A few weeks ago, I made a pledge to make one, final donation of $250.00 to Obama as soon as I received a particular client payment. This was to be my last donation of the cycle.
Today, I'm announcing that I'm going back on my pledge...for a very good reason:
Given Obama's rumored "massive" fundraising numbers for September, after much consideration, instead of giving him that last bit of scratch, I decided that under the circumstances, it would be put to better use here:
Al Franken (MN-Sen) $25.00
Jim Martin (GA-Sen) $25.00
Mark Begich (AK-Sen) $25.00
Darcy Burner (WA-08) $25.00
Jim Himes (CT-04) $25.00
Gary Trauner (WY-01) $25.00
Bob Lord (AZ-03) $25.00
Gary Peters (MI-09) $50.00
Mark Schauer (MI-07) $50.00
Equality for All (CA-Prop 8) $25.00
CureMichigan (MI-Prop 2) $25.00
Yep, instead of giving $250 to Obama, for my final donation, I decided to divvy up $300 for a variety of other deserving candidates and causes, including 3 in my home state of Michigan.
Most of the above are conveniently located at the dKos Orange to Blue ActBlue page; for Gary Peters and Mark Schauer, go to their individual pages.
Want stem cell research here in Michigan? Pony up a few bucks to help CureMichigan.org get people to vote YES on Proposition 2!
Meanwhile, while they don't have the convenience of an ActBlue account (being local races), I strongly urge folks in Michigan (or other states, for that matter!) to lend some support to the following deserving candidates as well:
--Democrat and Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence is taking on "institutional" Republican L. Brooks Patterson for Oakland County Executive
--Democrat Sheila Smith is trying to push out Republican (and failed running mate of Dick DeVos) Ruth Johnson as Oakland County Clerk
--Democrat Jane Boudreau is vying to become the first female Oakland County Sheriff against Republican (and failed challenger to Debbie Stabenow) Mike Bouchard
--Democrat Andy Meisner, who has served as my state Representative very well for the past 6 years, is attempting to win the Oakland County Treasurer seat.
--Democrat and fellow Kossack Donald Bortz is running for Oakland County Commissioner in the 4th district
--Judge Diane Hathaway is trying to take out the horrific Cliff Taylor in Michigan's Supreme Court
--Speaking of Cliff Taylor, feel free to check out (and lend a hand to) Justice4Michigan.org, the new site devoted to educating Michigan voters about how awful Taylor has been for the Michigan Supreme Court.
--And of course, the Oakland County Democratic Party could always use some love...
UPDATE: Learning Curve, in the comments, links to a post by Sam Wang at the Princeton Election Consortium which takes my point here to a more extreme level--he basically posits that you should shift donations to the down-ticket races at this point (whereas I'm simply saying that it's worth considering). I don't necessarily agree with him, but thought it was worth including as food for thought:
What your contribution buys: The outcome of the 2008 campaign determines the size of the working majorities in next year’s Congress. Next year, top priorities for any President and Congress will be the war in Iraq, the financial meltdown, health care, and global warming. It will be an unenviable and enormously difficult task. If Obama wins, as I expect he will, what he accomplishes will depend critically on how many votes he has in Congress. Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, your point of leverage in this process is the Senate, where a minority of 41 can stop a bill from becoming a law.
What I suggest you do: For all these reasons, I have identified three Senate races as being among the most effective places you can put your effort or money. This is my advice to everyone, Democrats and Republicans. The Republican National Committee may be about to act along these lines. These races may become less competitive. Others may come into the picture. But right now they are the best targets, period.
Read the whole thing, it's worth it.
IMPORTANT: I want to clarify that I'm NOT suggesting that we all stop donating to Obama; it's just that at this point, I think it's safe to say that he's got the money angle pretty much in hand, so if it's a case of donating to him vs down-ticket candidates, with just 3 weeks to go, it might be time to consider spreading the love a bit. I wish I could max out on Obama as well as all of the other candidates/causes above, plus dozens of others not listed, but we all have our limits.
Update 2: I wasn't planning on doing a "rec-list beg", but it seems to me this opens up an interesting line of discussion about how to prioritize donations--whether it be donating money, time or other resources.