Put aside a few bucks now

[BOSSHOG]

and prepare to give it to the Democratic Candidate or to Moveon.org when the need arises and the request comes. We can beat bush and his deep pocketed supporters. To kinda quote Henry Ford, "Whether we think we can or we can't we are right." I believe in every liberal fiber in my body that we can. We all want to kick bush's ass, but it might take a buck or two. Plan Now.

[chiburb]

1. Taking Back Congress

From Atrios:

Snip:

Conventional Wisdom in the media, and sadly among many in the Democratic Party who seem to have grown comfortable with their "loser" status, is that it would be impossible for the Democrats to take back Congress. Frankly, I don't understand this. Yes, I understand the power of incumbency. Yes, I understand the negative hit we took on redistricting. And, yes, I understand that there are only 40ish truly competitive seats in the House, give or take.

But, it's time for to put our game faces on and go out and win this thing. Do I think we inevitably will? Of course not. But, I think that right now the wind is blowing our way. And, the fact is that there are plenty of seats we can win. The fact is, also, that we are at a serious financial disadvantage.

Part of this political game is strategery. The Republicans generally know how much money a candidate has raised, how much they're spending on media buys, etc. They can adjust their emphasis accordingly. The wild card is the outside funding. In the final weeks of a campaign, especially, the DCCC and DSCC can swoop down and drop an extra ton of money to try and get a particular candidate elected. They therefore have the power to help shake things up and turn things around in a way which can't always be anticipated by the other side. It keeps them on their toes.

This kind of outside expenditure is much more important than people realize. And, of course, the other side does it too. To remain competitive, and to have the ability to mount strategic attacks and have effective defenses, these organizations need to have a war chest.

So, you know what to do.


DCCC https://www.democraticaction.org/donate/

DSCC http://www.dscc.org/

http://atrios.blogspot.com/

[OnBackground]

2. Grassroots for real

As I talk to people in my own community about getting more involved in improving the way our country is run I hear a lot of frustration, a bit of hopelessness, and a fair amount of anger. So let me tell you that I think that we can make a difference if enough of us are willing to work for it. The way change happens is through citizens like you and me standing up.

One of the best ways is to empower individual voters to become activists to organize their communities, their friends and families, those they associate with online and off. From the <a href="http://www.ndnblog.org/">Simon Rosenberg's</a> team blog:

<blockquote>The decentralized, bottom-up approach of the Dean campaign allows many more people to have a meaningful and productive relationship with our politics. Why not allow/encourage 2 million people to become essential partners in changing the country? Why not give them specific details on what we need to do to win – as Dean did – and encourage them to do much more then just give money? If millions are raising their hand and asking how they can help we better have something for them to do in addition to giving money.</blockquote>