Every time the campaign season is among us, we do a lot of fundraising for political candidates. And we have for years- at least since 2006-2007. So we do it a lot. And I think we have been pretty effective and wise in our choices and we really try to get the most bang for our buck with smaller organizations and matching donations. Have we had some losses? Yes. Will we have more losses, also yes. I don’t need to go into detail, most of you know this.
Having said that, every time we do fundraising, I get a couple emails pissed off about all the fundraising, even though it is voluntary and anonymous. You don’t have to give. You really don’t. So I just wanted to say that we will be doing fundraising until the 4 November election, and if that pisses you off or irritates you, I am going to give you the same fucking advice I gave Tipper Gore and all the godbotherers at the Media Research Center and those other places (not to unfairly lump Tipper in with those guys but you know it happened),
“PICK UP THE REMOTE AND TURN THE FUCKING CHANNEL.”
Honestly. If the fundraising pisses you off, don’t read them. There are all sorts of things on the website to let you search by author, jump down a post, etc. Do that.
Thank you and fuck off in advance depending on your reaction.
Also, the college girl across the street keep partially blocking the driveway so I left this on her car.
Your move, young lady.
I am currently answering emails and having zoom meetings while in between I have two doors on saw horses being painted and a web of gates keeping the dogs away.
Baud
I can’t believe people get pissed off at any of front page content here, especially enough to contact you.
And doubly especially when it comes to fundraising against fascism.
Bard the Grim
So say we all!
FelonyGovt
Some people evidently need to get a life.
japa21
Love the note at the bottom. I would probably have been a
littlelot harsher. But then, you are a mensch.$8 blue check mistermix
B-J’s fundraising has always been top-notch, and we raise a shit-ton of money. Carping about it is nonsense.
Hoodie
@Baud: Well, it might be displacing posts about mustard, cats, canning, gardening and naked mopping. You know, really important stuff.
geg6
As a wise man once said, fuckem.
Baud
@geg6:
👍
Miss that guy.
Josie
I think people need to get a hobby or, as you suggested, skip whatever posts they don’t want to read. There is a key on the computer that enables one to scroll down to something else. Even an luddite like me knows how to do that.
dmsilev
Yes, one could “change the channel”, but Duty Calls.
la caterina
I, for one, am grateful to the blog for showing me where I can get the most bang for my political contibution buck. Thanks especially to WaterGirl!
HumboldtBlue
I just want bagels, why aren’t there any bagels?
Steeplejack
Question for Arizona jackals: does writing “Tuscon” mark you as an outsider, or is it a common thing?
piratedan
@Steeplejack: most for those of us in the Old Pueblo (Tucson), we just roll our eyes dramatically and shudder a loud sigh.
One of the many nicknames for the Phoenix metro for those living outside of its event horizon is “the center of the universe” because the “attitudes” of those within it, nothing else matters :-)
Memory Pallas
THANK YOU for doing the fundraising.
Memory Pallas
Thank you for doing the fundraising.
ETA Sorry for duplicate. Don’t see a way to delete?
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
If I were writing Biden’s speech tonight I think I’d make is short and sweet…you know my record, I’ve done a bunch of great things. I’ll do more with a second term. So the state of our union is strong. My number one pledge to you is to stay off the TV as much as possible in my second term. I mean, I’m the President, I have to be visible as part of the job, but if you don’t especially like me, that’s fine, you won’t see my face or hear my voice more than is absolutely necessary for me to do this job well. Now…contrast that with my opponent, a crazy, malignant, cruel, petty, vindictive, annoying publicity hog with a narcissistic personality disorder. If elected, he will be in your life, every day, for the next four years, on your TV every chance he gets, on your social media feeds, everywhere! He’d rather die than be ignored. DO YOU WANT THAT IN YOUR LIFE AGAIN?!?! If the polling is to be believed you may not like me but you hate that guy. So do yourself a favor. Vote for me one more time, because if he loses again he’s out of your life for good and all. Thank you, good night, and God bless the United States of America!
I think a lot of voters, even ones that don’t particularly like Biden, would find this compelling.
Omnes Omnibus
@Josie:
I don’t think I have read a Sunday Morning Garden Chat in at least five years because I am not interested. Same with gamer threads. It really isn’t that difficult.
Scout211
Since you mentioned commenter complaints, I have some complaints for the management:
Front-pagers don’t always post what I want them to post.
Commenters don’t say what I think they should say
Not enough commenters think my comments are brilliant
The blog is too negative
The blog is too positive
The commenters are too mean
The commenter are too nice
The commenters are too old
There are too many fundraisers
There aren’t enough fundraisers
Uh, what? What did you just say?
”Ma’am, this is an Arby’s drive-thru.”
Oh, okay then. Never mind.
The blog is alright 😉
dmsilev
@Scout211: I note that you forgot to complain that the commenters are too young. I wish to register a complaint at the omission.
zhena gogolia
@Baud: I know. I just don’t get it.
Love that note!
Scout211
@dmsilev: Noted and filed . . . somewhere.
dmsilev
@Scout211: Fair.
SiubhanDuinne
Agree that the fundraising here has been increasingly targeted and strategic, and I for one am grateful for that. If I had the money, sure, I’d donate to a huge number of Dem candidates, organizations, and other causes — but I don’t, and I’m very thankful that WaterGirl and others have put in the time and energy to identify the most effective use of my limited resources.
Perhaps one way to make sure the
precious butthurt snowflakesvalued Balloon Juice commenters are properly accommodated is to keep fundraising threads dedicated and separate. No fundraising on open threads and vice versa. I certainly don’t want to add to WG’s or anyone else’s things-to-keep-track-of list, but if it were SOP just for fundraising it would be easy for theprecious butthurt snowflakesvalued Balloon Juice commenters to scroll on past.The way the rest of us do if there’s a thread up that just doesn’t grab our fancy.
cain
@Scout211:
I’m in this camp. I’m morose, bereft, and unhappy.
I know! We need to be able to vote on comments so like the DC press we can lean in on our narcissism!
/s
PBK
Many people have already expressed my thoughts. Thank you for saying this Cole; too bad you had to especially for something like this.
Old School
@Baud:
I know – we should fundraise against Democrats we don’t like. It’ll give us something to do rather than turn comment threads into complaints about Democrats who aren’t doing things right.
Josie
@SiubhanDuinne:
You’re assuming that everyone would follow the rules and stick to the strict subject of the post. I’m afraid such a plan is doomed to failure.
twbrandt
I guess if some people had nothing to complain about, they’d complain about that.
I love the fact that BJ does all these targeted fundraisers. It’s really helpful as I try to make my modest donations as effective as possible.
Jackie
@SiubhanDuinne: I agree. WaterGirl and AL are great at making sure there’s a political-ish post going when a planned non-political post is posted. Or when a planned postcard writing post is on.
Sorry, John that you’re being bothered by a few jackals who want a one-note blog.
And I love your polite note to an awareless neighbor.Let us know if she takes the hint!
Captain C
@twbrandt: These targeted fundraisers are the reason I have had for a couple years now a small monthly donation to Four Directions (AZ)*.
*Unless it’s just to them in general, which is fine as well. They seem to do very good work.
Ohio Mom
@Omnes Omnibus: Yeah, I learned how to scroll past posts back in the day every big football game had one.
3letterjon
It’s TUCSON.
Also, too: Prescott is pronounced “preskitt”, Sedona is full of weirdos, the singular of tamales is tamal, and it’s a dry heat even when it’s cold.
Jackie
@Ohio Mom: LOL! I missed those posts! I think this yrs playoff posts and Super Bowl posts were fun.
OTOH, I’m not into soccer, so… I generally skip those lol.
laura
My personal complaint about the fundraising posts is that I cannot afford to chuck in every time. I cannot imagine a world where I’d be getting pissy and write to complain, because democracy and lives are on the line. I appreciate Watergirl and her minions for keeping elections front and center – and for whoever out there who is pissy to the point of showing your whole entitled ass via email, I echo the sentiment of our beloved efg.
Omnes Omnibus
@Jackie: I am appalled that we do not have rugby posts, but I usually don’t bother to complain about it.
moonbat
@Scout211: The blog also has too many people obsessed with catching flies.
Harumph!
Keep up the fundraising! And screw the haterz! Four Directions is an excellent place to throw political donations out your way, Cole.
Captain C
@3letterjon:
The best description of Sedona I’ve heard is “rich hippies selling rocks to each other.”
Eyeroller
Off topic, but I have an Alexa Show device, and I have noticed a distinct right-wing slant to the news headlines it offers me. I just saw one that stated “Biden Hopes State of the Union Speech Will Show He’s Up to the Job.” WTF? Projection much? The source may have been noted in a small font, but I didn’t notice before the headline disappeared.
rockstar
I am very thankful for the legwork put in by WaterGirl and others to target groups/candidates that could bring the best bang for the buck. These folks are always outside of the dystopian hell-hole I reside in so its nice to know that my limited resources are are not going to either folks who already have enough money, or to those whose shot at winning is marginal at best. As for the complainers f’em, wankers will be wankers.
Chief Oshkosh
Pedant Alert!
Unless your driveway has the ability to up and move, it can’t really be impeded. Of course, your movement down the driveway, or your use of the driveway some other way (naked mopping?), could be impeded by a college girl.
Omnes Omnibus
@Chief Oshkosh: Shouldn’t that be Pedantry Alert?
Suburban Mom
I love that BJ does the due diligence of figuring where to donate for maximum effectiveness on issues we care about. Thanks for the hard work.
Jackie
@Eyeroller: That made me remember a blurb I read earlier about Russian created fake newspapers popping up with misleading info just in time for the elections.
I don’t subscribe to The NYT, so can’t provide a gift link, but it sounds worth reading, if anyone has one to share?
Old School
RIP Steve Lawrence.
Jackie
@Jackie: OOOPS! Left off the first paragraph 🤦🏼♀️
twbrandt
@Old School: I honestly didn’t know he was still alive.
raven
I would also urge people to forget about the breathless posts about WHY they don’t give to this or that.
Chetan Murthy
I for one sympathize completely with the commenters who complain about too much fundraising, and demand my subscription fees be refunded in full!
Bill Arnold
@Eyeroller:
Closest hit for that in google is a youtube video from wpri, a broadcaster in Rhode Island. I won’t offer an opinion about their bias.
Biden hopes State of the Union address will show he’s up to the job. (YouTube, 2:21)
(website is https://wpri.com )
Sure Lurkalot
@SiubhanDuinne:
Perhaps the
precious butthurt snowflakesvalued Balloon Juice commenters who complain about post topics, front pagers, comments and commenters resembleAlex
and can’t help themselves?
Pauline
@3letterjon: Thank you! I was wondering who was going to catch that!
And yeah, “preskitt”. I still confuse the heck out of non-Arizonans with that one.
Quaker in a Basement
@Steeplejack: Snowbird!
Ocotillo
Wow, I’d hate to be whoever answers the phone at NPR whenever they are having a pledge drive.
lowtechcyclist
@dmsilev:
My all-time favorite XKCD.
Pauline
@piratedan: I always refer to the Phoenix metro area as the armpit of AZ.
lowtechcyclist
@la caterina:
Enthusiastically seconded!
lowtechcyclist
@dmsilev:
Having newly joined the ranks of the septuagenarian jackals, the only proper response on my part is: GET OFF MY LAWN!
;-D
NotMax
“Tuscon?”
Tsk-tsk. ;)
rikyrah
I am in awe of BJ.
The way this place has been able to cobble the coins together and make a real difference?
It’s just amazing :)
hitchhiker
@la caterina:
AGREE.
In 2022 I begged for BJ fundraising to include Marie Glusenkamp Perez, who was trying to win WA 03. She had a shot because her opponent was a whack job trumper named Joe Kent.
Whack job Joe had replaced Jaimie Herrera Butler. Jaimie, who won in 2020 by 13 points, made the fatal error of voting to impeach the orange asshole for trying to stay in office. She got primaried out.
Glusenkamp Perez won by less than 3000 votes, 0.8 of a point. That race wasn’t even on the mighty R radar, but I couldn’t take my eyes off it all night.
I’m persuaded that what we do here matters in lots of ways we can’t ever know about it. Marie GP’s primary is in August, and it looks like Whack job Joe is one of 4 Republicans aiming to take her on. She has no D opponent.
JustRuss
Oh yeah. Many’s the time I’ve started typing a comment, thought of that, and clicked Cancel.
JustRuss
@NotMax: Isn’t that where the Tuscon Raiders that Luke Skywalker mentioned come from?
Freemark
@JustRuss:
Yep it’s the one XKCD I keep in my permanent pictures file.
glc
@Scout211:
As per guideline BJ.7B (option 3), this would be better formatted as a numbered list, for further reference.
Please re-format and post again.
You may find that you need to add at least one more complaint.
WaterGirl
@hitchhiker: I’m sorry if you felt like I made you BEG! :-)
Timill
@NotMax:
Here you go:
TusCon 51 will be held the weekend of November 8th – November 10th, 2024 at the DoubleTree Tucson Airport
No endorsement implied here.
Odie Hugh Manatee
I wish we could know who is whining about the fundraising here. That’s just so I can point and laugh at them for being such a snowflake for clicking on something they don’t like and then complaining about it.
Fucking lol… really? Go away if you’re that stupid.
hitchhiker
@WaterGirl:
No, my dear. It’s just that I desperately felt like this was a winnable race, and I didn’t want it to be left out! I so appreciate what you do here.
WaterGirl
@hitchhiker: You were right – it was winnable!
So glad you spoke up; hers was an exciting win.
I got attached to several of the “Purple House” fundraising list. She was one of them.
Paul in KY
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: I like that speech! Hope he riffs off it just a tad.
jayne
I love the fundraising posts because they’re well-curated. I will admit that I usually try to find a way to donate that doesn’t involve ActBlue, because no matter what I uncheck and toggle they sell my info and spam the hell out of me. But that’s not your or any fp-er’s fault.
Motivated Seller
That it’s written on torn cardboard is *chef’s kiss*.
WaterGirl
@jayne: What if you donated a dollar or $5 through the thermometer and see if you start getting more requests. That should not be happening because I set it up to default to NOT share your info with the organization you’re donating to.
Redshift
I just want to say, no one should feel bad if we have some losses. If we don’t have any losses, it means we’re playing it too safe. If we want to be donating where our money can make a difference, there are going to be times when it isn’t enough.
Quiltingfool
I really appreciate the work done by Watergirl in finding organizations that use money wisely. I also like that we fund GOTV and voter outreach, so very important.
I do worry that people might get tired of being asked for money, but Baud said it best – we’re fighting fascism and we can’t get tired! I also worry that people may get tired of the quilts, but since I can’t raise money singing or dancing (and You Don’t Want That), quilts is what you get, lol!
Hey, I’m retired, I got plenty of free time!
scribbler
@Quiltingfool: No one in their right mind could get tired of your beautiful quilts!
BellyCat
Cole… Misspelling Tucson was a touch of genius, cleverly emphasizing the risk without having to actually spell it out (properly). //