After raising a shocking amount of money for candidates in 2020 and then for the Georgia runoffs, the results were mixed. We were rewarded with the 2 wins in the Georgia runoffs, which gave us a tiny majority in the senate. Which turned out to be everything! Every penny we spent in Georgia paid off, and that felt great!
But, man we surely did throw a lot of money at races that felt good, at races that seemed to be possible wins – I mean who among us didn’t want to see the Turtle and Lindsay Graham out of the senate? But in hindsight, it seemed that not all of our money was well spent.
So we got to thinking about our approach to raising money going forward. We started with the new approach right away in 2021 – with the goal being to leverage the fundraising power of the Balloon Juice community as strategically as possible.
Strategic in terms of what kind of work we are funding. Strategic in terms of what populations we are serving. Strategic in terms of which states can have the most impact. Strategic in terms of impact on future elections, not just 2022.
Anyway, Spring has sprung, and we’ve been at this new approach for about a year now, so I want to take a minute to look at our Balloon Juice fundraising: where we’ve been and where we’re going.
?
Where We’ve Been
We started last spring with Four Directions and the Native vote. Then we forged a relationship with Voces de la Frontera to help give the Latino population in Wisconsin more of a voice. Then Four Directions again, because they had an opportunity to forge a relationship with Fair Fight, and they needed seed money to do it.
Then, with the Native vote being dear to our collective hearts, we looked at Four Directions with an eye toward the other states they considered key in 2022. And one after another we funded their early efforts in their other key states: Arizona and Wisconsin. Then we approached them to see if seed money from us could get them to get an early start in Michigan, so Balloon Juice got Four Directions boots on the ground in March 2021. I think it’s fair to say that Four Directions is active in Michigan because of us.
We got our next lead – on the next good group to support – from the work of our Join the Fight pilot test in Michigan. That was Promote the Vote 2022, which is helping to secure the future of fair voting in Michigan, a key state. In particular, we funded 5 fellowship positions specifically to serve and represent traditionally underserved and disenfranchised people.
After that we had the pop-up fundraising for Voces de la Frontera to help channel our fears /outrage at the appalling soon-to-be ruling from the Supreme Court. Going forward, the rights of self-determination for women can only be protected by a legislative majority of Democrats, so we have to take those fears and that outrage and get Democrats elected at every level of government.
Where We’re Going
So what’s next?
Our next fundraising effort, that we’re kicking off this Thursday, is for what we think is a really terrific group! Voting Access for All Coalition (VAAC) serves everyone, but for reasons that will become obvious, people of color make up most of the population that is most impacted by the VAAC effort.
Watch their introductory video and let us know if you are as excited about this group as we are! We have a Q & A post with them set up for this Thursday, 5/12, at 7:30 – I hope you will mark your calendars so you can come to the post with questions and get to know more about this inspiring group. Also mark your calendars for the Zoom Q & A the following Wednesday, 5/18, at 7:30.
There are about 300,000 people directly impacted, and they hope to inform, inspire and empower 100,000 of those folks to actually take action and vote. Think for a minute about what the margin of victory was in Michigan in 2020.
After that, it looks like we are going to head South. We have helped Georgia several times, but this time we are headed to North Carolina. No details to share with you at this point, but we want to let you know where we’re headed.
After that, our next effort we will be focused on the youth vote, as it’s becoming more and more obvious that we have a lot of work to do with young people who feel we are failing them on many fronts.
A Nod to Join the Fight
The Balloon Juice fundraising effort is (mostly) separate from the Join the Fight initiatives, though we are finding that there is a lot of synergy between the two efforts.
Join the Fight began as an effort to put our time as well as our money to good use, leveraging the power of the Balloon Juice community as strategically as possible. Part of our goal was to find like-minded groups whose efforts we might be able to support, and who might also be interested in supporting our efforts.
And it’s working! We are making connections with other organizations, just as we hoped it would. Madeleine was part of our Join the Fight pilot effort for Michigan, and she is the one who was connected with VAAC as part of connecting with Michigan organizations that had been identified in the pilot project.
In Summary
We no longer have two functioning political parties, that much is clear. There is much that we can’t control, and some days that’s all we hear about.
BUT WE CAN MAKE ELECTIONS HARDER TO STEAL, and one of our jobs is to help make the margin of victory so large that the risks are too high for those who want to steal them.
So we’ve focused on voting and voting rights. To that effect, we’ve targeted disenfranchised communities that have the numerical possibility of swinging crucial swing states. More specifically, we have been supporting and funding direct boots-on-the-ground efforts in crucial swing states, though that will change for our efforts to inspire and mobilize the youth vote.
Thank You
With your donations, you guys are helping to make all of this happen. And the Balloon Juice Angels? Oh my gosh, you are such a big part of helping to meet our goals, special thanks to you guys, as well.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
Could we consider perhaps adding Ben Wikler’s group to the list of organizations BJ is contributing to? I remember Adam Silverman speaking highly of Wikler
SpaceUnit
I posted this comment below in a dying thread. I’m copying it here not because I feel it deserves a Pulitzer Award or anything but because I think it’s something that needs to be said and kept in mind . . .
For the next two election cycles we are going to be inundated with claims by the MSM that Democrats are terribly unpopular with various demographics and average voters (complete with poll results!!). It is important that none of us allow our fire and enthusiasm to be dampened by this. Because I’m pretty sure it’s all going to be bullshit.
I think the usual bothsides / whatabout strategy just isn’t getting as much traction in the Age of Trump. It’s harder to play that game when the headlines are about riots to overturn elections and all-out assaults on reproductive rights, groomers and book-banning. It looks ridiculous. They need a new gimmick.
So be prepared. Every media outlet is going to be waving their surveys. It’s going to be like that time when Oprah handed out a survey to everyone in her audience. You get a survey! And you get a survey! Only these surveys are all going to say that Dems are sad and stinky and unpopular and sure to lose and should just go home and sulk in the basement.
Remember that it’s bullshit. Fix bayonets.
dm
Democratic Association of Secretaries of State — help elect Democrats who we can trust to count the votes honestly.
Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee — elect more Democrats to state legislatures.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@SpaceUnit:
How will we know what’s bullshit v. what’s true, though? How will we know if the polling is true or not?
WaterGirl
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): WisDEMS are a group we have considered.
edit: I have yet to hear anyone not speak well of Ben Wikler. We have promoted WisDEMS in the past when they have fundraising events.
SpaceUnit
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
I don’t have any magic tricks to offer. You just have to learn to recognize bullshit when you smell it.
I posted this below as well . . . Joe Biden won the presidency by seven million votes. Our MSM wants us to believe that he was deep underwater in approval ratings just two months into his term.
Smells like bullshit to me.
japa21
I’ll see what I can cough up. Won’t be much. But I watched the video and I wonder if there are groups in other states doing the same thing.
WaterGirl
@japa21: We are checking in with FL to see if they have anything going on related to this. 100,000 is a lot of voters!
WaterGirl
@japa21: Everybody helps in their own way!
We have one Angel for this group already, so you can make the most of your donation. :-) And this group has found external match money for us, so if you play your cards right and donate when there is a BJ angel, your donation can be multiplied by 4!
SpaceUnit
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
I read an article a little over a week ago (can’t remember exactly where it appeared but it was a mainstream media outlet). The headline was something like ‘Democrats Struggling to Reach Young Voters’.
They had a poll to back this up. Only it showed the Republican Party doing even worse with the same group. But of course you’ll never see the headline ‘Republicans Struggling To Reach Voters’ because that’s not how it works.
The bias is real. The bullshit is real. You just have to keep it in mind and not get discouraged because that’s exactly what they’re trying to accomplish.
la caterina
@WaterGirl: I watched the video and loved it! I hope that re-entry organizations take up this issue. Will be giving VAAC some love once we start the fundraising for them.
Zelma
Like everyone else, I am trying to be more strategic in my giving. Right now I am concentrating on House races here in NJ. There are 3 excellent class of 2018 reps who are in purple districts. They will be getting most of my money. I know everyone thinks of NJ as a blue state but it is purpler than you think, especially since the state and local party organizations are a mess especially in south Jersey.
I understand the attraction of organizations like Voces and I will throw some money their way. But I am a “party person,” and for all of its failings, the Democratic Party is our best hope for stopping the Republicans. But I am not going to be chasing after unicorns.
WaterGirl
@la caterina: Wait til you meet them. They are great. You should definitely come to the Q & A post and zoom!
WaterGirl
@Zelma: There are many parts to play in this show we call democracy.
Omnes Omnibus
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Kay gave you some good advice the other day. You are going to have to learn to live with uncertainty.
Jinchi
I want to push back on this idea that money donated to run against the likes of McConnell, Graham, or Collins was wasted. It’s a good year when Democrats are optimistic enough to reach for the stars. It means people have hope. It means people will get out to vote. Don’t assume we would have won victories in Georgia without people thinking we could also win Susan Collins seat in Maine, and don’t assume that a dollar spent opposing Mitch McConnell would have found it’s way into a more worthy pocket otherwise. Pushing the edge cases is how you build solid majorities.
If you ever find yourself with a 100% success rate, it means you weren’t trying hard enough.
PaulB
Even if you cannot contribute much, you can always check with your local party chapter to see if there are other ways you can help. Our look for other GOTV efforts in your state or even in neighboring states. Perhaps spend a day of a vacation stuffing envelopes or making phone calls.
Each individual effort is small but collectively they add up.
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl: While I am totally in favor of getting as much money as possible for WI, isn’t giving directly to a state party not in keeping with the general philosophy of BJ fundraising?b
Jinchi
Exactly. Republicans don’t need voters anymore.
Zelma
@Jinchi:
I agree with your point. I don’t know of a Democratic candidate who lost an election because of a lack of funding. Now finding better use for funding other than flyers and TV ads – that’s another issue.
frosty
I really like this Boots On The Ground approach. You (and John and others) are doing a great job of finding organizations that can get a boost from our fundraising. Let’s keep going!!
SpaceUnit
@Jinchi:
Ha. That’s not what I meant but you make a great point.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@WaterGirl:
Good!
@SpaceUnit:
@Omnes Omnibus:
The reason I asked is because I don’t want to be in a bubble, basically
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@SpaceUnit:
Wow, that is bullshit
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: To be clear, I said “considering”.
I can see why you would ask that, and to answer your question, yes and no.
They do great work, so I have thought of approaching them to find out if there’s something we could fund in particular, as we typically do with each of the groups. If they could reach out to people and neighborhoods that they don’t usually work with, I would be interested in at least hearing ideas about that.
No one has ever said so directly, but I have always wondered whether WisDEMS turns out more white people than people of color. I would definitely be willing to have a conversation with them if I had a contact. But if we did anything, it would definitely need to be something other than throwing money into the general pot.
I may have even written to you once, asking if you had a good contact in that organization.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: There is actually a book about that.
The authors suggest that if you are struggling with “What If-ing” the bad stuff, you should also be “what If-ing” good stuff, too. I have suggested that in the past, but so far he hasn’t seemed interested in a different approach. In that case, I assume the person is getting something out of the place they are in, so I no longer engage. ?♀️
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Omnes Omnibus:
What is the BJ fundraising philosophy and why is giving directly to a state party against it?
Omnes Omnibus
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Read the post.
WaterGirl
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Did you read what I wrote up top? The answers to your question are in there.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: You bastard, you beat me by a minute!
edit: I meant that in the nicest possible way, of course. :-)
japa21
@WaterGirl: It was actually 12 seconds he beat you by.
guachi
Money for states with, by law, reasonably competitive districts. An example for 2022 is the MI State House and Senate races.
Also, statewide races in overly gerrymandered places like WI. Ds have to win the governor’s race from now until the end of time or abortion will be gone forever. Some may be longshots but it’s also the only shot.
Those are my suggestions for races to back.
Omnes Omnibus
@japa21: Hey, if the shot didn’t leave her and before the buzzer, it doesn’t count.
japa21
@Omnes Omnibus: Speaking of shots, I assume you are watching.
RaflW
@SpaceUnit: Even when the polling is crystal clear, like it is on abortion or guns, we’re fed a constant stream of very bullshitty “the country is deeply divided.”
The press trick is that the deep divide is strongly felt, but anywhere from 20 to 30 points off center. Yes that 19% who want no exceptions whatsoever when banning abortion sure are loud! And angry! And able to motivate members of Congress.
But they’re 19 g.d. percent of the public.
The urge for even modest gun control has almost the same frame. “Whelp, there’s nothing anyone can do!” Oh, 80% of people want it? Doesn’t register with GOPers, so we’ll pretend that the disconnect isn’t material. Biden being at 48% popularity is a disaster. But the GOP being wildly out of step on multiple issues isn’t painted as anything like that. Grrr.
Omnes Omnibus
@japa21: Yep.
ghost cat
Do you need more social media contacts that are followed by the disenfranchised groups you want to focus on? Some names I forgot to add to your post the other day– LaTosha Brown, FL Sen Shevrin Jones and Symone Sanders. I think you mentioned that Florida is one of your target states? You’ll probably want to know about Stay Woke Go Vote (twitter #StayWOKEGoVote), which kicks off May 21, & Operation Blackout if you don’t already.
WaterGirl
@ghost cat:
That’s a smart idea!
SpaceUnit
Exactly.
And there’s nothing magically pure about polling science anyway. It’s just methodology. You can use that methodology to get an accurate picture of public opinion or you can use it to distort things.
H.E.Wolf
Thank you to WaterGirl for all of the work in 2021 and 2022, and for targeting our efforts toward voter outreach/enfranchisement in under-represented constituencies – in particular, communities of people who are not white.
As the most vulnerable go, so goes the nation… and as the most disenfranchised gain traction in our democracy, so do we all.
RaflW
@Jinchi: I think there’s some truth to this. But I also see a lot of downballot candidates who are often really stretched thin. I agree that finding ways to match some momentarily pissed off person who rage-gives $50 to Collins’ opponent, and redirecting them to small-bore races would be difficult.
I really credit health policy wonk and one-time local candidate Charles Gaba for doing a great job last cycle in packaging various ActBlue thermometers for state house and other lower-tier races (often Michigan focused, but others as well). He’s gearing up for this fall now too.
I personally ran a very self-organized spreadsheet for MN state legislative races + opportunistic state lege seats in other states. I budget my cycle and focus on MN, CO and WI because those are the places I have the greatest connection. Doing it again this year.
H.E.Wolf
For anyone who’s interested in detecting bogosity, this site has extensive resources. https://guides.lib.uw.edu/research/evaluate
japa21
@Omnes Omnibus: Great series so far.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@WaterGirl:
I appreciate that advice. But it’s hard for me. I can’t help but think about all sorts of points in history where that advice never helped. Thinking positive thoughts never helped the people who were killed because of war and instability. Bad things happen to good people all the time. I can’t just ignore that. I tend to focus on worst-case scenarios so I can prepare for and hopefully avert them. I’m finding I can’t really do that with this because it’s largely out of my control and so much bigger than myself.
Everything Adam Silverman has said about this subject doesn’t fill me with confidence about the GOP being defeated.
I don’t want to work until I die because the Republicans trashed Social Security and turned the country into a Russia-like basketcase so my retirement investments are worthless
It doesn’t help that it costs a fortune to go to college anymore and I’m also not getting any younger. I feel like I’m personally in a rut and I don’t know how to get out of it
RaflW
@PaulB: Yes! One option with a cost of 20 first class stamps, 20 envelopes and some paper is votefwd.org.
They organize letter writing campaigns to help motivate lower-propensity voters. One can opt for partisan or non-partisan lists (in part so that progressive c(4)s can join in. The non-partisan work is still legally allowed to target demographics that I think we’d all know are worthwhile).
My BF was just on a call this evening about it. VoteForward did some data research after last cycle and they think they may have upped turnout in targeted demos by 0.9%. That may not sound big, but in terms of budging voters it actually sounds huge to me. And since they contacted hundreds of thousands of voters, it could easily have been the margin of win is some races.
Omnes Omnibus
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Don’t worry. Having posted a lot here, you’ll probably get sent to a reeducation camp.
japa21
@Omnes Omnibus:
That was cruel.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Omnes Omnibus:
@WaterGirl:
Whoops. Sorry.
Mike E
Early voted today at the brand new local community rec center, next Tues is the actual primary day… pretty sparse crowd since the Dem choices were, other than Cherie Beasley’s Senate candidacy, for two commissioners’ races and one for sheriff. Cast ballot #1,070 on one of two machines. Nice day out though.
NotMax
@RaflW
Just a reminder to purchase forever stamps now as the next postage price increase in the works for July.
Sure Lurkalot
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I know that people get on you for preparing for the worst so that you’re pleasantly surprised by better outcomes. It doesn’t help that at least I wouldn’t want to be in your position in these times either.
Our life spans probably have about three decades in common. And during those, at least one or two decades, life in many ways got better for me and worse for people your age. I basically had free college because a middle class family, who wanted this for their children, could afford it. That that education at the time helped me get a better job, with set hours, health insurance, on the job training and opportunities for advancement. Those gifts I received…and they’re not there for a lot of people your age.
We will get none of these things back with the apathy polls show most young people have for our admittedly fucked up politics. I find Mr. Silverman’s posts about how hopeless things are appeal to fear just like the GOP. And don’t get me wrong, I get his arguments and often don’t disagree with his assessments. Fear doesn’t seem to get our side to vote. How many people here say Hillary warned us? She was spot on and still millions stayed home.
This is a plea…reach out with your intelligence and writing skills to people in your cohort to not abdicate their responsibility as citizens to vote. Find a way to communicate that “why bother” isn’t going to work in the face of fascism and loss of rights for many people.
gene108
@SpaceUnit:
Democrats need the 18-29 year olds to turn out for them to win this year. The Republicans not so much.
The real challenge that might be facing Republicans is are how many of the current white 18-29 year old voters vote for Democrats. If it’s at a much higher rate than older white voters, Republicans have a serious problem in a few years, which they are ignoring.
They can try to gerrymander themselves into the safest R+ districts possible, but as their older white voters pass on and are replaced by white Democratic voters, they will be screwed.
ghost cat
@WaterGirl: What demographics?
ghost cat
I got here too late to post this on the earlier Steve Schmidt thread:
ghost cat
Deleted accidental double post—I’m such a lurker!
gene108
@Zelma:
After the 2021 election the southern most parts of South Jersey are a real concern. A lot of Democratic state legislators lost in Salem, Cumberland, and Cape May Counties.
NJ-3 shed some Ocean County towns and picked up some Mercer and Monmouth county towns, which should make it friendlier for Democrats. NJ-1 should be safely Democratic.
I don’t think NJ-4 or NJ-2 will be flipped this year. I’m not sure how Sherrill, Gottheimer, and Malinowski will fair. I’m not much aware of what goes on in North Jersey.
SpaceUnit
@gene108:
Yeah. I think the GOP’s demographic event horizon is approaching fast. And I think that’s why they’re so desperate.
I’m not sure they’re ignoring it so much as they don’t know what to do about the situation. They’re sure as hell not going to reach out to The Blahs or the Gays or any of the Unwashed Others in order to shore up their numbers
ETA: So all they’ve got is ratfuckery.
gene108
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
I look at it like this.
Despite having nearly unlimited funds to push their agenda, thanks to all the cranky conservative billionaires, very strong media and propaganda infrastructure that usually sets the narrative of how people frame issues, voter suppression laws, and voters who turn out more consistently than Democratic voters, Republicans still lose!
Despite the structural advantages they have had for decades, they have not taken over the country, because they suck, and because they are morally bankrupt. Enough people see what Republicans are to decide hell, no! These jackasses can’t be running things!.
All their money, and all their schemes, can’t give them the permanent majority they crave more than life itself, because of how awful they are.
gene108
@SpaceUnit:
What’s carried Republicans so far is the majority of white people vote for them, especially white men. White folks are still a bit over 60% of the population. I don’t put a ton of faith that an increasingly diverse population is a threat to Republicans, because the diversity isn’t uniformity spread out.
But if they start losing young white voters, they will have very few reliable regions to work from as older voters pass on.
gene108
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Twenty years ago, when I was in my late 20’s, I found myself getting isolated. My peer group was settling down, whether it was getting into a groove with their careers, getting married, or both. I was still struggling with “what do I want be when I grow up?”.
As I got older, I’ve gotten better at letting go of what hasn’t happened for me. I found this very difficult. It took years.
I’m still a pessimist at heart. I generally assume any unknown situation I’m in, like a job interview, has ended in disaster if I’m not hired on the spot. I just don’t dwell on it as much as I would have, when I was younger, which helps mellow my mood.
Also, thank you for commenting here. It’s nice to have a younger perspective on things. Most of us seem to range in age from middle aged to senior citizen.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Sure Lurkalot:
@gene108:
Thank you both for your kind words : )
AJ
You all are 90% of where and to whom I donate.
Thank you for this! You remind me to keep fighting.
J R in WV
@gene108:
I just love this comment so much !
The vast majority of fascists are very defective people and most of us see that and are repelled instantly
Now back in bed!
WaterGirl
@ghost cat: That might be in the running for the best thing I’ve ever seen on the internet.
Jesse
Just chipped in $25 to the VAAC using the direct link here. Also enabled a $5/month recurring donation.