Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Everyone is in a bubble, but some bubbles model reality far better than others!

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

It’s the corruption, stupid.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

Joe Biden can go out like FDR, not by dying in office, but by crushing the fascists.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

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

Republicans don’t trust women.

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

It’s not hopeless, and we’re not helpless.

“That’s what the insurrection act is for!”

ha ha ha! Nice try weird people.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

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

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

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Targeted Political Fundraising 2023-24

Balloon Juice Operation Blue Arizona

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By now, you’ve probably spotted two predominant targets of our strategic GOTV fundraising this cycle:  1) the newly-energized youth vote, and 2) the fast-growing swing states of Arizona and North Carolina.  After the last census, Michigan and Pennsylvania (and even California) each lost one electoral vote.  North Carolina gained an electoral vote (16 votes).  Arizona held steady at 11.

These states are the future.  Both are rapidly growing and diversifying and attracting domestic and international migration.  Our efforts are about November 2024, but they are also an investment in the future.

Today, in what I think of as the second-to-last leg of our fundraising, we are kicking off Operation Blue Arizona!

This eleventh-hour push is to get additional boots on the ground with two of our great partners in the Grand Canyon State and help fund candidates that could flip the state Legislature, flip two Republican Congressional seats, change the makeup of the State Supreme Court and protect the integrity of the vote in the crucial County of Maricopa (Phoenix).

Four Directions Arizona

Four Directions needs no introduction here.  They’ve mastered the art of paid relational organizing in Indian Country.  Relational organizing is the best strategy out there to reach otherwise unreachable voters – through their friends and family.   Four Directions already has the infrastructure set up and rolling on Arizona’s reservations – our contributions will provide stipends for additional workers to get out the vote in the community.   Arizona’s native community represents over 5% of the state’s population, and the Native vote exceeds the margins of victory in previous elections.  Remember, Joe Biden won Arizona by just 10,500 votes in 2020!

Worker Power

Worker Power has grown in size and sophistication since we first supported them in Arizona and Georgia in 2022.  But they still need us.

We’re helping underwrite a team of well-trained paid canvassers in two strategic state Legislative districts in the Tucson area – the critical counties of Pima and Pinal are the primary focus of our Worker Power Fall GOTV team.

This is a strategic trifecta:  supporting Harris, flipping a vulnerable Congressional seat (Ciscomani) and helping retain and flip legislative seats that could cost the Republicans their narrow majority in the State House.  Worker Power has a goal of hiring 500 canvassers to knock on 1.3 million doors in AZ this cycle.

Our Arizona Candidates

 – 2 Congressional candidates

 – 4 State Legislative incumbents/challengers

 – Maricopa County Recorder

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Open Thread (and Quilt Raffle At Last!) And the Winner is… Memory Pallas!

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172 raffle tickets were purchased by 77 people!

We raised over $5,000!  $5,411, to be exact.

native quilt raffle

Each virtual raffle ticket has been assigned a number.

I need 7 people to supply a number in the comments – choose any number between 95 and 280, inclusive.

 

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NCAAT & Nebraska – Almost There!

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Update: We did it! You guys rock!

Reminder:  We have a 6x match in place for this final stretch for NCAAT.  And the $4k Angel check that gets mailed as soon as we hit $21,000!  (Taking us to $25,000!)

And we have a new Angel for $250 for the Nebraska House NE-02 & Senate Race, so that’s a 2x match to help get us to the top!

No need to tell us about your donations to get the match.  If it goes in the thermometer, it will be matched.  Until we hit our goals!

And we have THREE $10 bonus NCAAT Angel matches for folks who tend to donate in the $4-$20 range.  Hate to have those 3 unused!  (Reminder, that makes your $10 donation turn into $90!)

If we can finish these off, we’ll take the weekend off, and then on Monday roll out:

Operation Blue Arizona

We’ve got:

  • our final two organizations for AZ, Worker Power and Four Directions AZ
  • great candidates
  • two AZ Supreme Court Republican judges that are up for retention (hopefully not retained!)
  • Abortion Rights is on the ballot.

But we can’t start those until we finish up these. :-)

But maybe everyone is already tapped out?

I’m heading out to water my flowers, but I’ll be back in shortly to hopefully catch a few bonus NCAAT matches.

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NCAAT Fundraising Update

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I have a quick update on the NCAAT fundraising.

We are at $17,000, which is awesome.

Side note: For some reason I can’t quite recall (!) I didn’t manage to get any client work done last evening!   I am not where I need to be, so I will be MIA for most of today.  So this one is simple.  No reporting of NCAAT donations is necessary, just get the thermometer to $21,000, please. :-)

Why?  Because we have a Balloon Juice Angel who will complete the match for us as soon as the thermometer hist $21,000.

This Angel writes a check rather than adding to the thermometer, so for now I have changed our goal to $21,000 to be more clear that once we hit that amount in the thermometer, we will have met our goal!

Because we have a double external match + a BJ Angel, all donations to NCAAT of any amount are 6x!

You’re still free to note a donation in the comments to inspire other people, if you want, but no reporting is necessary.  

I am going to take a quick peek to see how the debate is being reported and then it’s work, work, work for me.  Hoping that between Kamala being was so great last night and him being so weak, that maybe the media wasn’t able to go with their prepared take on the debate.  (Either he won or it was a toss-up.)

Open thread!

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Quick Stop, Nebraska! Nebraska?

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We Interrupt our regularly scheduled GOTV fundraising for a quick candidate money drop: Tony Vargas (NE-02) and Senate challenger Dan Osborn.

We’ll get back to NCAAT in a day or so (and there’s an active Angel match with 6x donations) so please carry on with that if you are so inclined.  But we figured we’ll all be distracted with he debate, so it seems possible that this might be a good day for candidate donations, too.

Balloon Juice is heading to NEBRASKA!  Nebraska?  Yes, Nebraska.

US HOUSE SEAT: NE-02

The race between incumbent Republican Don Bacon and Democrat Tony Vargas is close.

Fun Facts:

  • Madame VP is running ahead in CD 2, and the incumbent Republican, Don Bacon is vulnerable.
  • This year is a rematch between Don Bacon and Democrat Tony Vargas.
  • Bacon beat Vargas by only three points in 2022, and off-year election with middling turnout.
  • We supported Vargas in 2022 to the tune of $5,011.
  • Bacon is now unpopular with Republicans in Nebraska, for being partly sane about a couple of issues.
  • Bacon had a bruising primary, with 40% of Cornhusker Republicans voting for his far right opponent.
  • While Vargas holds a slight Q2 fundraising advantage, the NRCC will surely dump more $ into NE-02.

NEBRASKA SENATE RACE

The big surprise in Nebraska is the Senate race.

Incumbent Senator Deb Fischer is not particularly beloved in Nebraska.  As a result of her lukewarm support, the darkest of dark horse candidates – a political independent named Dan Osborn – is nearly tied with Fischer in four separate surveys.  And this is without the overt support of the Democratic party.  

Who is Dan Osborne?

Osborn is a blue-collar union worker and political newcomer, who is running as an independent.  He’s backed by the UAW and other labor organizations, but is not accepting endorsements from the Democratic party (undoubtedly a smart strategy in Nebraska).   Here’s more on Dan.  (No paywall.)

Needless to say, Dan Osborn is lagging in fundraising.   Are these polls complete outliers?  Perhaps.  But the momentum is with the Democrats in NE-02, aka CD 2, which Osborn needs to carry handily to outweigh rural Nebraska.  It’s NE-02 when we’re talking about the House; it’s CD 2 when we are talking about the electoral college.

Will it help that Tim Walz is a native Nebraskan who has already held a wildly successful rally in Omaha?

NEBRASKA CD 2 (ELECTORAL COLLEGE)

Nebraska, like Maine, awards its electoral votes by Congressional District.  Nebraska CD 2 (essentially, greater Omaha) is perpetually up for grabs – Obama won it in 2008 and lost it in 2012.  Trump won it in 2016 and lost it in 2020.

What’s more, the website 270ToWin Electoral College Tie Finder shows at least three plausible electoral outcomes that lead to a 269-269 tie.

 If that happens, Nebraska CD 2 could decide the election.  One way or the other.  Let’s help make sure it goes our way, eh?

THE NEBRASKA EFFORT IS AN INVESTMENT

This is an investment in regaining the house.

This is an investment in possibly (although perhaps unlikely) picking up an unexpected Senate seat.

This is an investment in helping to drive turnout in CD 2 to help secure its potentially tie-breaking electoral vote.  

QUICK NOTE ON STRATEGIC CANDIDATE FUNDRAISING

A quick note on strategic candidate fundraising.

It’s bears repeating that “close” and “toss-up” and “Republican incumbent in a Biden district” are not the same as “needs money” or “this would be a good strategic use for our money.”  That’s why we’re mostly keeping our powder dry on candidate fundraising until later this month, when we’ll have a better idea of who is overlooked and underfunded.

But we’re rolling out Nebraska now, in honor of the debate tonight, and you can expect a candidate component for the upcoming Operation Blue Arizona!  (As soon as we finish NCAAT.)

We are hoping to raise $10,000 for Osborn and Vargas. And we may revisit one or both of these later, but for now $5k each seems like enough to make a difference.  If you want to contribute to one of these races and not the other, or give more to one than the other, click on Customize Amounts before you enter your dollar amount.

These two Nebraska races fit our strategy of narrow-targeting those races that potentially have the most impact, and where our funds can make a difference.

Side note: Click on “here’s more on Dan” above if you want to read the story about how Charlton Heston (yes the gun-humping actor) got Dan Osborn fired from his job waiting tables.  I guess Charlton Heston was always a dick.

One more thing.  Now that we’re heading toward the final stretch, we’ve added a new page under 2024 Activism – Strategic Candidate Fundraising.  It’s similar to the Targeted Fundraising page, which is focused on the organizations we are supporting.  Strategic Candidate Fundraising is where you’ll find all the candidate fundraising as the final weeks progress.

Besides that, this can be an open thread to talk about the debate and anything else.

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North Carolina Asian Americans Together (NCAAT)

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North Carolina Asian Americans Together (NCAAT)

So excited about this new group!

North Carolina Asian Americans Together is a mouthful, so I will refer to them as NCAAT.  What we will be funding though, is technically NCAAT In Action – the partisan side of the organization.  You will see that there are separate websites for NCAAT and NCAAT In Action, but for simplicity I will refer to them as NCAAT.  (More on that below)

Here’s what’s so exciting about this organization!

BJ Strategic Fundraising Trifecta:  NC is a critical state + Youth Vote + the AAPI Community

Our goal is to raise $25,000 for NCAAT in Action.  They are working hard to find an external match for us!  Their charismatic young director (and founder of the organization) is confident she’ll find one  But time is short and we don’t want to hold off on starting until we know re.for sure.

The NCAAT peeps have secured the $25,000 match for us!  All donations with Angel matches will now be 4x!

We will be helping NCAA expand its outreach to AAPI and BIPOC youth aged 18-25 in 10 target counties on 53 campuses and high schools with the most racially diverse populations.

Fun Facts:

  • North Carolina and its 16 electoral votes are up for grabs.
  • One of the key ways to win in NC is turning out the youth and BIPOC vote
  • All the trends in NC are moving in our direction: the polls, voter enthusiasm.
  • Trump and Mark Robinson (black candidate for governor) are displaying unfitness for office.
  • The NCAAT leadership is young and enthusiastic and full of innovative strategies.
  • Since the inception of NCAAT and NCAAT in Action, the Asian youth turnout has been at record highs and consistently higher than turnout for youth in other racial groups of color.
  • NCAAT is not duplicating the efforts of the North Carolina Black Alliance, the other youth-related North Caroline group we are supporting. Both organizations are part of a coalition that is coordinating member efforts!

NCAAT will use its proven youth tactics to expand our efforts for 2024 to boost all BIPOC youth engagement, civic participation, and voting!!

  • They become a visible presence on campus to educate students on voting rights and the importance of youth voting.
  • Increase engagement by facilitating discussion on AAPI and BIPOC youth issues.
  • Collect Voter Registration cards and developing leads for their youth leadership pipeline.
  • They have on-site “campus ambassadors,” who facilitate discussions on election-related challenges
  • They promote information on candidate accountability.
  • They develop and distribute political education materials.
  • The are focused on Democratic turnout.

We typically try to provide groups with what they need in order to expand their efforts or do things they have wanted to do but don’t have the resources.

In this case, it’s too late in the game for us to underwrite an expansion to other campuses or other unique efforts.

But it’s not too late to help them:

  • put more ambassadors in the field
  • expand their hours
  • focus more on key issues – reproductive rights, climate change, protecting immigrants’ rights, prioritizing a ceasefire in Gaza
  • create more targeted educational materials
  • do more follow up with students

They have a sophisticated strategy of emphasizing three main focus areas:

  1. Supporting and Endorsing Kamala Harris
  2. Downballot Races
  3. Defeat an Anti-Immmigrant Ballot Measure

 

 

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Montana Tribal Leaders Respond to Racist Carpetbagging Poser Showing His True Colors with His Big Donors, Mocking Native Americans with Every Racist Trope There Is

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The NYT and CNN both are both covering the story of the racist  candidate for Senate in Montana.

Seriously if you’re stupid enough to get caught being a racist pic on a hot mic or on a cell phone, aren’t you too stupid to be a member of the United States senate?

(Narrator:  Not if you’re a Republican!)  But I digress.

And now the Tribal Leaders have respond to the racist carpetbagging poser in Montana – with a few choice words.

Oh, and even with the in-kind donation from Tim Sheehy in the form of his secret audio, we are $600 short of meeting our goal for Four Directions Montana.

Can we finish this off “in honor of” this racist carpetbagger?

YES WE DID!

Open thread!

Montana Tribal Leaders Respond to Racist Carpetbagging Poser Showing His True Colors with His Big Donors, Mocking Native Americans with Every Racist Trope There IsPost + Comments (27)