Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Fear or fury? The choice is ours.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

Today’s gop: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

The words do not have to be perfect.

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

DeSantis transforming Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

The arc of the moral universe does not bend itself. it is up to us to bend it.

In after Baud. Damn.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Dear legacy media: you are not here to influence outcomes and policies you find desirable.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Our messy unity will be our strength.

You are here: Home / Political Fundraising / Targeted Political Fundraising Fall 2022 / WTF + Final Push This Week for Giving to Candidates

WTF + Final Push This Week for Giving to Candidates

by | 86 Comments

This post is in: ,

Remember, this is what we’re fighting against:

Can we do one last push this week for candidates who can still use some help?

Winnable House Races in Purple Districts – we have winnowed the list down to 10.

Election Protection – winnowed down to the 10 who can use it the most.

Down-Ballot Races in Super Swing Districts – use customize amounts

For this one, please selected just one or two or three candidates who you want to contribute to because this thermometer seems to do a separate transaction for each person who gets a split of the donation.

After that, the best use of our money is funding boots on the ground in AZ.  Crossing my fingers that we might have some angels to match this.  We have already funded about 10 people for AZ.

If we want to fight for 15 – no, the other fight for 15 – to help counteract the hacks that have been added to the Supreme Court – we have to win this.

Let’s win this!

Reader Interactions

86Comments

  1. 1.

    West of the Cascades

    If we could somehow harness the energy people are spending getting irate at a bog-standard ex parte appellate stay order (the respondent’s brief is due Thursday), we could probably cool the planet by a couple of degrees. There are far better (and more important) things to motivate voters. Kagan, Sotomayor, or Brown Jackson would have issued the same stay if the request had been from a Circuit they’re responsible for

    ETA there are many, many things to be upset at the Supreme Court, and Thomas specifically, about — this is not one of them.

  5. 5.

    Dangerman

    Could Thomas have recused?

    ETA: In my aerospace days, long, long ago, it was drilled into us to avoid even the appearance of impropriety.

  9. 9.

    WaterGirl

    Election Protection when this post went up:

    WTF + Final Push This Week for Giving to Candidates 7 WTF + Final Push This Week for Giving to Candidates 8

    NEVADA

    Steve Sisolak  (Governor)
    Cisco Aguilar  (SOS)
    Aaron Ford  (AG)

    ARIZONA

    Katie Hobbs  (Governor)
    Adrian Fontes  (SOS)
    Kris Maes  (AG)

    TEXAS

    Rochelle Garza  (AG)

    GEORGIA

    Jen Jordan  (AG)

    OHIO SUPREME COURT

    Jennifer Brunner
    Marilyn Zayas
    Terri Jamison

  12. 12.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @WaterGirl: This isn’t a regular stay.  This is “I am going to have the whole Court look and see if they want to do anything with this.  Don’t do anything while we take a look.”  Justices have done this and then voted against taking the case.  It is a procedural thing that people should not read anything into right now.

  13. 13.

    WaterGirl

    Attorney General Paxton of Texas filed an amicus brief in the Atlanta-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in support of halting Senator Lindsey Graham’s deposition until his appeal has been fully resolved.

    You know who’s running against Paxton for Attorney General in Texas?

    Rochelle Garza  (AG) – she is in the Election Protection thermometer in case anyone wants to donate to her.

  14. 14.

    Mousebumples

    Had this typed up before the post went poof!

    In a “take a deep breath” not hot take – from what I’ve been reading from Law-Twitter – Thomas put a short-term stay in place to refer to the entire court. I don’t know if the Supreme Court has a recusal option for when a court in a justice’s jurisdiction needs a response, but this seems about as close as it can get. I think he might have done something similar for the Mar-A-Lago Special Master thing?

    We should know more by Thursday, if not sooner.

    But if you have anxiety, write some #PostcardsToVoters! We’re doing another postcard party tomorrow night – post up at 745pm blog time (eastern) on Tuesday. Hope to see more of you there!

    Also, if we don’t Zoom, there’s a Town Hall with Brad Pfaff on Tuesday night (though that’s 8pm central) . Monthly WisDems contributors should get access. Otherwise, you can get more info here. I know he’s on the purple House race list, and I think on Maze Dancer’s postcard page for addresses too.

    twitter.com/WisDems/status/1584228172933255171?t=tRHweHqDz7u4YD-8mHTyFg&s=19

  16. 16.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Saturday’s early vote total in Georgia was up 159% from the 2018 midterms and even surpassed 2020 by 20%, according to the secretary of state’s office said.

  18. 18.

    WaterGirl

    @Mousebumples:

    For the Tuesday postcard writing party, we’ll do a music post like we did on Saturday – and a ZOOM – so people can connect in any way they like.

    Plenty of people on Balloon Juice zoom with video off.

  19. 19.

    UncleEbeneezer

    For anyone in the Pasadena, CA area, our UDH has 550 postcards for nearby Swing District Dem House candidates that need to be written and mailed by the end of the week.  You can request them here.  There are pickup options in Sierra Madre and S. Pasadena and if needed they can even be delivered to your home.

  22. 22.

    narya

    @UncleEbeneezer: I have a suspicion that some part of that is people who are voting early in case someone tries to challenge their vote or voter status. Showing up now means they can sort it out, rather than doing a provisional ballot on election day. Either way, I’m very glad to see that!!

  29. 29.

    zhena gogolia

    Ugh, Jamie Raskin, WTF???

    "A group of 30 House liberals is urging President Biden to dramatically shift his strategy on the Ukraine war and pursue direct negotiations with Russia, the first time prominent members of his own party have pushed him to change his approach to Ukraine."t.co/jswa9SZgXf— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) October 24, 2022

  30. 30.

    zhena gogolia

    White House spokesman John Kirby, responding to the lawmakers’ letter, said the administration “appreciates their very thoughtful concerns” but reiterated that the Ukrainians must be central to any diplomatic overtures.

    “We’re not going to have conversations with the Russian leadership without the Ukrainians being represented,” Kirby said during a briefing with reporters. “Mr. Zelensky gets to determine – because it’s his country – what success looks like and when to negotiate.”

    He added, “We’d all like to see this war end today, and quite frankly it could end today if Mr. Putin did the right thing and pulled his troops out.”

  32. 32.

    la caterina

    @WaterGirl: This an “administrative” stay, so that Thomas can refer to to the full court and the GA prosecutor can respond to the stay petition,

  34. 34.

    WaterGirl

    @zhena gogolia: Wow, every single person who signed that just took a free-fall nosedive in my estimation.  I thought better of several of those people.

    Fuck every single one of them.  I know it helps nothing, but I am furious.  I like the White House response, though.

  35. 35.

    Immanentize

    @zhena gogolia: The reporting on this is intended to get Democrats’ panties in a twist. The actual letter was basically:

    the 30 Democrats call on Biden to pair the unprecedented economic and military support the United States is providing Ukraine with a “proactive diplomatic push, redoubling efforts to seek a realistic framework for a ceasefire

    Which is what the Biden administration is doing. And from some of the military to military contacts on the last couple of days, may be bearing a bit of fruit?

    It seems the Progressives are saying: “we support our military support for Ukraine, but let’s do all we can to stop the killing.”

    I’m down with that.

  37. 37.

    WaterGirl

    @Immanentize: How do you possibly reason with a government that is committing genocide, that doesn’t even recognize Ukraine’s right to exist?

    When that is the starting point, there no one / nothing to negotiate with on the other side.

  38. 38.

    Citizen Alan

    @Dangerman: That’s why I’m so angry at the Dingbat from Florida! Short of a case involving a relative or a former client, I literally cannot conceive of a conflict more obvious than a case involving The President who nominated someone to the federal bench to sit in the district where he was domiciled when everyone knew there were going to be civil and maybe criminal actions against him when you were nominated!

  42. 42.

    zhena gogolia

    some Russia experts say Moscow will only negotiate with the United States, a fellow superpower. The lawmakers say that opening must be seized given the war’s spreading devastation, adding, “The alternative to diplomacy is protracted war, with both its attendant certainties and catastrophic and unknowable risks.”

  43. 43.

    Baud

    @Immanentize:

    pair the unprecedented economic and military support the United States is providing Ukraine

     

    That language isn’t in quotes, so I’m wondering if it’s journalistic spin.

    Does anyone have a link to the letter itself?

  46. 46.

    zhena gogolia

    We agree with the Administration’s perspective that it is not America’s place to pressure
    Ukraine’s government regarding sovereign decisions, and with the principle you have enunciated that there should be “nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.”

    But as legislators responsible for the expenditure of tens of billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars in military assistance in the conflict, we believe such involvement in this war also creates a responsibility for the United States to seriously explore all possible avenues, including direct engagement with Russia, to reduce harm and support Ukraine in achieving a peaceful settlement.

    In May, President Zelensky, despite deadlocked negotiations, reiterated that the war “will only definitively end through diplomacy,” and had previously explained that “any mentally healthy person always chooses the diplomatic path, because he or she knows: even if it is difficult, it can prevent the loss of thousands, tens of thousands…and maybe even millions of lives.”

    In conclusion, we urge you to make vigorous diplomatic efforts in support of a negotiated settlement and ceasefire, engage in direct talks with Russia, explore prospects for a new European security arrangement acceptable to all parties that will allow for a sovereign and independent Ukraine, and, in coordination with our Ukrainian partners, seek a rapid end to the conflict and reiterate this goal as America’s chief priority

  49. 49.

    Gin & Tonic

    We agree with the Administration’s perspective that it is not America’s place to pressure Ukraine’s government regarding sovereign decisions, and with the principle you have enunciated that there should be “nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.” However, that is precisely what we will do with this letter.

    This may not be 100% verbatim.

  50. 50.

    Josie

    The idea of peace negotiations with Putin brings to mind John’s example of dining on tire rims and anthrax. How are these politicians missing that? I am ashamed of all of them.

  51. 51.

    Baud

    @zhena gogolia:

    Thanks.  The language I quoted is journalistic spin.  It’s not from the letter

    ETA:

    For this reason, we urge you to pair the military and economic support the United States has provided to Ukraine with a proactive diplomatic push, redoubling efforts to seek a realistic framework for a ceasefire.

    It looks like “unprecedented” is the spin.

  53. 53.

    zhena gogolia

    @Baud: I don’t see very much spin there. Just the word “unprecedented.” The implied threat is still in the letter.

  66. 66.

    Immanentize

    @zhena gogolia: we cannot know that and like I said we actually might be getting some where.

    There is a link to the letter in this article:
    Linky

    My question is why did they feel the need to write this now? My only thought is that maybe they have an idea that a ceasefire is coming and they wanted to claim credit for it?

  69. 69.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    Appeasers: Signatories:

    Pramila Jayapal
    Earl Blumenauer
    Cori Bush
    Chuy García
    Raúl M. Grijalva
    Sara Jacobs
    Ro Khanna
    Barbara Lee
    Ilhan Omar
    Ayanna Pressley
    Sheila Jackson Lee
    Mark Pocan
    Nydia M. Velázquez
    Gwen S. Moore
    Yvette D. Clarke
    Hank” Johnson, Jr.
    Rashida Tlaib
    Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
    Jamaal Bowman
    Marie Newman
    Alma S. Adams
    Chellie Pingree
    Jamie Raskin
    Bonnie Watson Coleman
    Mark Takano
    André Carson
    Donald M. Payne
    Mark DeSaulnier

    I’ve never heard of some of these, but the list is mostly “justice democrats/”tankies” types and sadly they’re responding to complaints they’re getting on social media. They make a mistake in viewing Twitter as representative sample of their communities.

    On the other hand they’re about to be treated like royalty by Fucker Carlson, et. al.

  70. 70.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    @Immanentize: ​ They’re getting a lot of heat on social media from the “justice democrats/tankies” and they mistake twitter for real life.​

  71. 71.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    On the bright side, Pramila Jayapal is about to be treated like royalty by Fucker Carlson and Fox.

  72. 72.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    There are exactly 100 House members in the Progressive Caucus and a super majority, 70 percent, refused to sign on to such silliness.

  73. 73.

    Geminid

    @Baud: I have questions about this letter and one of them is: why now?

    The content of the letter seems dubious to me. Putting it out 15 days before the midterms seems even more dubious.

  74. 74.

    Gin & Tonic

    Out of everything in that “progressive” letter, this sentence makes me the angriest.

    While pretending to speak on behalf of Ukraine, this phrasing is deliberate equivocation between the two sides: As if Ukraine is just as guilty for defending itself as Russia is for attacking! pic.twitter.com/ppkGjJen9l
    — Ilya Lozovsky (@ichbinilya) October 24, 2022

  75. 75.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Immanentize: I’m glad you think it is anodyne. It is going up like a lead balloon in Ukraine. Universal condemnation is the best way I can describe it.

  79. 79.

    SuzieC

    Donated another $100 to the winnable purple house seats.  That takes me to over $1000 just for the month of October so I’m going to stop now.  Still have a final Vote Forward packet and our Indivisible Central Ohio group has written 10,220 letters. I am positive that none of the polls are taking into account all the thousands of letter and postcard writing campaigns going on all across the country.

  80. 80.

    Geminid

    @Gin & Tonic: Tankies are receiving this letter with joy. Anti-tankie @MichaelPaulauski has a long thread reporting their reaction.

    I wish Ruben Gallego’s response would get as much circuation as the letter, but it won’t. And any forceful pushback by Democratic leadership will feed into the “Dems in disarray” narrative the letter has already started.

  85. 85.

    Another Scott

    Relatedly, … Phys.org:

    OCTOBER 24, 2022

    Diplomacy, military power combined to settle superpower dispute over missiles in Cuba

    by Matt Kelly, University of Virginia

    [ image ]

    Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev wanted to make it clear to the Americans that the Soviet Union had nuclear weapons that could easily threaten the United States. Credit: Contributed illustration/White House archives

    As concerns grow that the war in Ukraine could expand into a nuclear conflict, U.S. President Joe Biden compared the current situation to the Cuban missile crisis, a Cold War confrontation between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. over Soviet missiles placed in Cuba in 1962.

    “We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis,” Biden said recently—a quote frequently repeated in the media.

    Not everyone thinks the comparison is apt.

    “We’re in another crisis that could escalate to a nuclear war that involves the United States and a government in Moscow,” said Philip Zelikow, the White Burkett Miller Professor of History at the University of Virginia. “Those points aside, I don’t think the crises are very much alike.”

    Zelikow, the former director of the Miller Center and co-editor, with Ernest R. May, of “The Kennedy Tapes: Inside the White House During the Cuban Missile Crisis” and co-author, with Graham Allison, of “Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis,” looked back over the Cuban situation that unfolded 60 years ago this month.

    The crisis started not with Cuba, but rather with the general test of nuclear strength that had come to a focal point over Berlin. The former German capital had been divided after World War II into sectors for the Soviets, the French, the British and the U.S., but was surrounded by Soviet-controlled East Germany.

    The Berlin crisis was the most serious confrontation in the Cold War, Zelikow said, and the Soviets were adamant that the Western powers leave their sectors of Berlin. Zelikow said the construction of the Berlin Wall in October 1961 was only a stopgap measure that did not end the crisis.

    […]

    A good read.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  86. 86.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Another Scott: Serhii Plokhy’s Nuclear Folly is a very good history of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the first, as far as I am aware, to rely on former Soviet archives.

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