Update [2005-7-11 22:26:27 by chuckles1]: Donations can be made at
ActBlue, while the final tallies can be seen at
this diary.
According to what I've heard and read, the Republican Party is better than Democrats in one substantial way.
They put aside their differences in order to win.
This Wednesday Grover Norquist meeting is what I'm thinking about. Here, Republicans of all stripes come together to focus on a common cause. When the meeting is over they go out like ARMY ants marching to one beat. Even if they don't agree with that weeks agenda completely, they know that next week or the week after it will be their talking points that are highlighted. In this way, they get complete support from their party simply by going along with other conservative talking points. It isn't like any of their talking points are Democratic, they are all Republican, the only difference is what shade of Republican.
So, how does this translate into $5 Million for your favorite Senate candidate?
Update [2005-7-11 8:53:50 by chuckles1]: This is the last morning of the bake sale. This has been a very informative process. In particular, I have learned the following:
* Even though a post might have lots of recommendations (36 at last count), that is not a guarantee it will end up on the Highly Recommended Diary list.
* Never post a Diary in the midst of a mass banning if you want anyone to see it.
* You can never please all the people all the time.
Now, that being said. This wasn't bad for the first time, proof of principle. Assuming that people come through on their "pledges", the winner should receive a few thousand dollars from the Citizens Bake Sale - not bad. Not millions, but a start. Enough to gather some notice next time around I hope.
Update [2005-7-9 10:5:9 by chuckles1]:: Tester has taken a commanding lead, thanks in part to one hard-working poster. At this point, it looks like the money will be heading out West.
It was just noted on the
FP that 700,000 people visited this site yesterday. That is 700,000 Progressives, Liberals, Moderates, and an assortment of right-wing snoops. Quick math test for you:
700,000 * $20 = X
X = $14 Million
Here is my proposal: We hold quarterly votes on DailyKos (January 1, April 1, July 1, October 1), at which time we AGREE on a candidate to back. Sure, the candidate you choose might not be the winner THIS quarter, but what about next quarter?
An underlying rule would be that NO candidate would be chosen twice in one year, thus we are guaranteed to spread the money around.
Also, we should forego Presidential candidates until the election year (my personal opinion).
We should focus on the Senate instead of the House. Why? Because we are talking BIG money.
No, we probably won't get 700,000 people to give $20 each to the candidate ($14 Million). But, what if we get 250,000 to give $20 each ($5 Million)? Too high? What about 100,000 people each giving $10? That's $1 MILLION raised by the DKos community. That equals influence, that equals power. Sure, the first round might be slow, but with each quarter more and more people would join in, imagine what we can be by July 1, 2008. As time goes by, more candidates will realize they NEED their name on the DKos poll, which means they NEED to come to DKos and have open and frank discussions.
Influence.
Now, we just missed July 1, but I say let's do it. I personally think that the FPers should work with highly recommended posters to decide who will be on the polls, then the DKos community decides, majority rule, all or nothing Baby!
At this point, there are no fundraising pages here on DKos, so we would have to point our browsers at the winners homepage and donate there. Maybe FP headlines following the vote would lead more and more citizens to the winner's homepage?
For this first attempt, I have gone through various diaries here and come up with the following list of candidates that need our help.
So, what say you? How many votes can we get, how much money can we raise for...