For the millions of Americans on the radar of Kamala Harris And Donald Trump campaigns and those of their allies, the apocalypse is just a text message away.

The very future of the republic is at stake, some texts say and many others imply. But you – yes, YOU, Sally, Jose or insert your first name here – can save it. For as little as $7.

Texting is a simple, inexpensive way to reach potential voters and donors, without all the rules meant to keep traditionally paid broadcast advertising somewhat honest. Both parties are working aggressively on the SMS pipeline. In the final days of the campaign, phone pings can be incessant.

“All day, every day,” Robyn Beyah said of the torrent while waiting in line to attend a Kamala Harris rally outside Atlanta last week. “They have my number. We’re practically best friends.”

Beyah is cool with this. She considers the text bombardment “harmless” because it’s a candidate she believes in. She even invites the Harris campaign to “harass me with text messages.” Not all voters are so charitable.

“To be honest with you, at this point I put it out of my brain,” said Ebenezer Eyasu of Stone Mountain, Ga., standing in the same Harris rally line. He said the dozen text messages he receives each day have become “background noise.”

Sarah Wiggins, a 26-year-old graphic designer from Kennesaw, Ga., who supports Harris, prefers face-to-face persuasion. “I feel like it’s all about the people around you,” she said. “Word of mouth is underrated.” As for the texts, “I just deleted them, to be honest. I don’t want to read them.”

Many Trump supporters are also being harassed. At his rally in Tempe, Arizona, last week, several people said they were mildly aggravated about it.

“They’re more annoying than anything else,” said Morse Lawrence, 57, a physician’s assistant from Mesa, Arizona. “I’m also bombarded with text messages outside of politics. People want to buy my house, people want to sell me insurance, that’s it.”

He believes it’s an effective marketing strategy for campaigns, even if the vast majority of recipients don’t bite. “You go fishing and you catch two fish, you have a meal for the day.”

Jennifer Warnke, 57, of St. John’s, Ariz., also at the Trump rally, expressed mixed feelings about what’s happening on her phone.

“At least they are reaching out to me, because for years no one ever called me,” she said. “I’ve been a Republican all my life and no one has ever called me.”

She added: “It’s boring, but it’s almost over.”

Trump’s campaign, while solely focused on selling hats via text messages, shares some traits with the Democrats.

Both sides exchange dire warnings if the other side wins. Both invent false deadlines to encourage you to hurry with your money. Both play on the fantasy that luminaries — whether Harris, Trump, George Clooney, Nancy Pelosi or Donald Trump Jr. — are texting you personally, instead of the machines that actually are.

The texts under Trump Jr.’s name have a twist, even if they are transparent: “Please don’t give $5 to help dad before his critical deadline. I’m serious. Don’t do it. …Let me explain.”

The explanation is a link to a page asking for much more than $5. You can choose $20.24 if you’re a fundamental Trump supporter in 2024 or $47 if you think the 45th president was the greatest ever and want to make him the 47th.

Trump himself seems to be very interested in merchandising. “I’m sending you a golden MAGA hat!” speak texts in his name. “Should I sign it?”

Type in and you see that the MAGA hat with gold letters will cost you $50. But there is more.

“Here’s my offer,” says the digital Trump. “If you place your order before the midnight deadline, I can add my signature and a little personal note right on the edge! » Maybe – or not.

Thirteen days after Election Day, as she prepared to take the stage for a CNN town hall, Harris took a moment to confide in a Virginian she doesn’t know at all. At least this is the scene sketched by a text in his name.

“Hi Chris, it’s Kamala Harris,” the message said. “It would mean the world to me if you added another donation to our campaign in front of my town hall on CNN tonight. Donald Trump and his allies are currently outspending us in battleground states.”

A donation of $40 is suggested. No hats are offered. Despite the message’s angst about money, Harris’ campaign and affiliated Democratic groups raised more than $1 billion in a few months and maintained a significant financial advantage over Trump in the campaign’s final leg.

Ping: “It’s Elizabeth Warren. »

Ping: “From Trump: I just left MCDONALD’S.”

Ping: “We asked NINE TIMES if you supported Kamala Harris…but you never responded to the survey.”

Ping: “I just got off the debate stage.” – signed by Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

Ping: “This is a F#@%ING BIG DEAL.” – on behalf of Democratic strategist James Carville.

Ping: “It’s Nancy Pelosi. I need you to see this.”

Ping: “But you didn’t intervene to defend our majority in the Senate!?! Rush $7 now.”

Ping: “I have a McGift for you!” It’s President Trump. Want to take a look?

Despite the nonsensical tone of some presidential campaign texts, experts say you can reasonably be sure that donations to official candidates’ campaigns or major party organizations will be used for their intended purposes.

But there are plenty of other groups out there clamoring for your money this election season, but not all of them are legitimate and it takes work to fix that. Some voter mobilization groups that claim to be funded by the left, for example, may be right-wing troublemakers or simply seek to collect personal information about you.

This month, the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin wrote to U.S. and state attorneys general reporting that thousands of fraudulent text messages from an anonymous source had been sent to young people threatening $10,000 fines. $ or prison time if they voted in a state where they are. not the right to vote.

The scam was intended to intimidate out-of-state students who are legally eligible to vote in Wisconsin if they attend college there, or to vote at home, the letter said.

Last weekend, thousands of Pennsylvania voters received a text message falsely claiming they had already voted in the election, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported Monday. It involved AllVote, which election officials have repeatedly reported as a scam, according to the newspaper. The group said the false statement was the result of a typo.

Experts advise reading the fine print at the bottom of any fundraising link you open. It should state the name of the group and where the money will go.

From there, people can go to sites like OpenSecrets or the Federal Election Commission to see the distribution of income and spending by groups registered as political action committees. High overhead costs and little or no spending on advertising or canvassing are red flags.

Despite all these pitfalls, Beverly Payne of Cumming, Ga., who once voted for Harris and volunteered for her, welcomes the pings.

“I get texts every 30 minutes and I respond to every single one,” Payne said. One of the favorites was for an ice cream flavor launched for Harris by Ben & Jerry’s, Kamala’s Coconut Jubilee covered in caramel and topped with red, white and blue star sprinkles. “I had to donate for it,” she said.

“It’s our culture now, we’re all addicted,” Payne said of the texts and Harris’ use of them. “Maybe that’s why she has a billion dollars.”