Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, a Democrat.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images; Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Marco Rubio, John Fetterman, and several other politicians have sent out fundraising emails that tout sleepless nights and no days off.
Recently, “quiet quitting” and self-care routines have taken social media by storm.
Both Democrats and Republicans have sent messages glorifying hustle culture.
Work-life balance in politics sounds like an paradox, especially in a year when a critical midterm election is taking place.
But in an age of “quiet quitting” — rejecting hustle culture and subtly dialing it back at work — several politicians have sent out fundraising emails that talk about all-night work and “not taking days off,” effectively glorifying working oneself to death.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which organizes and fundraises to reelect Democratic senators, sent an email that said, “We REFUSE to take off-days or abandon our fundraising goals in the face of Trump’s megadonors,” pointing to Marco Rubio, Ron Johnson, and Rand Paul as three vulnerable Republicans that Democrats can defeat with financial support.
Democrat John Fetterman, lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania and candidate for US Senate to represent the Keystone State, said much the the same in multiple fundraising emails.
“We have less than 7 weeks to ensure I defeat Dr. freakin’ Oz AND this race could literally make or break our Democratic Senate Majority. So screw it, we’re not going to take a single day off. ” he said in the emails, taking a jab at Mehmet Oz, his controversial opponent in the Senate race.
John Fetterman campaign
Fetterman took weeks off the campaign trail earlier this year while recovering from a stroke in May. Afterward, he expressed regret for avoiding doctor visits: “I should have taken my health more seriously.”
Asked about the fundraising email, Joe Calvello, Fetterman’s communication director, told Insider: “We only have a few weeks left till election day, our campaigning is going to finish strong and run through the tape.”
In an email that prompted receivers to “sign” a digital card thanking Anthony Fauci for his service to the country, the 314 Action Fund — a Democrat-supporting political action committee — glorified Fauci for not taking days off.
“During the first two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr. Fauci refused to take even a single day off,” the PAC says in its email, which later solicits readers for a donation. “Now, his highly decorated time in public service is drawing to an end after half a century.”
Fauci, a chief medical adviser to the president since Ronald Reagan and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, became a household name during the coronavirus pandemic. He plans to vacate his positions as NIAID director and chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden in December.
Members of the Republican Party have also participated in glorifying hustle culture.
The latest fundraising email from Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida said his campaign manager, Mark Morgan, hasn’t slept in days. Then they sent a text saying Morgan hasn’t slept in weeks.
Marco Rubio campaign
“We promise you everyone is working around the clock, day and night, to defeat the radical Left,” they said in the email. “In fact, our campaign manager hasn’t slept in days because the Left is flooding in millions and it’s only getting more and more expensive to fight back.”
Marco Rubio campaign
Morgan did not respond to Insider’s requests for comment.
Rubio’s campaign has company in Republican Herschel Walker.
Walker, a former NFL running back who is challenging Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock to represent Georgia in the US Senate, sent out an email urging his supporters to donate, saying they’re “not taking any days off.”
“We’re putting in everything we have,” the email reads.
Walker held a narrow two-point lead over Warnock, a recent poll released by The Atlanta-Journal Constitution showed, with 46% of likely Georgia voters supporting Republican Walker and 44% backing the Democratic incumbent.
“Failure is not an option,” Herschel said in his fundraising email, in all caps.
Walker shares that sentiment with Ryan Zinke, the Republican nominee for Montana’s 1st Congressional District.
Zinke, a retired Navy veteran, referred back to his days training aboard a ship, where there was a brass bell sailors could ring if they wanted out of the grueling course. If they rang the bell three times, their chances of becoming a Navy SEAL was over, the email said.
“The bell teaches an important lesson: it’s easy to be a quitter,” Zinke said in the email. “However, as a 23-year veteran with countless combat tours, I’ll tell you something else: it PAYS to be a winner.”