Kossacks - Thank you for your generous response to
Sarah's challenge on our "Bet on Jack" campaign. When she suggested that we target $50,000 by the end of June, I thought she was joking, but y'all came through. The final total was
$55,282. I appreciate it.
This episode clearly demonstrates the power of the blogosphere to equalize the only advantage that the Republicans have over Democrats.
I was at YearlyKos. It was one of those eye-opening occasions where you find yourself squired around a special event by one of the "in crowd", in my case, Sarah, my blogger-daughter. The energy was fantastic; the passion for politics palpable; the belief that the internet was the path was dripping from the walls. I felt like an old piece of tarnished silver suddenly dipped into some magic bath and emerging shiny clean.
The blogosphere has for years provided me with a constant flow of ideas, a neat turn of phrase, a fact-finding political research lab, and a free and easy association with political diversity this world has never known.
But I'm a politician now after years of living in the world of commodities, financial futures and foreign exchange. So the part that really intrigued me at YearlyKos was the sheer scale of participation. Dailykos has a half a million visitors a day, a number that will likely increase as we approach the election. These visitors are self-selected for their politics, their literacy, and their understanding of political ideas. The thought of communicating with a crowd of this size and caliber at the click of a button is staggering.
Imagine if each of them gave $10 to each of their top ten candidates.
For an investment of $100 per cycle, you can change to face of politics in America. Because even small donations, often repeated, can overwhelm the monied interests which support the Republican power structure.
I don't have the exact number of donors who contributed to our successful online campaign - I'll likely find out next week, but I know I wrote (and Elizabeth addressed) 500-600 thank-you notes last week before we left for Elko on Friday. We have more today thanks to the burst over the end of the week. (Thanks again.)
Think about it. You Kossacks already lead political discussion and formulate new propositions and lines of reasoning. You already provide the back office for political research in showing the Republicans at their worst. But you now have the sheer size to pick up Thor's Hammer, wade in and help good candidates pulverize their opposition.
I'll volunteer to be the first supportee. Let's see: 500,000 times $10 . . .
Jack Carter
Carter for Nevada
I can stick around for about 30 minutes or so to chat and answer questions.