Political Fundraising 2021-22

DougJ and I have been talking, and now that we have met our fundraising goal for Four Directions in Nevada, we thought you guys might be interested in knowing more about what we have in mind related to fundraising between now and the November elections.

We’re still going to (mostly) resist the temptation to put up links to candidates we love – like Beto and Fetterman and Stacey Abrams and Mark Kelly and more – and try to maintain a strategic approach to fundraising for this cycle.

We were looking at these key states:  AZ, NV, MI, GA, WI, TX, PA

(Betty, if you think there’s something we can do for Florida, we can add it to the list.)

Plus, FL just moved up to key state status. Let’s show Charlie Crist some love, and stop DeSantis in his tracks, shall we?

AZ, NV, MI, GA, WI, TX, PA, and FL!

We’re be raising money to help fund people who are willing and able to pick and up and head to AZ for a week or more.  Last week I spoke with a group that has the infrastructure in place to support this – and it costs about $1,000 a week per person.  Maybe some retired or temporarily unemployed BJ peeps will be interested in being one of those people?  DougJ and I are both super excited about this one!

There will be “Key State” thermometers for all of the executive positions in a particular state:  Governor, Secretary of State, and Attorney General.  That will pay dividends in 2022 and can help put some firewalls in place for those states in 2024.

There will be more thermometers: “Key State Governors”, “Key State Secretaries of State”, “Key State Attorneys General”.

If there are 5 or 7 winnable seats in the state legislature in key states, we can put up a thermometer for those.  (by state)  But we need your help in knowing what those are.

We also want to put together a “Young Pups” thermometer – 5 or 10 young pups who have the potential to really go places – who won their primaries.  John Cole especially loves this one because he loves the idea of the “old farts on Balloon Juice supporting the young pups”.   We need your help in identifying who these people are!

We will be putting up all those thermometers  just as fast as DougJ and I can put them together.  To be clear, this will be an ala carte approach – we won’t be putting up thermometers one at a time, with a big push and then moving on to the next one.  We’ll put up the thermometers as we make then, and you can decide which you want to give to, if any.

DougJ and I will be putting up posts featuring more information about the various options, and promoting this opportunity here and that opportunity there, but the list of all the fundraising options will be available on Balloon Juice.   You might even see Cole put up a fundraising post because he’s pretty jazzed about getting the Young Pups list going.

If there’s a local race that you really believe in, tell us about it in the comments.  No guarantees, but your local race could make it into a thermometer.  Don’t just name names, tell us about the candidate and about the race.

It’s all hands on deck time – November is just a couple of months away, and voting will start sooner than that!

If you have good contacts for any of this, anywhere, that might be helpful, please let us know.

Have some ideas of your own?  Share them in the comments.

Update at noon: I will link this post in the sidebar, so you guys can keep commenting and sharing ideas, even after this post is off the front page.

Coming Attractions, Ala Carte Fundraising MenuPost + Comments (71)

More information about Four Directions that can also be shared on social media.

We are just $2,774 $517 away from $75,000 to help Four Directions get out the Native vote in Nevada.

That’s $25,000 from us and $50,000 from the double-match Four Directions found for us.

We have $495 $85 $35 remaining in Angel Match funds that multiply your donation by 6.

A new angel just popped up with a $500 match.  

All donations up to $50 are now multiplied by 6!

Let’s do this!

Just <s>$2,774</s> $517 Away From $75,000 for the Native Vote in NevadaPost + Comments (103)

Today, the Washington Post was kind enough to devote an entire article to one of the principles I laid out in a short-lived post with “Coming Attractions” about our political fundraising plans.

I say “short-lived” because it was clearly the wrong post for that day/hour/minute/whatever, so I pulled it to post at another time when more than 2 people might actually read it!

An excerpt from my post yesterday:

Once we raise the remaining $10,000 $8,000 for Four Directions Nevada, we’re still going to (mostly) resist the temptation to put up links to candidates we love – like Beto and Fetterman and Stacey Abrams and Mark Kelly and more – and try to maintain our strategic approach to fundraising for this cycle.

We are still looking at key states:  AZ, NV, MI, GA, WI, PA, TX.

We’re plan to put together several  “Key State” thermometers for all of the executive positions in each particular key state:  Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, etc.  That will pay dividends in 2022 and can help put some firewalls in place for those states in 2024.

I’ll let the Washington Post make the rest of the case for me, with specifics.

Election deniers march toward power in key 2024 battlegrounds

From the Washington Post article:

The winners [of the Republican primaries] fit a pattern: Across the battleground states that decided the 2020 vote, candidates who deny the legitimacy of that election have claimed nearly two-thirds of GOP nominations for state and federal offices with authority over elections, according to a Washington Post analysis.

Had those candidates held power in 2020, they would have had the electoral clout to try something that the current officeholders refused: overturning the vote and denying Biden the presidency.

But the experts agree on one thing: A close presidential contest that comes down to the outcome in states where officials are willing to try to thwart the popular will could throw the country into chaos. It would potentially delay the result, undermine confidence in the democratic system and sow the seeds of civil strife on a scale even greater than what the nation saw on Jan. 6, 2021.

The predilection among Republican primary voters toward candidates who deny the result of the last election extends well beyond Michigan, Pennsylvania and Arizona — three states that together accounted for 47 electoral votes in 2020, more than enough to flip the last election to Donald Trump.

Open thread.

Thank You Washington Post (Today) Instead of the All-Too-Frequent Fuck You They DeservePost + Comments (179)