It was June 28th, 2004.
Do you remember what was happening to us in those days?
- We were tarred as unpatriotic for questioning the increasingly obvious fabrications that led us into Iraq.
- We were condemned as valueless for recognizing that we live in a pluralistic, multifaceted society.
- We were tormented with Rovian fantasies of a permanent Republican majority.
- And we were dismissed as the "reality-based community."
Dark times.
Five years ago yesterday, we flipped the switch and ActBlue.com went live. There was no multi-million dollar advertising campaign to announce it, no physical office, and no headline story on CNN heralding the arrival of a "game changer" in American politics. In fact, just $290 was donated to Democrats that day via ActBlue.
As always, the Daily Kos community was ahead of the curve. The first three personal fundraising pages were created for Daily Kos, Democracy for America, and the MoveOn PAC. The person who received the most support on our first day was Richard Morrison, who ran against Tom DeLay in 2004.
On that day, your support signaled a willingness to strike at the heart of Republican corruption.
Half a decade later, we've seen what that passion can do:
- Over $95 million has now been raised through ActBlue for Democrats with a median contribution size of $50; that's real world campaign finance reform.
- Over 1.1 million separate contributions have been made through ActBlue, creating a new donor and power base within the party.
- Over 16,500 personal fundraising pages have been created, massively democratizing ownership of fundraising.
- And in the last 5 years, over 4,400 different Democratic candidates, PACs, and county parties & committees have received funds through ActBlue, supporting a 50 state strategy from the ground up, reshaping the Democratic Party.
These are shared milestones. In partnership with Daily Kos readers and Democrats across America, we've accomplished incredible things. In 2004, we were a party at sea. Now Democrats control both chambers of Congress and the Presidency. Today, ActBlue embraces a diverse community of Democratic stakeholders, from the Netroots to candidates in races at both the top and bottom of the ballot. In just five years, we've built new Democratic success on a foundation of participation and ownership. The Daily Kos community is an important part of that success.
How important? In 2005, a prescient Bill Schneider began a story for CNN with the following:
Netroots activism. Ever heard of it? You will.
And now they have.
But there's another part to what we do here that you may not know about. We're a PAC, not a business, and we depend on your donations and tips to keep doing what we do. In 2004 there wasn't any big Democratic money available to underwrite ActBlue, so we relied on the financial backing of our users; we supported Democrats and were supported by Democrats.
Your donations made us real. Your support enabled us to expand outward and offer our services in more and more states. Today, we're the only 50-state fundraising platform dedicated exclusively to Democrats. We've started up a pilot program for local races in San Francisco, Cleveland, Boston, Houston, Charlotte and Cook County (IL). You need us? We're there. We're there because you asked for it, and because you gave in order to make that desire a reality.
We shamelessly took advantage of this momentous occasion to hunt down our Founder and Chairman Matt DeBergalis (he's a busy guy) and sit him down for an El-Mariachi style vlog about ActBlue's past and future:
The bottom line is this: at ActBlue, we're still true-blue. We work only for Democrats. We work in every state.
Make a $25 recurring contribution today, so that we can turn 5 years of success into 10.
-Adrian
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