Most of us won’t get a normal Thanksgiving this year, but today I am thankful for DougJ.
We all know that every little bit helps, and we know that it all adds up, but holy shit – I never dreamed that our collective giving at BJ could add up to what it has.
The Four Directions people wondered what the heck Balloon Juice was and how we came to be giving to them, boosting their fundraising to “advance equality at the ballot box across Indian Country.” How did we get there? A series of tiny little acts.
MazeDancer talked about Four Directions in the comments during the primary. A couple of weeks ago, Kattails mentioned 4 groups banding together to try to raise 10,000 to set up a shuttle service to get Navajo voters to the polls, many of whom live 50 miles from a polling station, hoping to mobilize 38,000 voters. I forwarded the information to DougJ in case he had missed it. That group wasn’t set up in ActBlue, but Four Directions was one of the 4 groups, and they were in ActBlue, so DougJ put up the BJ thermometer.
I would like to think that a whole lot of people are getting to vote today who might not have been able to vote otherwise.
And that’s just one example. Every person who wrote a comment that said “my congressperson could use some help” or “this state senate candidate is really great, can we help her” – every person who did that made a difference.
From a series of small actions here at BJ, we created a wave. Maybe even our own tsunami.
Every person here who donated, or wrote a comment, or did some research, or worked for a campaign, or worked to get out the vote, or is working at the polls today, every bit of that time and money made a difference, and got us where we are today. We don’t know the outcome yet, but I like our prospects. I like our team, and I’m proud of who we are and what we’ve done.
It was DougJ who gave us this particular outlet for our desire to do something. Our money helped some people vote who couldn’t have otherwise. It gave candidates options. It put ads on the air, it put flyers in our mailboxes, and yes, sent annoying text messages to our phones. It gave people hope, including us.
For all of that, and more, thank you, Doug!
Pooh
????????
Baud
Three cheers!
Also, NYT Pitch Bot is making a name for itself.
Splitting Image
It was very satisfying to hear about Four Directions getting in touch. It’s easy to wonder if a couple of small donations to a website make any real difference in the big scheme of things, but if the money goes to the right places it can make a real difference to people’s lives.
A huzzah for DougJ and everyone who contributed.
Now show that orange fucker the door.
SFBayAreaGal
Thank you DougJ
cthulhu
Hear, hear!!
trollhattan
Hear-hear!
First step, thousand-mile journey, etc. Thinking back the seeming two decades to the 2018 midterms, folks were heartened that the pushback against Trumpism was real and not illusory. But achieving dreams takes work and good people have been working hard for today, even since. This is a perfect example.
Well done.
lee
Thanks DougJ! The hilarious thing is I can’t remember if Four Directions was one I donated to or not as there were so many.
zhena gogolia
Thanks, DougJ.
Josie
Kudos to DougJ for his fundraising efforts and also to you, WaterGirl, for your hard work and constant encouragement. I can’t say enough good things about this blog and what it has done for my sanity.
Omnes Omnibus
I usually gave outside of the confines of DougJ’s thermometers*, but I am happy as hell that they were here and that we made a difference.
*I stayed local this year. Except for Biden/Harris, all of my contributions were in WI. We better fucking win. Damn it.
dmsilev
Thanks, indeed!
No matter how tonight goes, we fought the good fight. Raising money. Writing postcards. Phoning and texting. Organizing. Pushing. Now we wait.
patrick II
I don’t follow politics as carefully as many people here, but I wanted to spend money on Senate races that could use some money and actually had a chance. Dougj came back with some recommendations a little while later that guided my donations. So I thank him for taking a few minutes and a thoughtful answer.
And I would also like to thank WaterGirl, not just for her technical services, but for her brightening this place up. There is a wonderful blend of personalities that contribute here and WaterGirl is a great balance to some of our more necessarily dour partners. Thanks, WaterGirl, it’s like this site is now in color.
Pooh
@Omnes Omnibus: lets go!
debbie
The tweets alone are priceless!
debbie
@patrick II:
Seconded!
natem
Not in this Ohio bar
dmsilev
Do we have an estimate as to the grand total? Both number of people and dollars raised?
UncleEbeneezer
This effort by DougJ, WaterGirl and everyone here has been excellent. I’m so proud that one of my fave political blogs really stepped up to ACTION when it is most needed. As I wrote to my own Indivisible group this morning:
laura
Doug made it easy to donate and he made it hard to live with one’s self until one donated…. again.
Croaker
Thank you DougJ
kindness
Thank you DougJ and everyone. This community is good people.
KSinMA
Here’s to DougJ–and WaterGirl!
oldster
Hear hear!
Huge value added by directing us to the causes and candidates where our dollars could make the most difference.
For stingy bastards like me, it means a lot to know that my money is not just symbolic, and my donations are not just tantrums. I want to get Dems elected, not piss into the wind.
Doug J, you helped us see which way the wind is blowing. Many thanks for that.
randy khan
There are many things to love about BJ, but everything DougJ has done is high on the list (along with the titles of his posts).
Haroldo
Thanks, DougJ (and ActBlue offers its gratitude also).
topclimber
So say we all.
swiftfox
Always leery of giving my cc information but I took the plunge and gave to Peters, Hegar, Bollier, and Jones. It’s possible that none of them will win. Except for Peters, none had unsubscribe options and getting the 20 unwanted emails a day was a pain. But worth it.
raven
Awesome job Dawg!
Meyerman
Thanks to DougJ! And to everyone that has kept fighting to save this country from its worst.
DK
First Tim F., now Doug J.
Not bad for an almost top 10,000 blog.
Kathleen
Thank you Doug and WaterGirl and everyone here for their heart , hard work and generosity. You have been my salvation!
Eric NNY
Great work DougJ and everyone else too!
WaterGirl
@DK: I keep gently nudging Tim F. to return. Every hopeful, one of these days…
narya
Thank you DougJ and WaterGirl, and all of the other jackals who provide me with a sane(ish) place to go. I have been relatively fortunate this year, as these things go–and I will submit kitchen pics, I promise, so you can see where my dollars went this year.
mali muso
Chiming in to echo the thanks that others have given. DougJ, my credit card probably does not thank you because the BJ thermometers made it so darn easy to click through and donate to so many great campaigns.
Sab
I didn’t give through Doug’s thermometer, but every time he posted I gave, mostly but not always local.
Sort of off topic. Tim Ryan of Youngstown/Akron OH finally has a real opponent. She doesn’t even live in the district. I Googled her to see how horrible she might be, and she was much worse than advertised. Women that empty really should just stay home amd run the vaccuum cleaner (and send their kids to school so mom has no impact on their thought processes.)
But now Google knows I am interested. This makes me very happy every time I see one of her ads and know that her campaign is wasting precious campaign money on reaching me.
Fair Economist
DougJ’s thermometers have been the best part of blogging ever for me. I gave a lot, and cherish every penny. Planning to set up some monthly donations to state legislative groups after the election.
Leto
Hats off to DougJ and WaterGirl. Just an amazing amount of work they’ve done. And thanks to the community for stepping up and putting in the work, in whatever way we could.
KRK
Hear, hear!
Malovich
Hear hear!
Cheryl Rofer
Amazing job by DougJ, both here and on Twitter. I’d love to know the totals after today.
mad citizen
1,000 thank yous to DougJ and WaterGirl! Well done!
MazeDancer
Standing O for Doug!
And you, too, Watergirl!
Big jobs, so well done!
Miss Bianca
I didn’t have a lot to donate this year – why in the world did I think buying a horse was going to be a good idea?! – and I mostly stuck to donating to my local races and to CO ballot issue awareness – but I so appreciate what DougJ and all you other jackals did. Thank you all so much.
Aleta
DougJ your posts make this blog a focused place committed to serving democracy. thanks.
germy
Citizen Scientist
Absolutely! Thanks Doug, WaterGirl,(and the whole community here as well)! All the info from BJ allowed the spousal unit and I to better target our donation dollars this year, including to the Four Winds Fund. Also, this community’s action and positive vibes got both of us to call and text bank for causes from here in PA to Planned Parenthood in NC (for Cal), MI, WI, etc. Thanks so much all!!! I really feel like team blue left it all on the field this year, let’s keep it going with a Howard Dean scream!
I’m sure that entirely unrelated NYT pitch bot will have some great headlines today. ;)
rikyrah
Many thanks to Dougj.
He has been vigilant….
and, the money has added up.
We started big, and I loved us getting down to the smaller races.
Every race counts :)
PS – do we get more baby pictures as a reward ? :)
Aleta
@Miss Bianca: A: Because buying a horse is a good idea!
grumbles
DougJ is that magical substance that turns grumpy message board ranting into functional politicians.
I’m so very glad he’s on our side.
frosty
Thanks to DougJ I spent my stimulus check and then some on the thermometers. Kudos!!
Barbara
Yes, so many thanks to Doug.
rp
Thank you!
wvng
Thank you Dougj. You made BJ my go to place to best target my donations, with handy portals to do it.
Gin & Tonic
@WaterGirl: He doesn’t have to return, just send in a couple of pics of Max.
Omnes Omnibus
@Miss Bianca: Think of it in comparative terms. Buying a horse makes more sense than buying a platypus. So, great idea. Well done, you!
Eunicecycle
@Sab: ug she used to be our state representative. She basically took her dad’s seat. Yes she is pretty worthless. I got into a pissing match with her on our paper’s editorial page once over Obamacare. She said it would force her family’s small business into bankruptcy. I pointed out they only employed 3 people so weren’t forced to cover their employees, and that as a rep she should know what she’s talking about. She shot back some gobbledygook nonsense.
H.E.Wolf
Amen. Thank you.
WaterGirl
@rikyrah: He has been quite stingy with the baby pictures! :-)
geg6
DougJ and WaterGirl (and the lamentedly absent TimF) have done great work here, getting funds raised and voting plans set over the last many years. And the Jackals have come through big time. No matter what happens, we should be proud.
neldob
Yay Doug! Yay Watergirl!
WaterGirl
@Gin & Tonic: You are bad!
John Cole
ehh fuck dougj
Miss Bianca
@Omnes Omnibus: No platypuses (platypusi? – that sounds kind of obscene), but have given serious thought to hedgehogs as a result of one too many wake-up calls from the doggoes early in the morning. I haven’t quite got to the point of saying, “you can be replaced, you know!” to Watson and Roxy. But I have thought it on occasion.
Sab
Watergirl: Past the deadline but can I send you my pet pics today?
gkoutnik
We used Doug’s recommendations to focus our giving during the last six months. We really appreciate the work done to provide these recommendations and make sure everything works. Thanks, Doug!
And – agree that Water Girl classes up the joint.
Mousebumples
@Omnes Omnibus: I also gave local, but i largely used the thermometers for WisDems or my local US house race, which was in one of the flippable lists.
I also gave some money to 3 wish Senate races – MT, KS, and AL. Not sure if we’ll win any of those, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed. ???
Thanks, Doug, Watergirl, and Juicers!
Hunter Gathers
NYT: DougJ has helped raise thousands of dollars for various candidates, but the members of this Ohio klavern feel left out because he won’t raise money for their latest purchase of Trump 2020 flags.
Sab
@Miss Bianca: Things I learn on Balloon Juice: I had no idea that platypuses glow in the dark under black lights, nor do I care since I will never see one in real life glowing or not. But also possums!? Are those American opossums or Australian possums?
ETA apparently it is opossums and also flying squirrels. (Who ever had the time or energy to shine a black light on a flying squirrel. I am impressed.)
Mary G
I’m terrible at nyms so I lurked a long time. Finally some troll pissed me off so I copied Doug and Tim F. Watching Doug lure in the pompous windbag pundits and see how far he could string them along before they twigged to him was so much fun. Also, he has excellent taste in music. I don’t want to add up how much money I’ve coughed up to Act Blue both on and off the blog, but every penny was worth it.
Mary G
@John Cole: Never change, you big fake curmudgeon.
Zelma
Two thousand thanks to Doug. That’s probably what all those thermometers cost me! But I appreciated the research he did and the opportunity to help. I especially appreciated hearing about the less well known candidates.
Now, it’s time to identify the the most-likely-to-be-defeated Republican senators in 2022 and start donating. It’s never too early! I guess I can give to the DSCC until there are Democratic challengers.
WaterGirl
@Sab: You can still get me your pics today. :-)
prostratedragon
The team! The team!
WaterGirl
@Mary G: That comment was right up there with the night we did the big congratulations post for LAMH.
I put up my post, and a few minutes later Cole put up a post titled “I never liked LAMH.”
There go two miscreants
As several other folks have said, DougJ’s posts definitely served to focus my contributions. That was very helpful, and made me more confident that the money could make a difference. Many thanks.
Cheryl from Maryland
Kudos to Watergirl and Dougj for helping us be our best selves in fighting Trumpism.
mali muso
@Zelma: If you’re interested in starting to fund Marco Rubio’s 2022 challenger, there is already a fund (I’m sure one of many) set up for that.
Jim Appleton
@John Cole:
John, I … I think
Seriously, DougJ and WaterGirl, thank you.
frosty
@Zelma: Toomey is bailing so PA will have an open seat in 2022!
Yarrow
Thank you so much, DougJ. And everyone who helped, contributed, did any sort of GOTV and made all of this possible.
Mousebumples
@Zelma: I vote WisDems to help target Sen Johnson’s challenger!
gbbalto
Thanks to DougJ, WaterGirl, and everyone else who helped us focus on they key races.
BethanyAnne
The NY Times Pitchbot is so pitch-perfect that it hurts. /cheers Doug anyway
Another Scott
Very well said, WaterGirl.
Thank you very much DougJ!
What’s the world coming to? Even the dogs are getting in on the act??!!
Cheers,
Scott.
Cowgirl in the Sandi
DougJ and WaterGirl, thank you. And thanks to curmudgeon John too for hosting a site that keeps me sane and informed.
KM in NS
@Aleta: also because buying a unicorn is expensive! ?
KM in NS
Add my thanks to the others! I lurk/read this blog every day. Well done!
Elie
Thanks so much to DougJ and to WaterGirl for ALL you do. I am personally grateful and note your generosity to help our community “do the right thing”. Thanks so much again!
Miss Bianca
@Another Scott: Even dogs love DougJ! Especially champs like Champ!
WaterGirl
@Another Scott: @Miss Bianca:
I followed the link, i swear, but I couldn’t find anything about Champ. Or anything about DougJ or Champ. I did find GG, who is the one I could do without!
matt
Hero! Love NYT Pitchbot too.
dp
Good job!
Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)
Thanks to DougJ I have given much more to Dem candidates and causes than I ever have before*, by a huge margin. I always used his ActBlue thermometers so we would get credit and maybe someday a top 9k blog.
*ActBlue Express is rather insidious, but it gives me warm feelings to spend my Cares Act money for good causes.
jackmac
Yay Doug! Thank you!
RedDirtGirl
Thank you for making giving so easy!
SuzieC
Bravo! Bravo! I gave bigly and appreciated DougJ’s recommendations. Do we have an overall total?
Another Scott
@WaterGirl: Poe’s Law, I guess.
(ChampBiden is a Twitter account. DDN apparently is a “news” outfit. I didn’t watch the video there.)
Oh well. Sorry.
Cheers,
Scott.
arrieve
What everyone else said — I don’t comment often but I am so grateful for this place. And DougJ’s amazing work in directing our dollars is so much appreciated.
WaterGirl
I did see a Champ video earlier, somewhere else. Vote for my dad.
Ian
Thank you for all of your thoughtful fundraising, DougJ. I especially appreciate how you tried to direct our energies toward specific races where our money would be more impactful, as well as local Democratic parties and organizations like Four Directions.
Ivan X
I met DougJ at an NYC meetup years ago and he was a real asshole.
I joke, I joke. He was a good dude and I too am appreciative for all the thermometers. I think I gave to every one. Well probably not every one. But most of them. Sometimes multiple times. I even coaxed my dad into giving to a few. LET’S DO THIS THING! Thanks DougJ!
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
@Cowgirl in the Sandi: A thousand times YES. I contributed far, far more through DougJ’s curated thermometers than I would have on my own and it was so easy (as my CR card will attest). Many many thanks to DougJ and Water Girl (and JC, of course).
JanieM
Yay DougJ! And WaterGirl too.
I mostly gave offline, so to speak, but I appreciated DougJ’s posts because they helped me be better informed. Besides some candidates, I gave to a couple of outfits focused on making sure people could vote, and a Maine group that organized last year to defeat the anti-vaxxers’ people’s veto vote (which was in March) and more recently to support Ds against the current crop of anti-vax R candidates in state races.
feloniousferb
Thank You, DougJ!
Great Shout Out WaterGirl!
Love this community.
Jackie
Thanks so much, Doug and WaterGirl!
I would love to see a final tally of all “our” races won! In a week or so lol. I hope it’s a looong list of BJ winners!
stinger
Yes, thanks DougJ and WaterGirl and John Cole. I gave much more than I would have otherwise, because you made it so easy and provided good information about the various candidates. I was glad to support people across many states and not just my own.
KrakenJack
@Fair Economist:
I’d like hear any ideas to start prepping for the mid-terms.
I’m going to set up a recurring contribution to Run for Something and maybe Swing Left. I’ll wait for the dust to settle on the state parties.
cain
Thanks Doug J – it is really amazing how impactful our community is.
Mai Naem mobile
Thank you WaterGirl and DougJ. You guys should get an invite to the inauguration if Biden wins. Plenty of times I see a NYTimes Pitchbot tweet on Twitter and fall for it for a few seconds. Haha.
WaterGirl
Just so it’s clear, Doug gets all the credit for all the fundraising.
If you guys are thanking me for something other than fundraising, thank you very much for all the kind comments.
But for fundraising, all credit goes to Doug. All I do is pop the BJ thermometers into threads where people are talking about various candidates.
the pollyanna from hell
I want to thank every lurker who never had a dime to contribute. “The internet knows where the eyeball goes.
J R in WV
@swiftfox:
Where were you looking for an “unsubscribe” option>? ON ActBlue? Not the place to look at all.
Those emails you got? Did you bother to look at them? We contributed to all those candidates, and many more. And at the bottom of every email was a small, unobtrusive link TO UNSUBSCRIBE from further emails.
And they work, too, until you make a subsequent donation, at which point you will get a thank you email, which will also have an unsubscribe option link near the very bottom in a small grey font.
Really positive they are there, I got a whole lot, and when I was tired of them, I unsubscribed, worked every time.
J R in WV
@Mary G:
ActBlue will provide you with an online page with all your donations listed, date, candidate, amount. If you gave to a general DougJ fundraiser, you donation may have been chopped into 11, or 15, or however many candidates, bits. One of ours was chopped into $11 slices for a group of candidates.
We were able to help folks from Montana (Sen race) to New Mexico (Xochi for Congress, again!).
It has helped me stay sane over the past 4 years. We did a lot in 2018, too. I had to download a CSV file of contributions, load it into LibreOffice spreadsheet and figure out how to edit and sum the amounts. I was pretty surprised at the total, and relieved to know that we may have helped so many candidates and organizations all over the country.
So thanks to Watergirl, and DougJ, and John Grouchy Cole [That is what the G stands for, right?] , and the anonymous developer who performed the rebuild construction to keep us going. And everyone who lurks and comments, and David for health insurance info, and Tom L for his tux kitties and paintings and opinions.
I have done the first round of leaf blowing around the house. The path, front steps, back deck and close by driveway are all leaf free zones for now. Tomorrow I intend to do much more driveway, which briefly has white limestone on it, newly scattered by the tailgating dump truck from the farm supply store in town…
Pete Mack
Well done, Doug–and indeed all the front pagers, in getting out the vote, as well as the wallets. But most of all, thanks to John for providing such a congenial watering hole.
At some point, B-J should get a seat at the table–it is, after all, a million-dollar bundler. It’s worth discussing priorities as to what policies to emphasize.
Poe Larity
For all his faults, DougJ turned out alright.
Can’t wait for 2022, except for my pocketbook.