March 31, 2021 11:20 AM UTC

Hey Libs! Want $200 In Koch Bucks?

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• by: Colorado Pols

The Colorado Springs Gazette’s political blog reports on a mailing list-building gimmick from the nationwide conservative advocacy group Americans For Prosperity’s Colorado chapter, who is apparently giving away five (count ’em) $200 prepaid gas cards to five lucky winners who provide the group with their contact information:

Jesse Mallory, the conservative organization’s state director and the former chief of staff to the state Senate Republicans, announced the giveaway Tuesday afternoon.

“While legislators have been hard at work trying to find ways to make Coloradans pay more at the pump, we’ve been spending time looking for ways to help struggling families,” he said. “We decided to offer $200 gas cards to five families to help pay for the legislature’s gas tax proposal.

Now first of all, five $200 gift cards adds up to a whopping $1,000 total budget for this promotion, and in an era where millions of Americans are getting economic relief checks this comes across as a bit, well, cheap–especially given how lavishly AFP is funded by its nationwide network of well-heeled donors. If Charles Koch and friends wanted to make a real splash in opposition to the state’s $4 billion transportation plan, they’d give away 5,000 $200 gift cards not five. And they could afford it.

At the same time, to adjust the old saying for inflation, $200 is $200! We’re not going to give you $200, so we’d be remiss if we didn’t at least let our readers know where to sign up. Make sure not to unsubscribe until you find out if you win.

Are we diluting the effectiveness of this conservative list-building exercise by publicizing it outside AFP’s regular studio audience? Probably.

Feel bad all the way to the bank, readers.