I just got this in my mailbox, which I always find interesting to see how campaigns communicate with those they consider their “friendlys”.

Dear Patrick,
The same shadowy right-wing group that aired vile and disgusting ads smearing David in 2010 is back and its leaders are promising to do everything they can to try yet again to tear him down. Among the group’s major backers is a Texas billionaire who gave millions to the Swift Boat campaign that trashed John Kerry’s service record in 2004 and who is now helping to fund Karl Rove’s attacks in races across the country.
We need your help right now to push back against this coordinated far-right attack on David. Please donate $125, $75, $50 or $15 now so we will have the resources to combat their misinformation.
This group said after the 2010 election that David should be “looking over his shoulder for the next two years,” and they are gearing up for an all-out assault this campaign. It’s not going to be about the issues or who can best bring jobs to Rhode Island and fight for the middle-class. Instead, they are going to run nasty, deceptive character attacks that insult the intelligence of all of us.
There are some big choice facing Rhode Islanders in this upcoming election and we need to make sure we have the resources to make this race about who will best deliver for Rhode Island.
We need you to get David’s back. Please donate $125, $75, $50 or $25 today.
Thanks,
Eric Hyers
Campaign Manager

I see a few things missing from this correspondence. First, how about any attribution. Mr. Hyers is claiming that some “shadowy right-wing group” is out to get David. Is that true? I have no idea. I see no evidence of it. Or does Mr. Hyers simply believe that because he says it, it’s true? Not even a reference to a newspaper article or a footnote or anything. I guess we’re just supposed to trust the Cicilline campaign. How’s that worked out for us so far?

Also, they refer to a “Texas billionaire” without naming him or her. Right, from Texas. We can pretty easily figure out that the game being played here is “guilt by association”. Our previous president was from Texas and we all know that only bad people come from Texas.
Mr Hyers also wrote:

It’s not going to be about the issues or who can best bring jobs to Rhode Island and fight for the middle-class.

Oh no? What’s it going to be about? Sending emails with unsubstantiated allegations about an unnamed boogeyman seemingly making out of context threats against your candidate? I have an idea Mr. Hyers. How about explaining what then-Mayor Cicilline did to help the city of Providence during the eight years he ran the city. What did he do to prevent the current situation? I think we know that answer.
Ok, ok, you don’t want to make this race about what the former mayor did for the city of Providence. You want to make this about what the sitting Congressman has done for Rhode Island over the last two years in office. Let’s see. There was a bill about a stamp collection. And there was…hmm. <crickets>
Ahh, I remember. During the last campaign, we saw commercials for “Make it in America” featuring the then-candidate Cicilline. He told us of his plans to bring jobs back to America and more specifically back to Rhode Island. So what exactly has the Congressman done to promote jobs for Rhode Islanders. Who is Eric Hyers, the current campaign chairman for David Cicilline? Until recently, he was the executive director for the Democratic party…in Connecticut.
Not a single Rhode Islander was qualified to run this campaign? At least Cicilline put an American to work, even if he was from Connecticut.