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Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

I did not have telepathic declassification on my 2022 bingo card.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

A Senator Walker would be an insult to the state and the nation.

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

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

I really should read my own blog.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

After roe, women are no longer free.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

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You are here: Home / Politics / Political Action / Balloon Juice Targeted Fundraising for 2021-22: Postmortem / Celebration

Balloon Juice Targeted Fundraising for 2021-22: Postmortem / Celebration

by WaterGirl|  December 7, 20227:30 pm| 96 Comments

This post is in: Political Action, Politics, Targeted Political Fundraising Fall 2022

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For everyone who said ignore the predictions, just work your ass off to get the results we want, we have been vindicated!  (Mostly!)

For the first time since 1934, the party in the White House retained every Senate seat – and in this cycle, we even picked up an open seat!

In the House, the red wave ended up being something of a reddish oozing trickle, leaving a narrow and fractious majority that will require Kevin McCarthy to continually chip off *little pieces of his soul to gain the Speakership and manage his caucus.

*Is it possible to chip off pieces of your soul if you don’t have a soul to begin with?

None of the swing state down-ballot election stealers championed by Trump for Secretary of State or Attorney General were elected,  though a few won in deep red states.  All in all, Trump and his election lies were the sloppy kiss of death for candidates he supported.

The democrats flipped some swing state legislatures and passed state-wide initiates protecting the right to vote and the right to choice.

And now last night… Reverend Warnock’s convincing victory was the cherry on top of the chocolate ganache on a very yummy chocolate cake.

It was a good cycle.

Is it crazy to believe that Balloon Juice helped get us to those victories by raising nearly $1,000,000 in strategically focused, targeted funding?  ($930,000!)

Since 2020, we have concentrated on strategic, targeted fundraising.

  1. Getting out the vote and protecting ballot access, particularly in communities of color in swing states.
  2. Identifying and funding vulnerable Congressional incumbents and promising challengers in swing states who were underfunded and overlooked (or severely outspent by dark money).  We believed in Marie Gluesenkamp-Perez and others when the Democratic Party didn’t.  Go us!
  3. Identifying and funding down-ballot candidates in swing states with election oversight responsibilities.
  4. Occasional “flash fundraising” for candidates and organizations with an immediate need.
  5. We also experimented with a new category of swing districts in swing states (more on this later).

Starting this coming Monday, we’ll begin a series of posts looking back on our efforts.

First up will be a summary of our multi-faceted efforts in Michigan – with our victories on several fronts, Dems have surely set up a firewall there!  Then we’ll focus on Arizona and Nevada, two other states where we supported organizations, GOTV efforts and down-ballot and Congressional candidates.  After that, Georgia and Wisconsin.  What all these states have in common is that Balloon Juice funded boots on the ground in every one of them, as well as supporting candidates at various levels.

After that, we’ll review our Winnable House Races in Purple Districts thermometer and take stock of our success – spoiler alert, we had some losses, but our success rate was quite good!   And we will highlight candidates we supported who narrowly lost but are worthy of our continued attention (i.e., Jevin Hodge in Arizona).  Then, we’ll take a look at our “flash-fundraising” and talk a bit more about the swing districts in swing states proof-of-concept experiment.  Finally, we’ll end with a post on our non-monetary efforts, including phone-banking and post-card writing.

After the holidays, we’ll also reach out to the organizations we supported for individual postmortems, focusing especially on how they used the Balloon Juice money, whether/how that fundraising made a difference, and what they are contemplating doing in 2023 and 2024. We’re considering doing Zooms, or perhaps videotaped interviews you can watch at your convenience.

Great, great job, Bj peeps!

Overall, I’d say our experiment in targeted, strategic fundraising was a grand success.  What say you?

Let’s look back on our efforts, enjoy the victories, figure out what we want to keep doing and what else we might consider.  Not to mention keeping special elections and 2024 in our sights.  I’m ready to take back the House, one special election at a time!

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Reader Interactions

96Comments

  1. 1.

    Almost Retired

    December 7, 2022 at 7:43 pm

    This is awesome.  I feel that every dollar I spent on the Balloon-Juice targeted fundraising was very well- spent.  I even got my Mom in Kansas to donate to the purple thermometer for Sharice Davids.  For those of us in safe blue states (I’m in Los Angeles), it’s great to have this resource (BJ) to make the most impact with our donations in swing states.  Thanks, WaterGirl, for all your hard work on targeting these opportunities.  Let’s Go Biden!

  2. 2.

    Joe Falco

    December 7, 2022 at 7:46 pm

    the red wave ended up being something of a reddish oozing trickle

    A foul ooze would be the best way to describe the Republican Party.

  3. 3.

    WaterGirl

    December 7, 2022 at 7:51 pm

    @Almost Retired: I was just thinking of the cut that Daily Kos took on their thermometers.  They were one of 12 recipients on the thermometer I looked at.

    If we had done that, we would have kept in the neighborhood of $75,000 for ourselves – that’s $75,000 that wouldn’t have gone to the good causes.  I would not feel right about that. Even 1% would have been about $10k, still not right.

  4. 4.

    Joe Falco

    December 7, 2022 at 7:57 pm

    @WaterGirl: That’s a lot of mustard bottles.

  5. 5.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    December 7, 2022 at 7:57 pm

    Additional good news following Raphael Warnock’s well deserved victory:

    Marjorie Taylor Greene’s feelings are hurt because Herschel Walker’s staff didn’t invite her to speak at more of his campaign events.

    h/t https://www.mediaite.com/politics/marjorie-taylor-greene-fumes-she-wasnt-asked-to-campaign-statewide-for-herschel-walker-extremely-insulting/

     

  6. 6.

    WaterGirl

    December 7, 2022 at 7:59 pm

    @Joe Falco: Yep!  Even the fancy kind that Obama likes :-)

  7. 7.

    kalakal

    December 7, 2022 at 8:02 pm

    Yay to us all but espescially to you Watergirl and to everyone else who put., and held, it together.We helped to make a difference which isn’t bad for a bunch of pedants

  8. 8.

    cain

    December 7, 2022 at 8:03 pm

    @Wyatt Salamanca: There is really only room for one crazy person on stage.

  9. 9.

    cain

    December 7, 2022 at 8:04 pm

    Hard to believe that a top 500 blog with a bunch of curmudgeons talking can be a powerhouse fundraiser that actually can drive success in our election.

    I think we all deserve a zoom call with Obama! Make it happen Cole!

  10. 10.

    Alison Rose

    December 7, 2022 at 8:05 pm

    This place is freaking amazing. One thing I have loved that we’ve done is support the grassroots groups and help them get boots on the ground. I’d love for us to keep doing that and help those organizations continue their work. I especially appreciate that we do this for groups aimed at marginalized communities.

  11. 11.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    December 7, 2022 at 8:09 pm

    How crazy is Rick Scott?

    This crazy: “Herschel’s story and message inspired millions in Georgia and across the country.  While Herschel came up short last night, I know he will continue to be a leader in our party for years to come.”

    h/t https://www.yahoo.com/news/nrsc-chairman-rick-scott-herschel-194932062.html

  12. 12.

    Kent

    December 7, 2022 at 8:17 pm

    @Wyatt Salamanca: Rick Scott is the guy who launched a Fundraiser for Hershel Walker in which Walker only got 1 cent for every dollar raised.  For real.

  13. 13.

    Kent

    December 7, 2022 at 8:18 pm

    We did a whole lot better than Trump!

    Trump was 2-14 in swing state endorsements for statewide office.

  14. 14.

    WaterGirl

    December 7, 2022 at 8:19 pm

    @Kent: Those people all deserve each other.  Liars, crooks, cheats.  Not an ounce of love of country between all of them.

  15. 15.

    WaterGirl

    December 7, 2022 at 8:20 pm

    @Kent:

    We did a whole lot better than Trump!

    That is a very low bar.  Almost underground, one might say.

  16. 16.

    hells littlest angel

    December 7, 2022 at 8:21 pm

    Special thanks to WaterGirl. Inspired by your enthusiasm, I was somehow able to find more dollars to kick in to good causes this year than any year before. Without Balloon Juice, I don’t think I’d have even heard about great groups like Voters of Tomorrow

     

     

    ETA: I don’t even feel bad about races I contributed to that lost!

  17. 17.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    December 7, 2022 at 8:23 pm

    @Kent:

    I guess we’ll get a whole lot more rage truth socialing from Trump on the toilet over the next few days.

  18. 18.

    hells littlest angel

    December 7, 2022 at 8:24 pm

    @Wyatt Salamanca: “Herschel … will continue to be a leader in our party for years to come.”

     

    I so fucking hope so!

  19. 19.

    Alison Rose

    December 7, 2022 at 8:25 pm

    @WaterGirl: To quote some random post I saw somewhere on Facebook, “the bar is so low it’s practically a tripping hazard in hell”

  20. 20.

    WaterGirl

    December 7, 2022 at 8:27 pm

    @Alison Rose: hahaha

  21. 21.

    H.E.Wolf

    December 7, 2022 at 8:27 pm

    Huge cheers for WaterGirl and all the donors!

  22. 22.

    WaterGirl

    December 7, 2022 at 8:32 pm

    @H.E.Wolf: The donors, the angels, the door knockers, the postcard writers, and anyone who did anything to help.  And the great organizations who put our money to good use.

    I always think it’s about no regrets – not that you can’t regret the outcome if it doesn’t go your way – but no rebuking yourself for not having done more.  Or the dreaded second guessing “what if I had done more?”

    I think we did really well on Balloon Juice on the no regrets front.

  23. 23.

    caphilldcne

    December 7, 2022 at 8:33 pm

    Congratulations to all and thank you for making it so easy to contribute to focused boots in the ground efforts that delivered. I’m originally from Michigan and delighted the payoff was so big in my home state!!

  24. 24.

    kalakal

    December 7, 2022 at 8:33 pm

    @WaterGirl: Charlie Pierce quote

    “A bar so low you need a metal detector to find it”

  25. 25.

    El Muneco

    December 7, 2022 at 8:34 pm

    @Kent: Walker’s campaign actually put out a public “please stop helping us” plea once they realized that all the grifters were cutting off the flow of people contributing directly to his campaign.

  26. 26.

    kalakal

    December 7, 2022 at 8:35 pm

    @El Muneco: Hah! That’s wonderful. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer bunch of people

  27. 27.

    dnfree

    December 7, 2022 at 8:43 pm

    I had monthly donations to two groups, Four Directions and Voces, and I had been going to stop them after the election.  But I’ve decided to just continue them so they have some continuity of funding between elections.

  28. 28.

    WaterGirl

    December 7, 2022 at 8:49 pm

    @dnfree: What a great thing to do.

  29. 29.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    December 7, 2022 at 8:50 pm

    This was such an awesome effort to be apart of! Thank you WG for all your hard work organizing this targeted fundraising which has clearly paid off big time. And a big thank you to everyone else who donated money, time to phone/textbanking and writing postcards

    I think we should definitely continue to support organizations like Voces, Four Directions, Worker Power, etc that focus on voter registration and GOTV

  30. 30.

    Barbara

    December 7, 2022 at 8:54 pm

    So impressed and proud of what BJ accomplished and so happy to have contributed my small part. But mostly a big round of applause to WG. Thank you for being the catalyst.

  31. 31.

    Mike in NC

    December 7, 2022 at 8:54 pm

    @Wyatt Salamanca:  Rick Scott couldn’t have picked Herschel Walker out of a police lineup.

  32. 32.

    Sparkedcat

    December 7, 2022 at 8:54 pm

    I gladly donated to Four Directions get out the vote effort in Arizona. As an aside I would like to thank Tucker Carlson for his antivaccine broadcasts that surely contributed to removing just enough Republicans from the voting rolls in Nevada.

  33. 33.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    December 7, 2022 at 8:56 pm

    @Wyatt Salamanca:

    Even the Walker campaign didn’t want that freak anywhere near them. Can’t she see that’s the reason why lol?

  34. 34.

    WaterGirl

    December 7, 2022 at 8:57 pm

    @Sparkedcat: That was maybe harsh, but I laughed.

  35. 35.

    Redshift

    December 7, 2022 at 8:58 pm

    Yay us, and WG in particular! Can’t wait to hear the details.

    And I could use some celebration; I had a colonoscopy today, and Ms. Redshift caught covid this week after dodging it for nearly two years.

  36. 36.

    Almost Retired

    December 7, 2022 at 8:59 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):  Agree 100% on continuing to support boots on the ground organizations.  These efforts pay off in the future.

  37. 37.

    Redshift

    December 7, 2022 at 9:03 pm

    @Mike in NC:

    Rick Scott couldn’t have picked Herschel Walker out of a police lineup.

    But if you showed him a police lineup and said one of them was Herschel Walker, he would definitely believe you.

  38. 38.

    Albatrossity

    December 7, 2022 at 9:07 pm

    Wow. That’s a lot of money! I’m impressed with all the jackals, and especially impressed by the hard work and mental fortitude that WG brings to this enterprise. We rock!

  39. 39.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 7, 2022 at 9:14 pm

    I’d also like to thank all the doomers who caused me to spite donate to some the non-WI projects.

  40. 40.

    Neldob

    December 7, 2022 at 9:15 pm

    Wow, yay us, yay Watergirl! Gives me hope for the future.

  41. 41.

    Joseph Patrick Lurker

    December 7, 2022 at 9:19 pm

    WG, Congratulations to you and all of the jackals who worked so hard on behalf of Warnock.

    Have you looked at the 2024 Senate races?

    Senators Whose Term of Service Expire in 2025

    https://www.senate.gov/senators/Class_I.htm

    It looks rough for several Democrat incumbents such as Tammy Baldwin (WI), Sherrod Brown (OH), Martin Heinrich (NM), Joe Manchin (WV), Jacky Rosen (NV), Kyrsten Sinema (AZ), and Jon Tester (MT) while all the Republican incumbents look like locks for re-election wins.

    I’ve seen several articles stating that Sherrod Brown is the number one target for Republicans.

  42. 42.

    West of the Cascades

    December 7, 2022 at 9:21 pm

    One suggestion for having on the radar for 2023 — the Wisconsin Supreme Court election being held on April 4th, after a primary to be held on February 21st. This is a big deal because that Court is divided 4 conservatives to 3 liberals, and one of the conservatives has her term up next year. If a liberal is elected, it could affect abortion rights in Wisconsin, as well as letting the Court uphold Governor Evers’ actions and find those of the grossly unrepresentative Republican legislature unconstitutional or otherwise invalid. Could be a huge deal for the 2024 presidential elections, and also potentially for state legislative gerrymandering (I believe the possibility for challenging the 2020 federal redistricting is gone after the 4-3 conservative majority upheld the federal congressional districts earlier this year). I don’t know the mechanics of challenging the current state legislative districting (Omnes?).

    Anyhoo, hugely important for starting to restore the rule of law in Wisconsin. Good writeup here: https://www.wpr.org/partisan-battle-over-balance-power-wisconsin-supreme-court, details of announced candidates here: https://ballotpedia.org/Wisconsin_Supreme_Court_elections,_2023.

  43. 43.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 7, 2022 at 9:23 pm

    @Joseph Patrick Lurker: You know nothing.  Also, thanks for dropping by to shit in the punchbowl.

  44. 44.

    MomSense

    December 7, 2022 at 9:27 pm

    @dnfree:

    Same here.

  45. 45.

    Joseph Patrick Lurker

    December 7, 2022 at 9:27 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Fuck you asshole.

  46. 46.

    zhena gogolia

    December 7, 2022 at 9:28 pm

    Congratulations, everybody.

    I’ve been on a monthly to Warnock since 2020. I wonder if I should stop that so I feel more free to donate elsewhere.

  47. 47.

    Alison Rose

    December 7, 2022 at 9:31 pm

    @Joseph Patrick Lurker: Dude, you’re the one who came onto this positive post about all the good we managed to do and Eeyore’d it up right away. Do you also show up at birthday parties for senior citizens and remind them how many years they have left based on average lifespans?

  48. 48.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 7, 2022 at 9:35 pm

    @West of the Cascades: I don’t know the answer to your question, and, after my day, I am too tired to research.  OTOH, revisiting the voter ID law is another possibility with a revamped court.

  49. 49.

    raven

    December 7, 2022 at 9:37 pm

    @Joseph Patrick Lurker: Back off douche.

  50. 50.

    sixthdoctor

    December 7, 2022 at 9:40 pm

    @WaterGirl: As a former Kos visitor in the Dubya days, I had no idea they were taking a cut. Kudos to you and all of your hard work!

  51. 51.

    Mo Salad

    December 7, 2022 at 9:41 pm

    Another Ulysses.

    Sorry. Reflex action.

  52. 52.

    Geminid

    December 7, 2022 at 9:42 pm

    This was an impressive effort, and even those on the periphery like me can take pride in it.

    My hope is that we keep following the candidates who were supported. Most new Representatives generate little news at the national level and most don’t try to. Even the work of three term veterans like Sharice Davids, or long term veterans like Marcy Kaptur, shows up only in state and local media.

    I hope people here keep learning about Davids and Kaptur, and new Reps like Mary Peltola (AK), Gabe Vasquez (NM), Marie Glusenkamp Perez and others they helped elect. Maybe an occasional post about the BJ fundraising recipients would be a good means. Or people like me can report on their activities in open threads.

    In any event, congratulations to Watergirl and the rest of you on a job well done!

  53. 53.

    West of the Cascades

    December 7, 2022 at 9:46 pm

    @Geminid: I can try to post about Gabe Vasquez from time to time on WaterGirl posts like this – he’s my new congressman since I moved to southern NM – and I get his campaign emails. It sounds like the soon-to-be-former congresswoman, Yvette Herrell, has already filed to run in 2024, so we probably get to do the whole thing again in two years!

  54. 54.

    PatrickG

    December 7, 2022 at 9:47 pm

    @hells littlest angel:

    Heartily endorse the enthusiasm factor WaterGirl brings. The fifty thousand desperate emails I got from campaign spambots used guilt and despair. :trash:

    Proud to be an occasional angel (also lazier to donate that way, another WG tactic I salute!)

  55. 55.

    El Muneco

    December 7, 2022 at 9:53 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Can we get a sticky somewhere on the main page with links to these groups so they don’t age out? I can’t even find some of them on google even now if there isn’t e.g. an ActBlue link.

  56. 56.

    El Muneco

    December 7, 2022 at 9:55 pm

    @Joseph Patrick Lurker: “It looks rough for several Democrat incumbents such as … Kyrsten Sinema (AZ),”

    Ruben Gallego, OTOH, has a fighting chance…

  57. 57.

    danielx

    December 7, 2022 at 9:55 pm

    @Alison Rose:

    Do you also show up at birthday parties for senior citizens and remind them how many years they have left based on average lifespans?

    Possible, but it could only happen once.

  58. 58.

    Geminid

    December 7, 2022 at 10:23 pm

    @West of the Cascades: That’s wild. Harrell lost to Xochitl Torres-Small by something like 4,000 votes in 2018. The seat was open because Republican Rep. Steve Pearce ran for Governor (he lost to Michelle Luhan Griffen). Harrell than came back and beat Torres-Small* by over 20,000 votes in 2020.

    Now you say Harrell wants a rematch against Gabe Vasquez. She can try, but I think he’ll hold that seat as long as he wants to. He’s young and I think he has a bright political future ahead of him.

    I’ve been interested in the New Mexico 2nd CD for a while now. I got to visit the area on two trips three years ago and camped some. There is a lot of natural beauty and I thought the people were very nice. It’s a relatively poor area, though, and I hope Mr. Vasquez, your two excellent Senators, and President Biden will help bring more economic development to the district. If they can, Yvette Harrell would do well to start working on a different career.

     

    *Xochitl Torres-Small now serves in the Biden administration as Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Rural Development.

  59. 59.

    Betsy

    December 7, 2022 at 10:28 pm

    I can’t believe we did so well.  It seems like a stroke of genius by WaterGirl and others who masterminded the approach.
    Does anyone else remember thinking, “Damn, this formula seems complicated, how we ever gonna identify those blocs or voters or districts?”  I didn’t understand it all, but those who created this seem like geniuses to me.

  60. 60.

    Parfigliano

    December 7, 2022 at 10:33 pm

    @Joseph Patrick Lurker: wouldnt be to worried about Heinrich in NM

  61. 61.

    prostratedragon

    December 7, 2022 at 10:48 pm

    It’s really impressive to see it added up, thanks in no small part to WaterGirl’s hard work in finding effective targets for the money. Sure, let’s do it again!

    @Redshift:
    I swear to you my gut reaction to your recent travail was, “Well, it’s all behind you now.” Hope the Mrs. improves quickly.

  62. 62.

    West of the Cascades

    December 7, 2022 at 11:02 pm

    @Geminid: There’s some speculation that Herrell only filed for 2024 so she can keep fundraising to pay off 2022 debts. Unfortunately, too, there a Republican-backed challenge to the NM congressional redistricting that will be heard by the NM Supreme Court on January 9, 2023 – I hope it goes nowhere (because by making NM-2 a little more blue the legislature made NM-1 a little less blue – although Congresswoman Stansbury still won by 12 points).

    I think that Gabe is great – I got to shake his hand the weekend before the election! You’re right that he has a bright political future, and his heritage as a first-generation Mexican-American and fluency in both Spanish and English is a big deal in NM-2 (Herrell is not fluent in either language as far as I can tell).

    I just moved here earlier this year – Silver City – and I love the people and the natural beauty of the landscape and the slower pace of life. I’m hoping we can keep southern NM Democratic for the next decade at least! And thanks for the info on Torres-Small — I really liked her in 2018 (although I didn’t live here then) and was wondering what became of her.

    And if Biden/Heinrich/Lujan/Vasquez can’t make a lot of headway because of the federal House for the next two years, I’m sure Governor Lujan Grisham and the state legislature will send lots of money down here and make sure Congressman Vasquez appears at all of the ribbon-cuttings!

  63. 63.

    KrackenJack

    December 7, 2022 at 11:28 pm

    Outstanding job WG! I think the strategy was well thought out and had an outsized impact. I’d love to hear ways that we can continue to build the Democratic infrastructure between elections. That might involve focusing on recurring contributions and topping it off quarterly as people drop out. Finding quality organizations is the hard part.

  64. 64.

    Mousebumples

    December 7, 2022 at 11:35 pm

    Thanks to everyone who helped with money, postcards, time, and encouragement!

    While my contribution to the Purple Races thermometer didn’t win (Brad Pfaff), giving him extra money for GOTV might have helped pull Gov. Evers across for reelection, so I’m glad I gave to his campaign. And supporting those running against insurrectionists is also good, right? (and I just got a thank you postcard in the mail from his campaign, so that was cool too)

    I’ve 100% got the Wisconsin Supreme Court race in April on my agenda. (a Republican State Senator in the Milwaukee suburbs has also announced her retirement, and the special election will be on the same day) I’m hoping #PostcardsToVoters will be doing postcards, like they have for previous Wisconsin Supreme Court races, but we’ll see… 🤞

    Not sure when we’ll next have elections to write postcards for, but I hope we can do more of those postcard/music threads in 2023!

  65. 65.

    AJ of the Mustard Search and Rescue Team

    December 7, 2022 at 11:48 pm

    I’m incredibly grateful to the whole BJ commentariot, WG, and the matching angels on and off the site.

    All of my political giving goes through BJ, and I feel like it’s so much more impactful than my trying to figure it out on my own. So ty all.

  66. 66.

    StringOnAStick

    December 8, 2022 at 12:14 am

    I know that I have given more this year than I ever had because of the organizing done here, and I am sure my money had a much greater impact than ever before, plus I could ignore the pleading, doomer emails from national organizations with zero guilt.  We did amazing work here!

    I wrote over 400 postcards that mostly went to GA but also TX and WI.  I plan to write for the upcoming WI election; writing makes me feel determined and involved.  I wish my local congressional race had gone to the D but as a newly drawn district it was harder to predict.  Hopefully it will flip next time.

  67. 67.

    frosty

    December 8, 2022 at 12:41 am

    @WaterGirl: I agree. Balloon-Juice did great on the no regrets front. The thing I’m most curious about is how well Four Directions did with the 100,000 or so Native Americans in Georgia. I would never have heard about it except for this site.

  68. 68.

    mvr

    December 8, 2022 at 12:45 am

    @West of the Cascades: Yeah, I’m keeping up my Wisconsin Dem Party donations and I live in Nebraska (not a place in Wisconsin) and am deeply in debt from this election cycle.  That supreme court seat will be important and that state will then possibly edge back to sanity.

  69. 69.

    mvr

    December 8, 2022 at 12:52 am

    WG is kind of a treasure across her many roles on this blog. Whatever good we did (and it is good to stand back and assess that as this thread does and promises more of) would not have been anything like it was without a lot of hard work and herding of cats and jackals on her part. So thank you for that!

    I’m pretty sure the threads here pried at least a few hundred dollars out of my pockets than I would have given without them, though how many hundred is somewhat hard to say. Since Warnock won I don’t regret a penny.

  70. 70.

    Redshift

    December 8, 2022 at 12:59 am

    @prostratedragon:

    I swear to you my gut reaction to your recent travail was, “Well, it’s all behind you now.” Hope the Mrs. improves quickly.

    LOL, thanks.

  71. 71.

    Fair Economist

    December 8, 2022 at 1:23 am

    I think BJ and Watergirl in particular did a great job fundraising this time. I feel money was better spent than in 2020.

  72. 72.

    VeniceRiley

    December 8, 2022 at 3:32 am

    This Virginia state senate race next month super important. Let’s kelp kos on this https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2022/12/7/2140204/-Want-to-keep-on-winning-We-have-the-chance-for-a-huge-flip-in-Virginia-next-month?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=Sendible&utm_campaign=RSS

  73. 73.

    WaterGirl

    December 8, 2022 at 6:26 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: That made me laugh, but I imagine you are serious.

  74. 74.

    WaterGirl

    December 8, 2022 at 6:30 am

    @Joseph Patrick Lurker: How about we take the wins, especially Tuesday’s win by Warnock, and celebrate the amazing things we did accomplish?

    Looking ahead to the 2024 senate races can wait a bit.

    There will always be another political challenge ahead.  If we don’t stop to celebrate the wins, we’ll be too exhausted to win the next fight.

  75. 75.

    WaterGirl

    December 8, 2022 at 6:32 am

    @West of the Cascades: Thanks for that!  Yes, that is already on our radar, but I really appreciate all the details that I didn’t know.  And thanks for the link!

  76. 76.

    WaterGirl

    December 8, 2022 at 6:36 am

    @zhena gogolia:  Big thanks for supporting Warnock for the past 2 years!

    I think Warnock will be set since he just won a 6 year term!   M two cents?  There are other fights ahead that can benefit from your donations.

  77. 77.

    lowtechcyclist

    December 8, 2022 at 6:37 am

    Can I sneak in a word for one more race? On January 10th, there will be a special election for a state Senate seat in Virginia, and the Dems have a good chance to flip it from R to D which would keep Youngkin from being one (apparently quite real) turncoat Dem away from passing antiabortion legislation this year. Read about it here: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/12/7/2140204/-Want-to-keep-on-winning-We-have-the-chance-for-a-huge-flip-in-Virginia-next-month

    We’ve got more than a few Virginians here…

    ETA: Beaten to it by VeniceRiley, but glad to see I’m not the only one who has this race on his radar.

  78. 78.

    WaterGirl

    December 8, 2022 at 6:38 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    OTOH, revisiting the voter ID law is another possibility with a revamped court.

    Yes!  Plus the whole driver’s license issue for undocumented people in Wisconsin.  I believe those are big issues for Voces de la Frontera.

  79. 79.

    WaterGirl

    December 8, 2022 at 6:41 am

    @sixthdoctor:

    I had no idea they were taking a cut.

    And they don’t tell you up front!  Once you click on the thermometer, IF you happen to click to see all the candidates/organizations that are part of that thermometer, they are listed there.

  80. 80.

    WaterGirl

    December 8, 2022 at 6:41 am

    @Mo Salad: That made me laugh!

  81. 81.

    WaterGirl

    December 8, 2022 at 6:49 am

    @Geminid: We plan to do exactly that!  Starting with the House folks we supported.

    We are gong to do something like Colbert’s Better Know A District, only Balloon Juice style.

    The working name for the moment is:

    Holy shit we have a lot of great Dems!

    The plan is to start with Emelia Sykes and then Greg Landsman, or vice versa.  Kathleen is putting together information on both of them, and I’ll be looking for other folks to put together information on their great reps.

    So this will need to be a team effort, just like we did with figuring out which candidates to put on the Purple House thermometer, where you guys nominated some really great folks to be in that thermometer.

    So if anyone wants to help with that, please get in touch with me.

  82. 82.

    WaterGirl

    December 8, 2022 at 6:52 am

    @West of the Cascades:  Can I take that as you volunteering to put together information for the “Holy shit we have a lot of great Dems, Gabe Vasquez Edition”?

    That could be our third one!  (see comment just above)

  83. 83.

    WaterGirl

    December 8, 2022 at 7:02 am

    @frosty: After the holidays, we’ll be talking with each of the organizations we supported.  Not sure of the format, though.

    The people who do join the zooms find them inspiring, but we get so few people on those zooms with the organizations that we are wondering if we should considered videos of interviews with them that anyone can watch if they want to.  But would people watch them?  I don’t know!

  84. 84.

    WaterGirl

    December 8, 2022 at 7:05 am

    @VeniceRiley: Sadly, if you don’t click to customize your amount, half of what you donate through that thermometer goes to Daily Kos.

  85. 85.

    lowtechcyclist

    December 8, 2022 at 8:01 am

    @WaterGirl:

    Sadly, if you don’t click to customize your amount, half of what you donate through that thermometer goes to Daily Kos.

    Maybe we could do our own thermometer for this race? It’s a state legislature race, so even several hundred dollars is a non-trivial amount of help.  And Daily Kos doesn’t need our help.

  86. 86.

    Geminid

    December 8, 2022 at 8:10 am

    @lowtechcyclist: This special election is to fill the State Senate seat of Jen Kiggans, the Republican who beat Rep. Elaine Luria in the Virginia 2nd CD. That was a tough loss for us, and if the Democratic candidate wins the special election it would provide a measure of payback besides an important addition to Senate leader Louise Lucas’s “Brick Wall.”

  87. 87.

    Torrey

    December 8, 2022 at 8:25 am

    @WaterGirl:

    You could split the difference, with a designated interviewer and the understanding that the interview would be recorded and made available to everyone, and anyone else who wanted to attend being present as a sort of studio audience, with the ability to ask questions. That’s close to how it’s happening now, but this would make the “recorded interview” context very explicit. Solicit questions from BJ-ers in advance for the interviewer to use or not at their discretion.

  88. 88.

    WaterGirl

    December 8, 2022 at 9:02 am

    @lowtechcyclist:

    John has decreed no more fundraising of any kind for the rest of the year, now that the GA runoff is over.  But here’s a direct link to that person’s campaign on ActBlue, so if you donate through this one, the candidate gets the whole amount.

    ActBlue Link

  89. 89.

    WaterGirl

    December 8, 2022 at 9:05 am

    @Torrey:  Interesting.  I will let that idea rattle around in my head for a bit!

  90. 90.

    SuzieC

    December 8, 2022 at 9:18 am

    @WaterGirl: Yay!!  I was just going to chime in and mention that in blood-red Ohio we flipped those two US House seats and kept veteran Marcy Kaptur.  Chalk up 3 wins for Balloon Juice.

  91. 91.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    December 8, 2022 at 10:38 am

    I realize this thread is dead, but here goes anyway. Despite the unfriendly nature of the 2024 Senate map, I expect it will be a different story in the House. I’d love us to find a way to move those seats we lost in NY back into the blue column. I would happily contribute to some boots on the ground efforts there.

  92. 92.

    WaterGirl

    December 8, 2022 at 12:40 pm

    @SuzieC: We actually got a lot more than 3 wins in the House races, as you’ll see when we get to the discussion of that.

    Are you up for putting together info on Marcy Kaptur?  She could be third in our Holy shit we have a lot of great Dems series.

  93. 93.

    WaterGirl

    December 8, 2022 at 12:42 pm

    @Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony:  I always check back on my threads for a day or two.

    I would like to see us  raise funds (and write postcards etc) for all special elections for House races that could conceivably be winnable.

  94. 94.

    O. Felix Culpa

    December 8, 2022 at 1:13 pm

    Late to the show, but Senator Heinrich (D-NM) will easily win reelection in the next cycle, despite what the wannabe Voice of Doom suggests.

  95. 95.

    Mousebumples

    December 8, 2022 at 1:17 pm

    @WaterGirl: if we can get reliable addresses for even “unwinnable” House races, postcards could still be worthwhile. (*with the caveat that everyone has a right to use their time and financial resources as they prefer)

    1. Special elections are notoriously unpredictable with regards to turnout. Postcards getting more Dems to the polls could flip races we wouldn’t expect to win
    2. Repeatedly voting (and losing) elections is discouraging. A postcard in the mail, even in a deep red district, can help blue voters feel like they aren’t forgotten.
    3. Building a deeper bench! If we can make the losing margin *less* (eg lose by 5 versus 15), it could help with candidate recruitment for the next election.

    No news on new #PostcardsToVoters campaigns yet, but I’m trying to keep my eyes open. 😊

  96. 96.

    lowtechcyclist

    December 8, 2022 at 2:02 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    John has decreed no more fundraising of any kind for the rest of the year, now that the GA runoff is over.  But here’s a direct link to that person’s campaign on ActBlue, so if you donate through this one, the candidate gets the whole amount.

    ActBlue Link

    Thanks for the link – yes, I will use that one.  I hadn’t realized that Cole had made that call; it’s his blog, so it’s his call.  And Lord knows I wouldn’t want to bother him about it now.

    This Virginia expat can definitely spare a few shekels for this race.

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