I received the following email today. I am really very unsure of how I feel about it. I think that it’s great to promote voting but I think that smear campaigns are a ridiculous waste of time and punting voting and registering to vote alongside voting for the DA is ethically questionable if you ask me.
The DA should either be trying to educate voters, or educate DA supports.
Here’s the email:
Worried about our future under Jacob Zuma?
Join thousands of volunteers who are giving just a few minutes of their time to help Helen Zille & the DA stop Jacob Zuma from getting the two thirds majority he wants
:: Find out how here ::
Dear DA supporter
Our country is in grave danger of Jacob Zuma and his allies achieving a two thirds majority in parliament. The consequences would be disastrous: it would give the new rulers of the ANC, people like Julius Malema (ANCYL), Blade Nzimande (SACP) and Zwelinzima Vavi (COSATU) complete power to change our Constitution and weaken the rights enshrined in it – rights like judicial independence, property rights and press freedom, all of which are under attack by Zuma’s radical supporters in the ANC Youth League, South African Communist Party and COSATU.
The threat is great. But there is hope if you take action
Infighting has weakened the ANC: disgruntled Mbeki loyalists might form a new party, recent opinion polls show a sharp decline in support for the ANC and a Sunday Times article recently said “the ANC and DA are neck-and-neck in polls in major cities seven months before next year’s general election…” (The ANC’s strongholds have shrunk to the rural areas).
We have a golden opportunity to prevent Jacob Zuma’s ANC from winning a two thirds majority in next year’s General Election. But to do this, we need you to join the thousands of volunteers who are already making a difference by taking a few minutes of their time to tell their family and friends about the importance of registering to vote and voting DA.
Here are six things you can do to make a meaningful difference to the result of next year’s election
1. Give 30 minutes of your time to call 20 unregistered voters from your home, and ask them to go and register. Each new voter who registers and votes DA puts a two thirds majority for Jacob Zuma and his allies further out of reach.
2. Spread the DA’s positive message of a safe, secure and prosperous future for all South Africans by writing in to newspapers, blogging on the internet or calling in to talk radio shows.
3. Build momentum for the DA by attending events and rallies, and show the country how ordinary South Africans like you and me are lining up behind the DA’s positive vision for our country.
4. Join other DA volunteers in local door-to-door registration drives and neighbourhood walks. Activate DA voters to register and vote, and prevent Jacob Zuma from getting the two thirds majority he wants.
5. Grow Helen Zille’s DA volunteer team by asking your family and friends to get involved, and grow the team working to protect our Constitution and safeguard our country’s future.
6. Volunteer to help on Election Day. We need thousands of volunteers to encourage DA voters to go out and vote, on the phones and by going door-to-door. We also need election monitors inside the polling stations on Election Day to help ensure a free and fair election.
:: click here to sign up today ::
Your DA volunteer team is standing by to help you
However you want to help, our team is on standby to assist you.
We are ready to:
* send you lists of 20 voters to call and help you get started
* help you get in touch with newspapers, blogs or talk radio shows
* notify you of events and door-to-door registration drives in your area, and
* interact with you about how you’d like to help out on election day in your area.
Take action today
Thousands of South Africans are already giving a few minutes of their time to stop Jacob Zuma from getting a two thirds majority next year. By signing up today, you can too. Help secure our country’s future by taking any of the easy-to-do actions listed here. Your DA volunteer team is standing by to help.
Sign up today to contribute to change, and help build a safe, secure and prosperous South Africa for all our people.
:: Yes, I want to join Helen Zille’s DA team! ::
Sincerely,
Johan van der Berg
DA National Volunteer Coordinator
PS – our country cannot afford a two thirds majority for Jacob Zuma and his radical allies. By volunteering today, you can help Helen Zille and the DA stop them. Decide how you want to get involved, and spend as much time helping as you’d like. Click here now to join the thousands of South Africans who are already giving a few minutes of their time!
You are getting this email message from the democratic Alliance because we need your help to secure a bright prosperous future we know our country is capable of delivering to all South Africans. If you would no longer like to receive email updates from the Democratic Alliance, CLICK HERE.
I haven’t placed in all the links that the email featured because they were repetitive and redundant. There were approximately 11 links to the very same page in the email. They all pointed to www.contributetochange.org. Which seems to be innocent enough yet is actually a DA site that is further embarking on a smear campaign.
Please don’t misundertand my intention here, I am well aware of the nature of politics, I know that there are smear campaigns, I know it’s a cutthroat business. But let me ask you this: After reading this email would you vote for the DA because you wanted to vote for the DA or because you were scared of Jacob Zuma and his supporters?
I think the latter. I am sorry but I would rather not vote than vote out of a feeling of fear invoked by another political party. These tactics are reminiscent of the Bush “Terrorism” propaganda that was fed to millions of people in the USA which allowed Bush a second term in office. And look how well that turned out for the world.
The DA got this one hopelessly wrong in my opinion.
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