all right

Occasionally adding corroborative details to add verisimilitude to otherwise bald and unconvincing,
but veridicous accounts
with careful attention, indefatigable assiduity, and nice discrimination.

Donating to Presidential Campaigns

Donating to Pres. Obama’s campaign is quite easy.  I, an Australian citizen, residing in Tasmania, donated US$3.00, without having to supply a CVV for my Visa card, and without needing to reveal my citizenship.  I provided my real name (but, since there was no provision for listing Tasmania and my correct postcode, I selected AK for the State field and invented a ZIP).  I provided my real e-mail address and telephone number.




Election Day is closer that I think?  Umm, I thought it was on Tuesday, November 6 and thus (as of today, Tuesday, 9 October) four weeks away.


Donating to Gov. Romney’s campaign is not so easy for a foreigner.  In order to donate, I’d have to provide a CVV and affirm that “I am a U.S. citizen or lawfully admitted permanent resident”.  Consequently, I was unable to donate to the Romney campaign.


UPDATE:  going back to the sites so I could provide links thereto, I observed—too late!—that there is more to the page than first met my sadly astigmatic eyes; the hidden bottom half of Pres. Obama’s donation page features several conditions which I overlooked earlier: “By submitting the form above you confirm that […] I am a United States citizen or a lawfully admitted permanent resident of the United States”.  Eheu!  Mea culpa!  I sincerely apologise to the Obama-Biden campaign for my missing that out-of-sight notice.


   
UPDATE II:  see Bryan Preston’s report, “Obama Campaign Soliciting Foreign Donations (Again)”, and Chris Muir’s Day by Day cartoon, “The Gated Community”.

UPDATE III (10 October):  see “Blue State Digital: Is It the Linchpin of the Obama Campaign’s Foreign Donor Scandal?” by Doug Ross.

UPDATE IV (10 October):  I received two e-mails from Vice President Joe Biden (supposedly) which are slightly dissimilar.  The first came to the address the Obama-Biden campaign usually sends their solicitations; the second came to my main address, which I used when donating.  Try to spot the difference.  I find this subtle refinement in e-mails all the more noteworthy since discovering that Pres. Obama makes no effort to alter the wording of the form-letters of condolence which he sends to the families of fallen military personnel.



UPDATE V (11 October):


UPDATE VI (13 October):



UPDATE VII (13 October)I wondered whether the Obama-Biden site for donating in Spanish also featured appropriate legal conditions; it does, but out of sight—in English:



UPDATE VIII (25 October):  see “How the Obama Campaign Is Illegally Accepting Donations from Foreign Citizens”, by Mike McNally.

2 comments:

johnlichtenstein said...

Did the transaction post to your account?

Deadman said...

The transaction has not been posted yet, though a debit of AUS$2.97 is shewn, but it often takes a couple of days for foreign transactions to appear; I shall post a picture when it does.