I didn’t see any, but it was supposedly a problem. Political spam, that is.

Guess my filters still work. Good.

Graywolf’s SEO Blog notes that spammers are increasingly using political keywords in their message. Advise is being provided - if you can’t win an election (even with the unlimited internet usage rules now in effect), a candidate can at least make some money off the keywords.

***UPDATE***

I say just get a MySpace account - you get a virus instead of a supporter.

First, it was news about who killed JFK. Now it’s former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, killed by a terrorist of course. The spam arrives with a trojan attached which infects Windows machines, turning them into spaghetti strainers.

With all the political spam headed your way (not my way, as I have cross-referenced a blacklist against registered candidates nationwide, I wonder how long it will be until candidates are spamming on behalf of opposing candidates, to piss people off and trash their computers in the process.

Loopholes in CAN-SPAM, along with various legislative tweaks, make it easy for politicos to spam the daylights out of you this election season. Laws or no laws, they’d probably do it anyway. Since political advertisement in election seasons usually involves a whole lotta mudslinging, that is what you should expect. Techdirt thinks it will get downright ugly, and with shadow 527s, net anonymity, and general stupidity, don’t be shocked at what is coming your way.

The question is easily answered..no.

Unfortunately, they do it anyway..over and over and over again. Even the non-profits with partisan leanings get into the act, although they sometimes pick the wrong kind of target, in the worst kind of way.

Actually, I should be saying “Spamming from the Judge,” as that is exactly what happened down in Arkansas.

The footer of the message looked like this:

The Judge Griffen for Justice Campaign obtained your email address from a direct marketing provider. The provider gives us email addresses of people who have indicated that marketers may use their email address to inform them about products, information, or services. Our Campaign does not use your email address for any purpose other than to communicate with you about the campaign.

I don’t see any opt-out link in there. Then again, maybe Judges don’t need opt-out in their messages.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen campaign spam, and I doubt it will be the last.