I was at our local "Drink Liberally" monthly meeting and someone asked the question,

[rhett o rick]

Last edited Fri Aug 14, 2015, 01:25 PM - Edit history (2)

"How many here have stopped donating to their candidates via the Democratic Party but donate either directly or via an outside organization?

Everyone present raised their hands. The Democratic Party leadership has been co opted by the Oligarchs.

This class war has two sides, the 99% vs the 1%. (Edit 1 - Removed reference to Sen Sanders)

Edit 2: For those not familiar with Drinking Liberally see: http://livingliberally.org/drinking It a great chance to meet other progressives in your area.

[Ed Suspicious]

1. The party will never get a dime of my money directly. I'll pick and choose my candidates.

[840high]

7. Yep

[Cleita]

2. I haven't for the last decade.

I started with my senators. I wanted my money to go to Barbara Boxer but not Dianne Feinstein. Then it seemed like a good idea for all the candidates.

[pnwmom]

3. Except the large majority in the party still support Hillary over Bernie. So they disagree. nt

[daleanime]

4. And so he's wrong .....

to feel that way?

[pnwmom]

22. I doubt that most of her supporters

consider themselves to be duped by her or to be part of the 1%.

[daleanime]

23. So that's a yes....

Although for some reason you don't want to say it.

[pnwmom]

24. I don't understand your question, so I couldn't answer it. n/t

[JDPriestly]

11. They support Hillary until they watch a video of Bernie. Then they support Bernie.

I have seen that several times.

[markpkessinger]

18. Good point . . .

. . . I think there are probably quite a lot of Democratic voters who, in their heart of hearts, want to support Bernie, but are hesitant because the "Bernie can't win" narrative (or the narrative that "no true progressive is electable) has been so persistently drilled into their heads for so long. I predict more and more people will, once they've seen him, embrace his candidacy.

[sabrina 1]

35. You know that only 32% of registered voters, down 10% since 2008, are now

registered as Democrats? The largest voting bloc now in the country is the Independent vote.

[WillyT]

5. K & R !!!

[left-of-center2012]

6. I donated directly to Obama

Now I donate directly to Bernie.

[Milliesmom]

8. I donate Direct to Bernie,have followed him for years....

https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=bernie+sanders

[SoapBox]

9. I did Obama in 2008...

But nothing since.

Now I have Bernie on auto donate...and I need to increase it.

[jwirr]

10. I have not donated to any of the official Democrat sites. They know why. However this worries

me because if we want Bernie to be able to do anything when he gets in the WH he needs to have a Democratic Senate at the least.

When election time comes around we need to know who the really progressive candidates are so we can support them. That is what the money we usually give to the DSCC and DCCC goes for. Unfortunately they are more likely to support third way candidates than progressives.

We also need to know who needs our help in red states even if they are not progressive because in order to control the Senate it is the number of seats we hold - not always how they vote.

If we do not control the Senate the only power Bernie will have is the veto and executive orders.

I wish we had a chance of controlling the House but they tell me that gerrymandering has ended that hope.

[progree]

12. One can also donate via the DU-for-Bernie way

https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/duforbernie

[Atman]

13. I created an e-mail filter to send the crap to the waste bin.

But they just keep using different names, more bullshit.

I used to do work for the D-Trip. I created some of their folders and fundraising stuff. Ugh...no more. Republican Lite. Great waste, less willing.

[Paka]

14. No money from me to the DNC.

Sending to Bernie directly and I zapped all the DNC requests.

[progree]

15. I once contributed to the DCCC - BIG Mistake

Last edited Fri Aug 14, 2015, 02:36 AM - Edit history (1)

DCCC = Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. I wanted to give to House of Representatives candidates as they are much less well-funded than senators or presidential candidates, so I kind of figured I'd get more bang for my buck that way. And I figured the DCCC would prioritize close races so I didn't have to do my own crude research.

But pretty soon I was getting frequent calls asking for more. I told them to put me on their do not call list a couple of times politely, and when that didn't work (I figure give them a month to update their lists) I don't know how many times I screamed and swore at them. Finally it stopped after more than a year.

Never again. Nor will I consider donating to the DSCC (Democratic Senator Campaign Commitee) or the one for governors, as I expect the same treatment.

[progree]

16. I also used to donate to the Minnesota democratic party - big mistake

(the Minnesota DFL - Democratic Farmer Labor Party).

I did it online and gave them my email and phone number.

I was also a member of a Minnesota progressive democrats Yahoo Group. I was having an argument with someone on the Group message board/mailing list about something, and he said I know who you are, your phone number, and where you live... (even without that he came across as a scary nutty creep). He was on the DFL party's central committee and had access to the full list of donors including contact information.

I called the DFL and chewed their asses. Never donated to them again.

So now I contribute directly to candidates -- I do my own research looking for close races. A pain in the butt and I don't know how good of a job I am doing with my research. But I've had very little problem with phone calls. None directly from the candidates I gave to (and I give a few $hundred each to 2 or 3).

Though I have gotten a few (maybe 3-4) calls from other candidates' campaigns (and in one case an actual candidate that was running for a House seat from an Iowa district -- after I gave to the Iowa Dem Senate candidate (Bruce Braley) that RepubliCON Joni Ernst ultimately beat in 2014). But that's far fewer than the calls I got from that one ill-fated DCCC contribution that I mentioned in post #15.

[ProfessorGAC]

26. Same Thing Happened To Me In Illinois

And i even did work for a couple of state rep candidates on economic positions. (Data analysis and modeling mostly.) So, i give them $100 bucks on top of my work and they started sending me emails about why i quit sending them money and how disappointed they were.

Pfft

[Juicy_Bellows]

17. I donate directly as well.

I have yet to make a donation to the DNC - and I don't see that changing.

I like the name of your meeting/group! Haha! Cheers!

[progree]

19. 190 chapters nationwide: http://livingliberally.org/drinking

http://livingliberally.org/drinking

[Spitfire of ATJ]

20. With $300,000 a MONTH going to polling? No thanks.

[bettyellen]

21. never donated to the party, always candidates.

[NobodyHere]

25. Never ever give your money to the party, just to candidates you trust

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/20/AR2010042005183.html

[CharlotteVale]

27. That's what I do, too, and have told the

DNC repeatedly every time they call me. I've told them to stop calling me but they still do. I have donated twice directly to Bernie's campaign.

[Doctor_J]

28. The party big shots don't represent me any more

I'll send money to people who will attempt to change things

[lostnfound]

29. What is best website to donate to Sanders?

I'm ready..

[rhett o rick]

30. See link below

https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/duforbernie

[lostnfound]

41. Thanks!

[brooklynite]

31. I do both...

Last edited Fri Aug 14, 2015, 02:19 PM - Edit history (1)

I know the DCCC and DSCC reps personally, and I know HOW they allocate money (which has very little to do with the conspiracy theories thrown around here). It lets me put more money in to the races I care about.

[rhett o rick]

32. Is there a document somewhere that you could link to that explains how they allocate their (our)

money? A growing sentiment is that the DNC, DCCC and DSCC, have been co opted by the big money donors and concentrate on supporting conservative Democrats at the expense of progressive Democrats. Do you have something that might indicate otherwise?

[brooklynite]

34. No, it's not written down...

...but neither is the "pro-conservative bias" that plenty of people are happy to accept

Bottom line: The goal of DSCC and DCCC is to elect new Democrats and the get them re-elected. They don't play favorites (they've happily helped Grayson in his early House race, and Warren and Sanders in their Senate seats.

To earn that support however, they want to know that they're not wasting money on a lost cause (however much that cause might "send a message&quot . So they want to see that the candidate has their own financial resources, and they want to sign off on key staff to ensure they're competent (this was a big issue with Joe Sestak, who used family members in a lot of key posts).

They WILL endorse when they feel there's an obvious "real" candidate. In Florida, for example, they have endorsed Murphy over Grayson, NOT because he's too liberal, but because his trainwreck of a divorce makes him a risky proposition (his offshore hedge funds probably don't help either). They will also support incumbents with Primary opponents. You can argue that they should give support to "DINOs", but a lot of their funding comes from existing office holders who aren't likely to contribute off-cycle if the support won't be there when they're up for re-election.

[rhett o rick]

36. "Bottom line: The goal of DSCC and DCCC is to elect NEW Democrats and the get them re-elected."

Exactly. It's the NEW Democrats that are killing our party. Selling out to the billionaires.

[progree]

37. And do you get endless phone calls from them asking you to donate again, and if you ask them to

Last edited Fri Aug 14, 2015, 06:26 PM - Edit history (2)

stop, and to put you on their do not call list, do they keep calling anyway, in violation of the law? If they willfully and egregiously violate this law, does that not make them a criminal organization? Why the heck anyone would contribute to a criminal organization, I really don't know.

On Edit: I'm speaking specifically of the DCCC with which I have had this experience.

[goldent]

33. I take it a step further

I've never made a political donation in my life, and probably never will. I just vote.

[progree]

38. Wow! It made Greatest Threads. (Was it the Drinking Liberally reference?)

[rhett o rick]

39. Drinking Liberally is a great tool to get the progressives together in your area. There are groups

all across the nation. The conservatives don't have anything similar.

http://livingliberally.org/drinking

[valerief]

40. I never donate to the Democratic Party. Usually through Act Blue or a check directly to

the candidate.