Will Prop. 38’s Micro Appeal Work?

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Here’s an interesting mailer that we got a couple of days ago from the folks supporting Prop. 38, which would raise taxes in California to provide additional funding to schools. It’s personalized to me—or to my zip code—and tells me just how much extra money my local schools would get if 38 passes. Clever!

And yet…oddly wrong. Of those three schools, only the middle school is near me. The two elementary schools are a couple of miles away even though I have two elementary schools within half a mile of my house. (Not to mention the nearby high school.) Does that mean that my local elementary schools wouldn’t get any Prop. 38 money? Or just that the Yes on 38 campaign uses a really lousy mapping program?

I don’t know. But I’m curious: does an appeal to such naked local self-interest work? It might! Something about it feels ineffective, though, as if the gameplaying is a little too obvious. Opinions?

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