I am Barry Welsh and I am the candidate that will beat Mike Pence (R-Iraq Market) for the 6th District House seat in Indiana.
We are rolling out a digital, multi-media campaign on line and on the ground. It is going to be a different campaign this time and it is exciting. Our Virtual Campaign Headquarters 2.0 is on line. Give it a look and let me know what you think.
We will have a presence on MySpace and Facebook. We will be in more blogs, on more sites, and taking things to a new level. It’s not all virtual though. We are preparing a strategic targeted ground attack as well, and it has already begun.
One more cog of the magical matrix machine went on line yesterday at noon, and will continue every Tuesday at noon EST.
Once a week I am going to be doing a 15 minute internet radio show that can be podcast and is hosted At Blog Talk Radio.
The program is Barry Says. I have to say Thank you to Blog Talk Radio for this technology. More below
In our first campaign against Congressman Pence, we proved that an effective campaign can be waged with even the most minimal of funds, and that Public Financing is a viable option. This campaign we are going to be aggressive in fundraising, and prove that there is no safe seat for a Neo-Con. When we win, we fight for Public Financing and begin really returning the country to the people.
Yesterday was the roll out of the weekly internet radio program, and we will always take calls and emails on the program so if you want to call in and ask a question or make a comment live on the air, the number is (646) 716-8764. If you want to email the show, email me at barry@barrywelsh.org and you might hear your letter on the air, or leave you question below in comments and add ON AIR USE in the title, for next weeks show.
The name of the program is Barry Says Every Tuesday at noon, and podcast available 24/7. It's a 15 minute program, so give it a listen, won't you?
We have our first Blograiser/Awareness Raiser coming up this Saturday and it is going to be a great beginning.
We are going to be part of the Blue America Weekly Candidate Series and we will have a live chat at Firedoglakewith Jane Hamsher this Saturday at 2PM until 4PM. That is not all though.
We will be live blogging from The Paradise Bakery and Café at 3840 Castleton Corner Drive, in Indianapolis. There is wifi at the Café and it is a great location. Thanks to those good people for hosting us on Saturday.
But there is more, we will be streaming video live via Ustream.tv during the event, and we will be projecting the Fire Dog Lake chat onto a screen in the café to raise awareness of blogging in Indiana.
Last night I had two events after a successful first radio show.
The first event was at The Indiana Democratic Club Statewide picnic, and was at Ft. Harrison State Park in Indianapolis. Great event, got to see some old friends and make some new ones and I spoke for a few minutes.
(Draft of speech at bottom, if anyone is interested)
The second event, was more than I expected.
I had been invited to be a part of The MoveOn.org Peace Vigil. There are vigils all around the nation to remind everyone that Congress is going back in session after Labor Day, and to keep the issue of troop redeployment in the forefront.
The turn out was much better than I expected, and it was really uplifting to see so many come out and light a candle in rememberance of those fallen, and to choose to work so no more will die.
There is something about standing in a circle with strangers, and listening as the hometown and number of dead from each day, is listed.
You imagine the person that goes with that date in time, and that hometown. You can almost see the grieving families and friends. It strengthens the resolve to end this occupation of Iraq, at least it did for me.
Here are some photos of the MoveOn event from our Flickr Page.
We will have links to the media when those reports come out.
Draft Text of Speech for Indiana Democratic Club Picnic
Chairman Kerns, thank you, and thank all of you for being here, and thank you for having me here.
Before I begin I want to tell you what a privilege it is to be speaking at this event with the honorable Mayor of Indianapolis, and what kind of Democrat and person Mayor Bart Peterson is.
Mayor Peterson was the first Democrat to call me the day after the 2006 elections and thank me for running against Mike Pence, knowing that we were running with nothing but the truth and the correct position on the issues on our side. Please join me in another round of applause for the current and future Mayor of Indianapolis, and a great Democrat, Mayor Bart Peterson.
Last cycle I was the candidate against Indiana’s Neo-Conservative Golden Boy Mike Pence, the man that wants the world to think Indiana is like Iraq, or Iraq is like Indiana, no matter which, it is silly, and he has made a joke out of the state and the people I love.
Congressman Pence can make his silly statements, but the district I will represent and this state as a whole needs help, and not someone that makes a joke of all of us.
In the last election, we began as an unknown campaign, and we rose to 40% with just under Fifty thousand dollars. We spent less than 60 cents a vote, where as Pence spent 1.5 million dollars, and over 14 dollars a vote! There is the difference in the Democratic and Republican parties. The Republicans try to buy everything and will do no real work, and the Democrats are responsible and good with your money.
Now my friends, we built name recognition, and we built voter trust, and we developed an excellent grass roots effort, but a campaign budget of Fifty thousand dollars is not going to beat Mike Pence, and let me tell you what Governor Bill Richardson told me.
(Richardson Story in Chicago at Teamsters Picnic. Don’t run against Pence, beat him, the nation needs you to get rid of that guy)
We have already gone from zero to 40 percent, and the last 10 plus 1 percent is do-able and we are going to do it. I plan on being the next Congressman from Indiana’s 6th District, and I need your help to do that.
Today I am here to announce the début of our campaign website, which you can find at www.barrywelsh.org. Our internet campaigning was cutting edge last cycle, and we are breaking ground once again with this site, and again it is www.barrywelsh.org. It is very easy and secure to donate online from the site.
We are also going to be aggressively raising the funds necessary to win back the district that was once represented by Phil Sharp and Lee Hamilton, and our first major fundraiser is next month on September 27 at a theater in the Keystone at the Crossings Mall. We are having a Green Night, and we will be showing The Film An Inconvenient Truth and we will have Ecologically friendly businesses with displays, promoting both small businesses and the environment, and I want all of you to consider yourselves invited. You can get more information at barrywelsh.org
Also, for those of you that are internet savvy, we are having a blograiser online at Firedoglake.com this Saturday at 2 PM, and I will be live blogging at Paradise Bakery in Castleton for two hours, so feel free to come and say hello in person or join us on line at firedoglake.com. And if you don’t know what any of that means, do not feel bad, just see me after the picnic, and I will explain.
My friends, there is still controversy about what time it should be in Indiana, but we can all agree on
It’s time to withdraw our troops from Iraq and that invasion.
It’s time to put Hoosiers back to work with livable wages.
It’s time to stand up to Big Oil.
It’s time to return some common sense to the finances of this country.
It’s time to focus on Bridges and Roads, not bombs that explode.
It’s time to put Mike Pence Over the Fence and out to pasture where he and his George Bush ideas belong.
And one more thing, it’s time to DITCH MITCH.
Two years ago we were the little campaign that could. This time we will be the big campaign that will, with your help, we will defeat Mike Pence and the Republican machine
Thank you for being here and making this picnic great, and let’s elect a Democratic Team from top to bottom for the good of our cities our state and our country.
May God Bless each one of you and may He have mercy on The United States of America for what our current leaders have done.
I’m Future Congressman Barry Welsh. Thank You
Thanks for all that you do.
Barry Welsh