This is one of the more amusing factoids that you’re going to read this morning: “According to a BuzzFeed analysis of campaign finance data, 88% of the people who gave $200 or more in 2008 — 537,806 people — have not yet given that sum this year. And this drop-off isn’t simply an artifact of timing. A full 87% of the people who gave $200 — the sum that triggers an itemized report to the Federal Elections Commission — through April of 2008, 182,078 people, had not contributed by the end of last month.  It’s a factoid that is subject to some interpretation, of course.  Certainly the Obama for America campaign is in full-fledged meltdown/spin mode on the subject; they’re pointing out that those people could be contributing less than $200*.  Which could very well be true.

It’s also true that most of these people will end up pulling the lever for the Democrats in November, too: roughly 45% of the vote will go to Obama even if a dinosaur-killer asteroid hits the earth between now and Election Day**.  So the goal here is probably not to get these folks to see the light in that regard… and, honestly, it’s not their voting habits that we want to change; it’s their contribution habits – because changing those will probably also change their phone banking/door knocking/letter writing habits.  Remember, every dime that Barack Obama has to spend on paying people to canvass for him is one less dime that he can’t spend aggressively.

So… be nice about it all, to that special, non-fanatical Democrat in your life.  They’re not expecting that, and it’s ethically the better way to go through life anyway.  So, show a little empathy, and give them temptations instead of confrontations.  Share ideas for fun and cheap vacation spots.  Talk up the latest hot video game.  Encourage weekly outings for dinner – or, more insidiously, brunch.  And don’t be afraid to say “Look, I’m admittedly a partisan Republican and everything, so you know that I have ulterior motives, sure, but… do you really want to spend that money on a politician?” – Because you know that they’re probably asking themselves the same question…

Moe Lane (crosspost)

(H/T: Hot Air Headlines)

*OfA is also claiming that they’re ahead of their 2008 fundraising… which is true, but also irrelevant (partially because they’re not on track to hit that intensely embarrassing 1 billion target number that they want to go away, and partially because recent Supreme Court decisions reformed the system sufficiently to effectively negate the administration’s… flexible… contribution strategy.

**And 45% of the vote will likewise go to Romney.  The Democrats don’t understand that about us as much as we don’t understand that about the Democrats.