Friends,

Holy smokes, folks. I wasn’t expecting that strong a reaction.

I send one email about how friendly Subaru owners are and I get hundreds of responses all proving my point. My inbox was hit by the friendliest tsunami of all time.

Apparently it got passed around Subaru circles. Subaru dealers even read it to the staff at morning meetings. And I think I heard from about half the state of Vermont.

But the best part were the requests to expand the Subaru Exception beyond the car, beyond the bird feeders, or purple paint, or yard art.

So if you’re knocking doors for a campaign, here are the houses people say will give you a warm welcome:

• If they keep chickens
• If they’ve got a little pond with a bench
• If you can see a waterslide in their backyard
• If they have a decorative stone path that winds to the front door
• If there’s a telescope in the window
• If they have kumquat trees (had to look those up…)
• If they grow heirloom tomatoes
• If their mailbox has a peacock instead of the normal red flag
• Many other automobile suggestions, prominently including electric vehicles but also several votes for antique trucks and wood-panel station wagons

I honestly have no idea how to turn this into a fundraising email at this point. It’s just been a unique experience.

So I’ll say this: One of the things that makes this campaign a little different is we create space for unexpected things to happen, and we do that by actually engaging with people. Believe it or not, that’s a different approach in today’s politics.

I think it helps me do the job better, and I think it’s what you deserve.

And if you think I’m right about that — here it comes — I’d appreciate your support for our campaign.

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Drive on,
Jeff