I know I'm not a famous blogger here at Daily Kos and my comments tend to garner only a smattering of recommends. This diary is probably going to come across as whiney and I know that many readers DO give money to progressive candidates so I am not intentionally criticizing those people nor do I mean to criticize those who don't have money to spare but who dedicate themselves to electing Democrats thru activism.
I have been reading and posting here since about 2005. I am not a wealthy person & the past year has been difficult for me. but when the Front pagers & other posters here at Kos put out a call for contributions to their candidates, I try to help out. Sometimes the amounts are small, but I do what I can because we need more progressives in Congress.
Yesterday, I decided to put out my own request for contributions for a progressive US Senate candidate, Jeff Merkley (OR-Sen), in what is considered one of the top Senate races in the country. I offered & am offering to match contributions totalling up to $1,000 to people who contribute thru my Actblue page: http://www.actblue.com/... . Guess how many people stepped up to the plate?
A big fat fricking zero (!). ZERO! I literally couldn't even get people to contribute when I offered to matchthem, which, frankly speaking, boggles my mind.
It's true, my writing leaves something to be desired and the diary scrolled off the page in an avalanche of VP diaries in less than an hour. I'm told by a friend that I should have put my Actblue link in multiple places (here it is again: http://www.actblue.com/... but Goddamn! How could I have possibly collected $0? I thought the diary was reasonably clear right up front that contributions would be matched and still I/we laid a big fat egg.
Look, I understand that everyone is tapped out right now. but if someone who is not the DSCC is offering to match contributions for a Feingold-like progressive running against a complete, pretend 'maverick' tosser like Senator Gordon Smith (R-Rubberstamp), I would like to think that someone in our large community would kick in something - anything! - to help deliver one of our best Senate pickup opportunities this cycle.
How badly do people REALLY want to win? Do you stay up at night worried about our crap reputation in the world and wonder how on earth we're going to dig ourselves out of our various messes? Are you enraged that bu$hCo is intentionally trying to destroy the government that we pay for? The reasons to feel a sense of urgency are innumerable, as the diaries at DKos attest every day. And we all know that as lame as the Democrats sometimes are, the Republicans have literally done nothing to stop the various offenses that have occured. For 4 years they stood back and did nothing as the Administration went on a lawless rampage & pillaged the treasury. In the Senate, Republicans are all, without exception, terrible and need to be removed from office.
Do you think Obama is going to solve our problems all by himself? Obama is just one piece of the puzzle. He's the biggest piece, admitedly, but he can't do everything by himself. We need to dominate across the board this year and the Senate is particularly important, in my opinion, because that's where the Republicans do the most obstruction.
We have a number of pickup opportunities in the Senate. If we win, we could finally pass some meaningful legislation, like Universal Health Care, which I'm fortunate enough to be covered by in Japan, where I live. As an added benefit, we could marginalize LIEberman, too, which would be sweet (but not as sweet as it would have been if Lamont took his seat in '06.)
blogging is all well and good, but unfortunately candidates also need our time & money, too. Some people can only give time. I just assume that if you love America enough to spend time here getting worked up reading posts that you already dedicate time to electing Democrats - especially progressive ones. Maybe you participate in voter registration drives or go door-to-door. If you're doing nothing, get moving! Leave the whining to conservatives.
Others - I'm inclined to say most of us, can give both time & money. If you can afford to contribute and someone is offering to double your contribution, I'd like to think that we have the good sense to actually pitch in. Matching funds are a fantastic deal, I think. Is there more than 0 people among the thousands of DKos readers who can pitch in?
So I'm asking - begging really - one more time: would anyone like to help elect a progressive Democrat, Jeff Merkley, to the US Senate this year? Donna Edwards and other progressive House members need more than 2 allies in the Senate. I realize it's a close race and Smith is a slippery, fork-tongued snake, but Smith is also cutting-and-running from everyone: his own party, his own constituents, etc. He's a laughably weak Senator & he's totally beatable. And he deserves to get dumped by Oregonians. Merkley is a great candidate. Oregon's largest daily newspaper, The Oregonian, called Jeff’s most recent session as Speaker of the Oregon State House, "Oregon’s most productive in a generation." Oh, and he accomplished that feat with a one seat majority, so it appears he's an effective legislator. And Oregon Democratic registrations are surging so why not strike when the iron is hot and someone is offering you an extra sword at no additional cost?
Would someone like to help me help Jeff Merkley? Please? Contribute here:
http://www.actblue.com/...
Apologies if anyone feels like I have minimized their efforts. Flame away if you think I have been out of line.