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Wednesday, February 25, 2004
"D"s Are a Few of My Favorite Things
Posted by DavidNYCI want to point you toward a fantastic new website called ActBlue, which aims to be a "clearinghouse for Democratic action." More specifically, it has information about all the competitive House and Senate races in the nation. In fact, it's very similar to my sideline project "Competitive House Races," except for the fact that it's way, way better. Go take a look - it's easier to show than tell.
I've been in touch with the folks who run ActBlue, and they have some great plans in the works. Right now, the site mostly offers links for campaign donations, meetups, etc. But in the future, you'll be able to sort the races in sophisticated ways, like punching in your ZIP code to find out which races are nearest to you. It'll be a great resource for people who want to get involved, but aren't sure how or where.
So, in the face of superior competition, I'm going to retire "Competitive House Races." I'll keep you updated about any big changes ActBlue rolls out. In the meantime, please check it out & let your friends know about it, too. And if you want to do ActBlue (and the Democratic Party) a big favor, you might even want to consider mentioning the site on your blog, if you have one.
Posted at 02:20 PM in Activism | Technorati
Comments
Do you know if ActBlue is going to target state house and senate races as well?
My Dean group in MN is talking about creating into something like that. But if ActBlue does it for us...Well, we'd be glad to help.
Posted by: Luke Francl at February 26, 2004 12:29 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment
Luke - good question. That would obviously make ActBlue's project much, much bigger. But it's probably a worthwhile idea. I'd suggest going to their website and asking them.
Posted by: DavidNYC at February 26, 2004 02:26 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment
DavidNYC, it would make the project bigger. But, for example, we'd be willing to do the gruntwork in MN if they give us the software tools.
Our (my) goals are a bit more ambitous, though. We (I) want to do a MoveOn PAC-style contribution funneling system.
Posted by: Luke Francl at February 26, 2004 11:28 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment
Luke -- this is Ben (from ActBlue)
1) We *absolutely* want to do local races too, and it'd be awesome if your group could help cover MN. I'll send you a follow-up e-mail, and we can talk more about how this works.
2) Contributions -- yup, we're on the same page here :-) But rather than functioning as a PAC ourselves, we'll be provide you tools to build (in essence) your own mini-PAC: choose your target set of candidates, contribution forms you can embed on your own website, tracking, thermometers/bats/ etc., and related tools for the volunteer side of campaign support.
Other folks who are interested in helping us cover local races or interested in setting up their own mini-PAC: please get in touch!
Posted by: brahn at February 27, 2004 03:32 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment
The Republicans have been on the attack over John Kerry's voting record on defense. They are the ones that are weak on defense. Look at these quotes to see the truth:
"After completing 20 planes for which we have begun procurement, we will shut down further production of the B-2 bomber. We will cancel the small ICBM program. We will cease production of new warheads for our sea-based ballistic missiles. We will stop all new production of the Peacekeeper [MX] missile. And we will not purchase any more advanced cruise missiles. �Ķ The reductions I have approved will save us an additional $50 billion over the next five years. By 1997 we will have cut defense by 30 percent since I took office." --President George H.W. Bush during the State of the Union on Jan. 28,1992
"Overall, since I've been Secretary, we will have taken the five-year defense program down by well over $300 billion. That's the peace dividend. �Ķ And now we're adding to that another $50 billion �Ķ of so-called peace dividend." Vice President Dick Chenny (then Sec. of Defense) in front of the Armed Service Committee January 31, 1992 while asking for more cuts in the military.
Posted by: eric at March 1, 2004 10:22 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment
The lack of an institutional counter-weight to the DLC has led the party to select fairly conservative Senate candidates.
Especially in Colorado, where Rutt Bridges is a Joe Lieberman type "Democrat."
But we have a more liberal alternative. Rep. Mark Udall (son of environmentalist "Mo" Udall) is considering a bid.
Thoughts on the grassroots starting a Draft Udall effort?
Posted by: Draft Udall? at March 6, 2004 02:07 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment