There's a famous quote about the significance of fundraising: money is the mother's milk of politics. Generally, a campaign's finances reflect on that candidate's levels of support, ability to generate enthusiasm, chances of winning, and generally the campaign's health.
In that light, the recently released Quarter 2 fundraising numbers (April-June) should end any speculation that the IL-11 race will be a cakewalk for Debbie Halvorson. In his first fundraising quarter as a candidate, GOP hopeful Marty Ozinga raised $800,000 and outpaced Halvorson by a 2:1 clip as she brought in $400,000. Ozing's haul is one the best (if not THE best) totals of any Republican congressional challenger in the country. However, because Halvorson has campaigned for longer than Ozinga, she still retains a narrow advantage in actual cash on hand.
Ozinga's fundraising numbers are startling but not entirely surprising. As mom succinctly put it, "rich people have rich friends." Debbie Halvorson is not rich. At this point, I would be very surprised if Ozinga doesnt ultimately outspend her in this race by a notable margin. Already, Ozinga is putting his money to work with a fluffy new bio ad http://www.youtube.com/watch?v... that makes him seem like a good guy (notice: he doesnt mention any issues). Moreover, Ozinga has sidestepped campaign finance laws by increasing ad buys for his company, ostensibly for the purpose of helping his comapny, but really so that his name recognition increases.
Debbie cannot match Marty's money, but we can all still get out her name without hammering the piggy bank. We must start getting out the yard signs and stickers so people know a) who she is, and b) that she has strong support. I will make sure we organize this outreach soon.
(Cross-posted at WurfWhile.com - I'll try to do the policy angle tomorrow - this seemed more timely right now.)
Democrat Bill Foster's campaign has raised more money from donors (not including candidate self-funding) than any other Democrat or Republican in the 14th Congressional race. Bill totally dominated the 3rd quarter for small dollar donations (under $200) collecting more than all other Democratic candidates combined and almost as much as all Democratic and Republican candidates combined. In the 3rd quarter Bill had 680 donors - a sizable number and more than most (and possibly all) other candidates. Eighty percent of Bill Foster's donors in the 3rd quarter were new contributors to any political candidate ever - and his contributions have a relatively modest average of just over $300 per donor.
With statistics like these you would think Democratic activists would widely celebrate Bill Foster's campaign as a grassroots campaign. While I think they'll come around, if area blogs like Prairie State Blue are any indication, it hasn't happened yet. Why?
Money is a big issue in the 14th Congressional race - but too many people are confusing the issue. Let's get some basics out of the way:
I believe in public financing of elections - but I don't believe in unilateral disarmament.
Leading Republican Jim Oberweis has said he will spend as much as $2.5 million of his own money for the primary and another $2.5 million for the general election - and experience suggests he could do that or more.
Leading Republican Chris Lauzen has already loaned his campaign $325,000 - and had $525,000 cash on hand in his third quarter FEC report.
Now, let me tell you about a Democratic candidate who is running in the 14th congressional district.
I have just seen the column by Dick Morris and Eileen McGann in last Tuesday's NY Post http://www.nypost.co.... They very effectively make the point that fundraising ain't what it used to be.
Since 2004, ActBlue has helped Democrats raise over $22 million in online contributions. We are a Political Action Committee, not a business, so our motivation is getting Democrats elected instead of padding profit margins. We know how much of a hassle accepting credit card donations on the Internet can be, and we want to help.
One of the areas that ActBlue can help in is with your local County Democratic Party. Click here to see the over 100 IL counties already added to ActBlue.
If your local county party or committee is in one of the 22 states where ActBlue is already active (minus some clean-elections states like Arizona), you can have all the ActBlue fundraising tools utilized by top tier House and Senate campaigns at the disposal of your county party. Several county parties are already using those tools to achieve success!
I think you'll like this- from the ActBlue Blog...
Fundraising pages are the most important component of ActBlue: the vast majority of visitors to the site arrive directly on a fundraising page because a friend, an organization, or a campaign has channeled them there. We pride ourselves on these pages' simplicity: donors can show up, immediately understand what's going on, and contribute with no distracting bells and whistles.
But we harbor a dirty secret (or, not-so-secret if you've been with us a while).
Over the past three years, $22 million raised, and 200,000+ donors, these pages haven't actually changed all that much. For a bit of nostalgia, check out the DailyKos dozen page as it looked back at the end of 2004 (compare to the same page with today's look). Yeah, the site framework has changed a little, but the makeup of the fundraising pages is remarkably similar.
On Monday I posted a tip for spicing up ActBlue fundraising pages by embedding video into 'asks'. This is a very powerful fundraising tactic--especially when the asker and audience have an existing relationship.
Over at Calitics, a great community blog in California, they've taken that suggestion and run with it. I've included a screenshot of their pitch to the right (click on it to view a bigger version in a new window). Besides the video, Calitics' blogger Brian uses several of the principles of fundraising to make a really compelling plea for his candidates. Some of the successful elements they have included:
Create Urgency- The pitch is for end-of-quarter donations. Brian clearly states that there's a deadline before which donors need to fundraise. And he timed his pitch just a couple of days away from the end of quarter.
Be Specific- Rather than overloading their page with a dozen candidates, Brian stuck with three candidates that have a common theme. The majority of ActBlue donors give to an entire page's slate of candidates…remember that when choosing your slate of candidates.
Make it Personal- Brian, a Calitics blogger, is asking his own blog readers to donate. They have an existing relationship and a degree of trust built up. Potential donors are more likely to give when asked by someone they know and the pitch is personal. They're less likely to donate when spammed by someone they don't know.
Think Longterm- The Calitics' ask offers the option of giveing once or of setting up a recurring contribution. Recurring donations are growing in popularity on ActBlue, with over 1000 users having chosen that option for a variety of candidates. If a donor can't contribute a lump sum amount at once, recurring contributions allow them to invest in the page in installments.
Most of these elements are included in their Calitics ActBlue fundraising page as well. To improve the impact, some ideas might be to include the text from the Calitics post next to the video on their ActBlue fundraising page itself or add the recurring contribution buttons below the embedded video. If that happened, their ActBlue fundraising page could be e-mailed around to additional friends or registered users of the Calitics blog extending the end-of-Quarter ask into a new medium.
One other thing that might help the effort is to set a goal, similar to what the bloggers at Raising Kaine have done (screen shot at left again, click to enlarge). They are shooting for $20,000 to all their endorsed candidates by the end of the state quarter on Saturday, giving a real sense of momentum to their efforts. Adding some text about that immediate goal on their fundraising page would be perfect to tie it together with their blog posts.
While it is early in the cycle, bloggers can build upon their early adopters to make effective asks in creative ways that fit their audience. What ideas might you add?
UPDATE: My talented writer friend Bill (wathomasson) edited my post to be appropriate for a Letter to the Editor submission. I've posted it below my post. Thanks a bunch, Bill!
In today's Tribune, Dennis Byrne once again gets it all wrong. This is either because he is ignorant of the facts or is trying to deceive the electorate. I tend to lean towards the latter.
In his piece entitled "Rosie's rant won't work in Wheaton", Byrne tries unsuccessfully to tie Tammy Duckworth to the statements of Rosie O'Donnell and therefore painting her as out of the mainstream of IL-06. Earlier in the week, Rosie let loose in response to the Pope's recent unfortunate statements about Muslims. She said:
"Radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam in a country like America where we have separation of church and state."
Byrne rambles on self-righteously for a while about how this country was founded upon Christian principles, how the Taliban wouldn't support Rosie, and how you won't find Rosie on the staff of Wheaton college (though you will find a certain uber-progressive Congressional candidate on staff who most likely agrees with Rosie). The usual right-wing talking points tossed out when someone in the public eye dares speak against the Christian fundamentalists in our government.
Nancy Skinner, a Democrat running for House in MI-09 who also ran for US Senate in Illinois in 2004, has an interesting and hopefully effective strategy for raising money for her campaign: she is collaborating with Joan Jett of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.
After criticizing Christine Cegelis, Democratic candidate in the Illinois 6th, and Howard Dean, chairman of the DNC, for not raising enough money, DCCC chairman Rahm Emanuel has real nerve complaining that he can’t raise the money he’s supposed to raise—and from Democrats already elected to the House!
