters like you, so I’m humbly asking you to take a few moments to share your thoughts on how we can win.

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Uh, Kirsten….

….a focus group is a small number of people – depending on the kind of study, this can range from just a few (a mini-group) to as many as 12 to 15, with most groups in the 6 – 10 person range – who are asked questions that they answer individually or interactively discuss.

But an email sign-in, where an individual is asked a half dozen or so mostly closed-ended questions with no one else present, ending with an appeal for money, is about the furthest you can get from an actual focus group.

And that is what you get when you click on the above link.

Look, I understand that, in politics, there is a lot of games-playing and a lot of latitudes are taken.  But if this is what Senator Gillibrand and the DSCC she chairs is calling a focus group, either she is a complete ignoramus, she thinks the potential donors she is reaching are are a bunch of ignoramuses, or both.

Please let me know which the good choice is….