If there's any doubt that the blogosphere is creating something wonderful and changing the political landscape --
From the registration only Roll Call:
Candidates like Ben Chandler, a Democrat competing in Kentucky's special election to replace Rep. turned Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R), are tapping into a new breed of political animal with potentially deep pockets -- the Web log reader.
"We're raising [considerable] money off the blogs," said Chandler spokesman Jason Sauer. "It's been really successful. Really beyond anything we've expected."
With an investment of only $2,000, and in less than two weeks, the campaign has raked in between $45,000 and $50,000 in contributions from blog readers, and that number is growing every day, said Chandler campaign manager Mark Nickolas.
Chandler -- a former state auditor and former state attorney general -- is facing off against GOP state Sen. Alice Forgy Kerr in the Feb. 17 special election for the Lexington-area House seat. But while Kerr has outraised Chandler by several hundred thousand dollars -- as of late last week, Kerr had raised about $1.2 million and Chandler was estimating his fundraising total at about $650,000 -- Chandler's campaign says its fundraising pace is picking up and at least part of the surge has come from the Web.
"It has been phenomenal," Nickolas said. "I get an e-mail every time there's a contribution -- and we know from the e-mail the source is a blog when they come through that avenue. Since the morning of Jan. 29, the FEC [filing] cut-off, I've put all those e-mails in a separate file. So far there are 711." [...]
Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean has paved the way, raising millions in campaign cash from those who've visited his "Blog for America" site -- but Chandler has followed a slightly different model.
Instead of creating his own blog, Chandler is drawing potential donors to his campaign Web site by running advertisements on 11 other popular, politically oriented blogs such as Calpundit, Daily Kos and Instapundit [...]
In order to track how well the blogosphere traffic is translating into direct campaign contributions, Chandler's Web site encourages donors to tack a few more cents onto their contribution so campaign operatives can learn from which readers the cash is flowing.
Calpundit readers, for instance, are asked to add 15 cents to their contribution, while Daily Kos readers are asked to tack a penny onto their donation. If donors come to Chandler's Web site by way of Instapundit, then they are asked to add three cents to their contribution.
Nickolas said the contributions from blog readers are "averaging in the $40 to $50 range." The vast number of contributions are between $20 and $25, but every so often a $1,000 or $2,000 contribution will pop up to "boost the average."
While Nickolas was initially hoping simply to make back the campaign's $2,000 investment, the gamble has brought in more than 20 times that amount.
Pat yourselves on the back, you've done a wonderful job. We're going to win this seat, and your help will have provided nearly 10 percent of Chandler's funds.
But he's still got a week to go, so if you haven't already, please chip in. We're going to take the House back, one seat at a time.
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