Dave Winer, one of the first bloggers (coming up on 7 years) had an interesting idea yesterday:
I just got off the phone with Sylvia, who passed on a great idea that just might work, to help George Bush leave office early. Here's how it goes. We all contribute to a fund, that hopefully would contain a lot of money, say $150 million. If Bush resigns on the first day, he gets the whole $150 million. Every day he waits, the fund goes down by 10 percent, so there's a real incentive for him to act quickly. On Day 2 it's worth only $135 million. On Day 3, $121.5 million. And so on. It's kind of a simplified version of Deal or No Deal.
I think he's onto something here. Considering that the next presidential race is likely to cost the Dems upward of $500M, lets make the following modifications:
- Raise the target to $250M (excess funds go to support vets and their families.)
- To claim the money, both Bush and Cheney have to resign (otherwise, what's the point) and let Nancy take over.
- All unclaimed funds from the $250M get passed to the 2008 Democratic nominee.
We get a couple of things out of this. First, it's a killer fundraising effort for the Dems. How many Americans today wouldn't be willing to chip into this pool - especially anyone wanting a woman in the WH? Second, it's a news cycle that won't die as the fund grows. Who gives a shit what Gallup polls approval at - Americans putting up cash is one hell of a referendum on the state of the nation. Third, the GOP would almost be tempted by this - dump their anchor and deprive the Dems of $250M in potential funds. They might almost stand a chance in 2008 (probably not). Fourth, it distracts the message of the next GOP candidate who'll be constantly defending whether or not they'd take a similar offer if made to them.
And, of course, consider the change in worldview if Bush/Cheney actually took the deal. $125M each? To not work and put up with the shit any more? Gotta be tempting. And the Dems pick up the WH and have the incumbent advantage going into 2008.
So, who wants to call George Soros for the first $10M?