In case you missed it, State Senate candidate George Harris mailed a letter to voters in District 8 which included a real dollar bill inside.
If you missed the story, click here.
Now here’s the thing…
George KNEW somebody – probably in the media – was going to make a stink about it and accuse him of trying to “buy” votes.
And sure enough, yesterday he received a text from one of liberal blubber-blogger Jon Ralston’s reporters at the Nevada Independent asking about it.
For the record, Ralston hates George with the white-hot intensity of a thousand suns (h/t: Diane Chambers). So it was not a surprise that he would sic one of his cub reporters on the mailer.
“In our weekly elections newsletter I’m mentioning the $1 bills you’re sending out to voters,” wrote Kate Reynolds. “I’m very curious about this strategy, it’s very innovative.”
Duh. Ya think?
But in reality, it’s not really innovative at all.
The “dollar bill letter” – engineered and perfected by copywriting legend Gary Halbert – has been around in the business marketing universe for over 50 years.
It’s just that most – almost all – political consultants study “politics” instead of direct response marketing. So they’ve never heard about it.
George just applied a tried-and-true marketing strategy to his campaign knowing full well it would upset his opponents and make “fake news” media heads explode.
Ms. Reynolds went on to write:
“I’m wondering if you are worried at all about the legality of the move (such as if it’s illegal to send voters money) or if you consulted with a lawyer before deciding to send out the money.”
Yes, deep research was done on the issue. And yes, George addressed the concern about “buying” votes in the letter, in which he clearly stated:
“No – this is not a bribe. If a dollar could buy your vote, we’d have a much bigger problem on our hands. I sent it because I needed to get your attention.”
Yes, for marketing professionals the main objective is, indeed, to grab attention to the letter being sent. And clearly George was successful in that regard.
And when you think about it, attaching a dollar bill is really no different from attaching a bumper sticker or those pre-printed self-addressed labels charities send with their fundraising letters.
In fact, the only concern raised was over the initial plan to have each dollar bill stamped with George’s name on the front for people to tape to their refrigerators or mirrors to remind them to vote for him.
THAT could be construed as “defacing” the currency, so that idea got “86’ed.”
Of course, Ralston & Company decidedly wanted to do a story claiming George had broken some campaign law, so they contacted “two experts on campaign finance and elections law.”
But they drilled a dry hole. Came up with bupkis.
The two experts concluded that “they thought Harris’ move was legal.” University of Rochester political science professor David Primo added:
“The token amount in the mailer, combined with the symbolism the candidate ascribes to the dollar in writing his campaign mailer, makes it hard for me to imagine any court would judge this as an attempt to ‘buy’ votes.”
Sorry, Jonny. You missed again.
You can be pretty darned sure the voters who received the “dollar bill letter” read it. And after reading it, many will surely come to the conclusion that George is the best man for the job to reverse the incredible shrinking dollar.
That’s the difference between traditional political propaganda employed by most “professional” consultants today…and persuasion marketing.
Geroge is not only the best qualified candidate in this race, but he’s running a great – though decidedly unorthodox – campaign. His earlier “protect dogs and cats” letter really hit an emotional chord with voters in the district.
And his use of “weird holiday” memes on X (@GeorgeHarris4NV) and social media – has been different and outstanding. Here’s just one recent example:
And then there are his yard signs. Everybody else uses the same rectangular sign with only the names changed.
Not George. He paid the extra money to have his signs die-cut so they’d stand out among the sea of “same ‘ol” signs put up by every other candidate.
In the marketing world it’s generally understood that being “different” is more persuasive than being “better.”
Just look at Spenser Pratt’s campaign for mayor of Los Angeles.
They not like us pic.twitter.com/78hducHDUE
— Spencer Pratt (@spencerpratt) April 29, 2026
By the numbers, this guy shouldn’t be anything more than a blip on the political radar screen. But Pratt actually has a real shot at pulling off a miracle.
Not because he’s “better” – the other candidates have more experience, money, and political connections.
But because his campaign is decidedly “different.”
Nothing’s guaranteed in any election, but I’m guessing George’s campaign is going to win the primary in a couple weeks…and then he gets to do it all over again in his effort to flip this blue seat red in the general election.
I’ll bet a $1 dollar he pulls it off.
