Given the strong feedback in favor of such a project, I have decided to proceed with the House Project -- helping the activist community produce and distribute Internet multimedia advertisements targeting House races.
The site, which still needs a name (the best suggestions were already taken. I need more!), will allow activists to upload information about Republican incumbents, ad scripts, video and still images of those incumbents, and the finished product (Flash or video).
The site will also solicit funds to run those ads in the targeted districts. All such advertising will be online. Broadcast ads fall under Campaign Finance Reform laws, and would require the site to become a 527 or PAC, limit the times the ads would run and place onerous FEC reporting requirements on me.
I can barely manage reporting my monthly expenses to my accountant, I'll end up in jail in no time if I have to turn myself into a PAC. And given that the Internet has an intentional loophole for the Internet, and given that it's the medium in which I feel most comfortable, that's the area in which this site will play. If other PACs or 527s want to take the best ads and run them on the air, that'll be their perogative.
Online advertising will allow me to geotarget the ads in targeted congressional districts (that's why every site registration asks for your zip code), making sure thousands of people in the targeted districts see the ads when they log in online. And the cost is far better than radio or television.
So here's the timeline -- I expect to have a site up in two weeks. I still need a name (please help!). You can go to GoDaddy.com and see if your suggested name is still available. Then I'll open up a feedback line to determine the best way to display the information.
The site will feature:
- Oppo research on incumbent Republicans and GOP challengers in open seats
- Talking points for Democratic challengers or at-risk incumbents
- Still images of the candidates, and video (if available)
- Ad scripts. Perhaps even community moderated so the best ones rise to the top
- Finished ads, categorized by congressional districts
That'll be the starting point, and I hope to aggressively update functionality on the site to provide for viral marketing tools (ePostcards, "email this ad to a friend" sort of things).
Three last points -- I will not get involved in primaries. I will not employ any ideological litmus test. The goal is to make Nancy Pelosi Speaker of the House. Conservative Dems will vote for her the same as Kucinich Dems. And I won't coordinate this with any Democratic Party establishment (DCCC, DNC, or even the campaigns themselves). Why? It ensures that we don't run afoul of any CFR laws against "coordinating" soft money -- heck, completely unregulated -- expenditures with campaigns. Like I said, I don't plan on getting a lawyer to untangled the complicated CFR laws. We've got a nice little Internet loophole, and as a private citizen not associated in any way with any of these races, I plan on exploiting it best I can.
So right now I need a name. And if you've got further ideas, keep them coming. Many (if not most) of the ideas featured in this post came from you guys, and I'm under no illusions that I can do this without full community participation.
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p.s. Sen. John Corzine says you guys should focus more on the Senate than the House. I wonder what Reps. Matsui and Pelosi will say to him the next time they hang out, lol.