President John Fitzgerald Kennedy spoke those words on a blustery day in January 1961. In his inaugural address to the Nation, he spoke of the greatness which lives within each of us, and how together we could work towards that "more perfect Union" the Constitution built the framework for.
That phrase ends with "Ask what you can do, for your Country."
Why not join me this coming Sunday afternoon, for a diary aimed at US House races, and ask the greater Daily Kos community what they can do for their Country...
As the campaign manager for a US House race, I find that I am constantly thinking of ways to find volunteers and donations, I imagine you are, too.
SO, no matter which State or Congressional District, please send me a DKos message with the details of your candidate or race, by 9 pm on Friday evening.
I plan to post around 11 am Pacific Standard Time on Sunday May 6.
Below the Fleur-de-Kos for more...
I'll format the entries in alphabetical order, to ensure it's easy to search for what race you are interested.
After that, they will start at CD-01, and progress down the page.
This is early still, for US House races, but we are facing a veritable tsunami of Koch and Addelson money via the 'Citizens United' decision; with no way to amass the fortunes necessary to compete with dollars, our campaigns are going to have to use another strategy...
Which I am going to be using in our race in the WA-03 district.
We cannot raise the level of money that Jaime Hererra Beutler (R) has now, much less the amount she'll have come September or October.
But what we can do, what all of us in every race across the nation can do, is find enough volunteers to organize a massive Democratic Summer 2012 Canvassing Event.
Imagine in 1964, getting all those newly enfranchised voters to register. It must have been an undertaking nearly as labor-intensive as the movement which ended with the signature of President Johnson on the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Pub.L. 88-352, 78 Stat. 241, enacted July 2, 1964).
We need to what they did, and more.
Since most Democratic candidates in open races or one-term Republican races will not have any deep pockets, and see no way to find any (like my candidate, Jon Haugen), then the options for fighting back are limited.
Luckily for all of us, the one thing the Middle Class and Poor Democrats have more of than the Republicans and their wealthy Base? Voters.
At least according to Wiki Answers:
There are roughly 55 million registered Republicans. There are roughly 72 million Democrats. And there are roughly 42 million registered independents.
That's about 162 million registered voters out of the 300 million or so people in the US, or just a smidge over 1/2.
About 75% of those who are eligible to vote are registered:
As of the 2010 Census, there are 305,186,613 people living in the United States, 24.6% of which are children. That means that approximately 228,889,960 persons over 18 live in the United States.
We can do better.
I have a new slogan. I believe in it. I think it will work nicely with my strategy:
The 99% = 99% of the Voters
We Win when Everyone Votes
spread.the.word
VOTE * VOTE * VOTE
So, if you are a candidate, a campaign manager, a campaign volunteer or just someone who wants a Democrat instead of a Republican
representing you in the US House starting in January of 2013...
send me the information about the race, the candidate, links to the candidate's website and Act Blue page (if they have one) and whatever else you have to me here via DKos messaging - NO LATER than 9 pm Pacific Standard Time Friday May 4th.
Then come on back on Sunday morning, May 6th @ 11 am Pacific time, and let's see what we can do to start organizing for the 2012 Democratic Summer Canvassing Event!
Please note: I'm publishing this via the Publication Manager for mid-morning on Wednesday, May 2nd. I may or may not be available for commenting at the time the diary comes out, but will check in as soon as I am able... I'm here now.
I look forward to finding out about a whole passel of US House races, I hope you do, too.