Update [2006-9-1 9:8:28 by Mike Stark]: We jsut did it - counting eChecks that haven't cleared yet, we just now broke through the $3k target!! Now this is one of those things where the more money I raise, the bigger the impact will be, so don't be afraid to keep filling the coffers. God knows I'm going to empty them quickly enough.
Soon, I'll need some help with this. And I may end up revealing all sooner rather than later. Check back for another diary later today. In the meantime, a hint: Senator Allen just backed away from accepting the Thurgood Marshall Award - too many donors were threatening to withdraw support...
(flip)
Hi.
I don't quite know how to go about this.
You see, I'm about to ask y'all to trust me. A lot.
As you know, I've been involved in a coupla incidents that resulted in Republicans and their cronies being a little bit embarrassed... more or less...
Recently I've been thinking about how to put these "guerrilla tactics" to use where it matters: winning elections.
After a lot of thinking, I've developed a plan that will impact one election in a big way. Unfortuanately, I can't afford to do it by myself. It will require hundreds of donations. I need, at a minimum, $3,000.
So how do I go about asking you folks to trust me?
Well, the best I can do is run my highlight reel by you. In a bit, I'll show you some of the stuff that I've done so far...
But before we get to that, I want to ask you to ask yourselves...
Are you happy with the "professionals" that run the Democratic campaigns today? Do you think they've done a good job? Because I think they've sucked.
That's why I'm doing this. Instead of trusting the consultant class to do something they haven't done since Clinton's election, I want to take a chance and see what I can do myself. I know I've been creative, persistent and effective with the work I've done so far... Y'all have told me as much... But not a lot of that work has gone a long way towards electing anyone. It's time to change that.
It's one thing for me to hold a sign up behind Hannity, to get underneath Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly's skin, to make Tom Tancredo squirm, to make Newt Gingrich answer for serving divorce papers to his first wife while she was in the hospital receiving chemo, or to makeGeorge Allen run away from his constituents. It's an entirely different ballgame when I have the ability to reach thousands of non-political people and plant a progressive seed in their psyche...
Listen, the truth is that the professional Democratic campaign consultancy class has pretty much, to coin a phrase, sucked ass. Let's face it - if we win these elections in November (and that's still a big "if"), it will be because the Republicans have so fouled the American nest that the people have finally decided to throw them out of office... Republicans have been like a stunningly attractive spouse that just can't stop cheating on their mate... Americans keep giving them one more chance, but now, after we've contracted herpes, crabs and genital warts, we've finally had enough. We, as a country, are ready to invite that boring but reliable first significant other - the Democrats, back into our lives.
See, the thing is, you and I have known this all along. We've known that Republicans are ugly to the core, but the people that are in charge of making sure our friends, family and neighbors know this - well, they've dropped the ball.
I'll tell you another thing you and I know: we know that when you remove just the most superficial layer of cosmetics, these republicans betray their inner sociopath. We've seen it happen over and over again with Limbaugh and O'Reilly and Hannity and Coulter...
So I want to do something about it. I wish I could tell you exactly what it is I'm looking to do, but if I were to do that, the project would lose some of its effectiveness.
So I'm asking you for your trust and your help to make this vision a reality. Use the Paypal form at CallingAllWingnuts.com. It's on the right side of the page. $10, $20... $50, $100 - it will be money well spent.
We've got ten weeks until election day. We need to pick up 15 seats in the House and six in the Senate. Do you have confidence that the perpetual Democratic campaign professionals are going to make this happen? Do you enjoy guerrilla media as applied to close elections? If you do, I ask you to contribute today. I promise to do my best for you.
And I promise I'll tell you where your money was spent the day after the elections.
Finally... There is this to consider... I may not raise enough money to do what I've got planned. If I do not raise enough money, I will contribute every penny of it to Kos's Act Blue page in the proportions that already exist.
The easiest way to give is to go to CallingAllWingnuts.com and use the paypal form on the right side navigation bar. If you prefer to give in other ways, please email me at stark dot m at gmail dot com.
If this takes off and it looks like I'll hit my target, I'll keep a text "bat". I'll post daily where I'm at and what I need. If this fizzles, I'll tell you about that as well so that nobody throws good money after bad.
Thanks in advance for whatever you do - and I promise, if this works out, you're gonna like what you get.
1st Update [2006-8-31 20:22:35 by Mike Stark]: I just got off the phone - I talked with a friend for about 15 minutes. When I got back, there were about 40 more donations. I'm now at $850!! It looks like this is really going to happen and I can't say thank you loudly enough. For now though, I've got to go pick up my wife and baby at the airport. I haven't seen them in a week, so I'll be out of commission till late tonight. I'll provide a further update then.
Update [2006-8-31 23:22:24 by Mike Stark]: It's almost 11:30 EST, we just cracked $2k, and I'm going to bed. Will update again around 10:30 AM. WOW!! And thank you!!