That being said, incumbents in all level of government use, as you term it, more sophisticated schemes to make political hay all of the time.

Under the guise of keeping constituents informed, mailings are often targeted to particular constituents to beef up an incumbent's resume with that particular voting bloc.  A mailer that highlights labor votes might be mailed to all union members, while another mailer that emphasizes environmental concerns might go out to an entirely different mailing list.

Is it campaign material?  No.  But, when candidacy is all but assured among incumbents, it serves the exact same purpose.  I griped last week about Bart Stupak's stimulus report...it was a mailing that provided Bart with the exact same exposure that Dennis' did.  I can only assume that Bart will not be paying back the taxpayers for his propaganda's postage.

I do not applaud what Lennox has (allegedly) done, but I am just as disgusted by the routine manner in which many politicians abuse their stewardship of the public coffers for their own personal gain.