Grassroots radio ads for Howard Dean are being produced and funded by
truthandhope.org.. they are raising funds now and airing ads in Washington State, California, Maine and elsewhere.
Listen to Ad #1
Listen to Ad #2
make a donation
A clip from today's email:
The awesome power of this movement & the will of it's members continues to humble & amaze me:
TruthandHope.Org will be running radio spots tomorrow in Washington. We have 20 ads going in Seattle and 28 in Spokane. The 2 ads are available on the homepage for your listening pleasure.
First for the thanks of which a lions share goes to Joanie Benoit & her group in Seattle for proposing the idea, kicking off the fundraising & cutting the spots. This is another powerful example of how an idea when combined with some effort has an incredible ripple effect.
Secondly I need to thank all the contributors. Your generosity & belief in this project has made it possible, and what was begun today is building onto itself & now spreading into other states...
I was speaking to a large fundraiser earlier this evening who was somewhat dismissive. He wondered if what was done by folks in Seattle would have any bearing on other markets. However, looking at the figures we can see this is truly a nationwide effort. Only 8.3% of the contributions came from Washington. In fact we received support from 34 states, from California to New York, Florida, Kansas, Texas, even Alaska. I must be careful about naming too many states in succession, the media seems to frown on that...
Now it has spread to Maine. I began to see contributions come in for Maine, and request for Virginia, Tennessee & of course Wisconsin. In response to these inquiries, absolutely we will run ads in these states if the funds are there. A good run should be at least $5 - $10,000 per state. Going forward, contributions that come in marked for a particular state will be allocated there, if possible. The caveat being that if a particular state is oversaturated & another is lacking, certainly we will make up the difference. For example Maine has raised $502 since 11:00PST. I will keep everyone up to date on where things stand, as we progress. Washington may be overfunded, but we are going to try & pick up some more spots in the morning, as money has continued to come in for that state. $3,000 additional was raised for Washington since 6pm when the ads were posted on our site.
It is our intention (things going as planned with a win in Wisconsin) to run television ads in California, New York & other battleground states for the March 2 elections. There are many large contributors waiting in the wings, watching to see if we can make a success of this effort who are willing to assist in our efforts in that regard.
Other Actions:
If anyone would like to design a logo for TruthandHope.Org, we are requesting submissions. No guidelines, just whatever moves you.
If we are to run time in Virginia, Michigan and or Tennessee, I will need people on the ground to assist me in that effort, please contact me asap.
Please notify the press - print, television & radio of our efforts. A story of a grassroots organization, inspired by a grassroots campaign, to run it's own ads to expose the truth of Senator Kerry's record which makes him an easy target in the general election, and the hope of Governor Dean's message of real change and the track record to back it will be of interest to some. This is free advertising for our fundraising efforts, but more importantly it sends the clear signal that Governor Dean's is not a dead campaign, that the movement he founded is alive & well, and the intention to change this country with or without the DNC's help continues. Feel free to forward my contact information to the press as well. The media is beginning to post some of the innumerable stories about Senator Kerry's past, his arrogance, opportunism & submissiveness to special interests & polling data. Voters are entering a period of 'buyer's remorse.' Now faced with what seems like a certain nomination to many, they are coming to terms with the reality of 'Do I really believe in John Kerry?' 'Is he really in this for me, or just himself?' 'Is he really electable, or is this Dukakis all over again?' The time is now, when they are doubting to remind the country why they supported Governor Dean in such overwhelming numbers. We need to get the word out that the time has come to give Governor Dean a second look, and to move past the politics of fear that is driving the Kerry campaign & back to the hope & inspiration that Dean has given us that things could actually change in Washington. With enough press coverage, voters will have to wonder what it is that so drives this campaign to raise record levels of funds, despite the results on Tuesday, and even to form their own organizations to raise more. Their curiosity will cause them to give Governor Dean that second look. Let us seize this moment, before the window of opportunity closes on this dream.
Thank you for all for your examples of what a few people of good will & hearts filled with hope can accomplish.
Eugene Hedlund
Founder
TruthandHope.Org
eugene@truthandhope.org