I'm a lucky guy in that I'm fairly young (42) and things are good.
Because things are good, I can give cash to causes I care about, including political campaigns. My giving is a fairly recent habit, starting with Jon Tester here on dKos back in late 2005, when no one in the msm was giving him a chance. It was through dKos that I found candidates to give to and have not stopped giving.
Until now.
The DCCC called me today.
http://www.dccc.org/
They said I was a 'Five Star' donor and that they wanted me to 'keep up the effort to elect a veto-proof Congress'
To which I replied I gave you cash in '04 and '06 and Pelosi and company rolled over on FISA.
I then explained I was going to give contributions directly to candidates that I researched or were recommended heavily on dKos.
Then I hung up.
But my question is serious. I know my contributions are not guarantees of specific votes on specific bills. I gave the maximum to Tester, for example, and he rolled over on the Feingold Amendment but backboned it on FISA. Not a great record for the two issues most important to me, but better than Burns.
I gave to Darcy Burner's campaign yesterday. As far as I can tell, it'll be my last contribution for a while.
which sucks because I really do want to contribute more.
What I can't figure out, though, is: how do I contribute smartly? What's the best use of my cash, in which direction? DCCC? DLC? dKos recommends?
This is a real quandary for me. I don't see my contributions as investments, rather as tactical moves to help create a more progressive House and Senate.
So, what're my best options?