Colin Strother is a campaign consultant for State Rep. Dawnna Dukes, D-Austin, who's in a primary race against newcomer Brian Thompson in her East Austin district. After I saw that Dukes advertised for canvassers, it was clear that there would be an on-the-ground campaign for the district.

So I emailed Strother, asking how many volunteers signed up as a result of the ad. Strother responded and then some, and he never indicated at any point that he wanted to go off the record. Below is what he had to say in its entirety. Previously, I have summed up his comments or used a direct quote that he designated as a usable quote, but his full response speaks more honestly.

From: elisehu@yahoo.com

To: colinstrother@XXXXX.com
Subject: craigslist ad
Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2008 21:34:57 -0600

Colin,
I just saw a screengrab of this craigslist ad for Dukes volunteers.
Do you have a number on how many volunteers responded to the ad and have joined the campaign?

Thanks,
Elise

----- Original Message -----
From: colin strother
To: Elise
Sent: Monday, January 28, 2008 10:03 PM
Subject: RE: craigslist ad

are you serious?

From: elisehu@yahoo.com
To: colinstrother@XXXX.com
Subject: Re: craigslist ad
Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2008 22:24:07 -0600

Yes. I'm covering the campaign and asking a question, political campaigns are open to questions and she's a public official. If you choose not to answer that's absolutely fine, I'm just asking.

Thanks,
Elise

----- Original Message -----
From: colin strother
To: Elise
Sent: Monday, January 28, 2008 10:38 PM
Subject: RE: craigslist ad

Wow, defensive much? It sounded like a joke. It sounded like you were poking fun at people trying to make an issue out of us hiring campaign workers. I was just asking if you really wanted an answer.

If you want to follow the lead of Capitol Annex and BOR on every story, go ahead. If you call that "covering the campaign", so be it.

You're not the only one allowed to ask questions, Elise. Your poor attitude whenever I have questions are a major problem. I'm well aware that I can or cannot respond to questions...I'm not sure YOU understand that.

All I asked in this situation was if you were serious. You need to calm down a little bit.

Response to your inquiry for the record:

"We're activitely recruiting paid canvassers on college campuses, community organizations, Democratic groups, and craigslist.

From my experience, craigslist is a great place to recruit field folks. I know of several local groups that use it to great success.

We've been inundated with offers to volunteer. We've hired and trained sufficient paid canvassers to execute both our field and GOTV plans. I'm not at liberty to disclose the numbers of staff, be they paid or volunteer."

you're welcome.
c.

p.s. Dawnna will get re-elected on March 4th. Both of us are going to be around here for a long time. We'd both like to have a productive and friendly relationship with you moving forward.