At the speed of blog

[quaoar]

Have you donated to one of these candidates at the urging of a DU poster or another blogger? Should we do this more often?

http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2004/07/23/blog_money/index.html

After a Republican congressman resigned unexpectedly, a lefty blogger called for readers to send money to his opponent -- and the cash poured in.

On Monday afternoon, July 19, Stephen Yellin, a 16-year-old politics junkie and frequent contributor to the lefty blog Daily Kos, noticed an intriguing development in Pennsylvania's 8th Congressional District, an area to the north of Philadelphia. The Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call was reporting that Jim Greenwood, the district's popular, moderate Republican congressman, had unexpectedly decided not to seek reelection, meaning that his House seat was now up for grabs. This is the sort of news that sets partisans like Yellin jumping for joy, and so, of course, he blogged about it.

"I would suggest that we get involved ASAP," Yellin, who goes by the handle MrLiberal on Daily Kos, wrote. Virginia "Ginny" Schrader, the Democrat running for the open seat, "supports civil unions and is against Bush's positions on Iraq and the Patriot Act," he noted approvingly. But she was woefully low on cash -- as of June 30, Schrader had only $7,000 in the bank. Yellin implored Daily Kos' politically obsessed readers to change that situation: "This is completely out of left field, folks, and it gives us another opportunity for a pickup," he wrote. "Ginny Schrader is the luckiest candidate in the nation today, but can her luck hold?"

What happened next was beyond anything that Yellin had expected. Hundreds of people began pitching in, documenting their small donations in the comments threads of Daily Kos and other blogs: "$25.01 coming from me." "$30.01 from me too." "Yeah, this liberal kicked in $20.01." (Daily Kos readers add in the extra penny as a kind of signature for the site, letting a campaign know where the money's coming from.) The tide came in for at least two full days, and when it was over, Ginny Schrader, a candidate who was recently unknown to even the most obsessive campaign watchers, found herself flush with more than $30,000. She was suddenly a political force to contend with.

Thanks to blogs and the Internet, we now live in an age when news can be translated into action -- into money -- in no more than the time that it takes to post a paragraph online. What happened to Schrader was not novel; it's a phenomenon we've seen dozens of times in the past year, ever since Howard Dean put himself on the map with an extraordinary day of fundraising last summer: It starts with a small, hopeful appeal posted on a blog, something short and sweet and inspirational. And then, out of nowhere, the money starts pouring in.

[Eric J in MN]

1. I gave to the Ginny Shrader campaign and also posted on my blog

MoveLeft Media, asking people to give.

You can read my blog entry on Ginny Shrader at:

http://www.moveleft.com/moveleft_essay_2004_07_19_us_house_opportunity_pennsylvania_ginny_schrader.asp

[quaoar]

3. I just used your blog

To send Schrader $20.

[Eric J in MN]

6. Thank you (nt)

nt

[quaoar]

2. I like the idea

Of adding a penny to your contribution -- $20.01 instead of just $20 -- as a kind of calling card from a particular site.

Maybe appeals from DU could ask for folks to add .02 as a DU calling card.

[iconoclastic cat]

4. Most DUers use $.02 to track contribs, or so I've been told.

I forgot to do that, myself.

[madfloridian]

5. We donate mostly to the Dean Dozen, though others at times.

All the blogs do a good job of this. My husband and I just happen to agree with the local campaign approach that Dean is taking. Our county commissioners, school board, city commissioners are all GOP. It shows. Our county commissioners are nearly all developers. It shows.

Cypress Gardens was used to gain more land for development. Word gains were played, Jeb was made to look good. However, if it does reopen, it will be minus many acres of land and gardens. Few even suspect what happened, and it would not matter anyway.

We believe that starting with the local races is the way to do it, though we do donate to major races as well.