When Ugly Works

Hard-hitting finish

After more copy about the importance of early money, how 90 percent of the DSCC's budget is funded by individuals giving less than $200 and the fierce nature of the right-wing campaign machine, the letter ends with, "It's your turn to be the firewall."

Hitting the firewall theme hard, an insert offers an "Official DSCC 2012 Firewall" tote bag for a gift of $35 or more. It's printed on plain, white stock and is very unslick compared to most back-end premium offers. On the back, a picture of former senior advisor to President George W. Bush Karl Rove with his hand raised appears to be grabbing out at you. And we're back to Courier again with a headline screaming about outside groups spending $130 million in the last election and urging the recipient to "BE THE FIREWALL IN 2012."