Update: Four more members who have paid their dues have been removed from the list. Hat tip to commenter Mjm. This is great news! Let's keep going!
Did you spend all day canvassing, and are you itching to do more activism even now? Were you occupied during the day, and wish you cold have done more? Was the weather bad, or were you too tired, so you decided to stay in? Well, whatever you did today, I have a rare, late night action alert for you. It’s called Use It Or Lose It, Evening Edition.
Action alert in the extended entry!
Yesterday, Use It Or Lose It 2008, a campaign to help inject a couple million dollars into Democratic House campaigns, got underway. With over fifty potential pickups to be had, dozens of readers of Daily Kos, Open Left, and Swing State Project made friendly phone calls urging House Democrats to give a little more to the DCCC as we approach Election Day. From the comments in the threads, and the numerous emails I received, I know our calls are being heard. In one case, a member of Congress even called someone back over Use It Or Lose It!
Tonight, I want to take a slightly different approach to Use It Or Lose It: leaving messages late at night rather than calling office staffers during the day. There are two major benefits to late night messages rather than daytime calls to talk to a campaign staff or volunteer. On weekends, many of these campaign offices are used as staging areas for canvassers, phonebankers, GOTV efforts, and other election-related activities. If we call at night and leave messages, we don’t tie up any of these phone lines, or take any volunteers or staffers away from their other, important efforts. Second and relatedly, our voices are still heard if we leave messages, but we don’t get into any arguments with, or take up the time of, campaign staffers and volunteers.
So, here is my suggestion. Once it is past 9 p.m. in your area, look over these two lists:
Democrats behind on their dues
Democrats facing token opposition
If you live in, or very nearby, the district of one of these Democratic members of Congress, call or email his or her campaign office. In your message, encourage her or him to chip in a little more to the DCCC, or directly to Democratic challengers, in the next few days. Here are some tips for the type of message to leave:
- First, be polite, and thank the Democratic member of Congress for his or her work on behalf of Democrats so far in the campaign.
- Second, stay positive, mention how we have dozens of great pickup opportunities, and how excited you are about that. It might help to mention a pickup opportunity in your state, which you can find here.
- Third, be encouraging, not scolding, and say how great it would be if the member could chip in a bit more, and / or pay off outstanding DCCC dues.
That is the tone we are looking for here--polite, positive, and encouraging. If you are like me, you are probably a little tired of campaigns asking you for money at this point. Try to keep in mind that members of Congress are asked to do this far more often than just about anyone else in the country. In fact, I have even heard from some of the callers that apparently Nancy Pelosi is running a similar campaign to Use It Or Lose It right now, behind the scenes. They are getting pressure from all sides, and we need to make sure that our pressure is positive.
It has just ticked past 9 p.m. on the east coast. For those of you in the eastern time zone, here are the lists if you want to get started:
Democrats behind on their dues
Democrats facing token opposition
No matter what you are doing tonight, when it is finished you will still be able to take this action. Since we are leaving messages, you can call at 9 p.m., 11:30 p.m., 5:00 a.m., or any time in between. In the morning, when they check their messages, they will still hear, or read, our encouragements to chip in some more money. In fact, hearing a few of them at once will probably help the message sink in a lot deeper.
So, let’s get calling or emailing, and thank you to everyone who has already sent an email or made a call. I think I will make my next call after the World Series game (if it ever takes places, of course, as I can hear it raining outside even now). Make yours anytime you wish, no matter how late. It is a long night, and this is a way to make a difference during any part of it.