Today, I've already received over fifty sixty seventy emails from candidates or their campaign managers, asking for donations before midnight tonight. September 30 is the end of the third quarter, and the final reporting deadline for campaigns before the November 2 elections.
As important, campaigns are making decisions about how much they can afford to spend: on canvassing, on calling, on other GOTV efforts, and on advertising: mailers, signs, radio, television, and internet.
All this costs money. And the Republicans are getting support from corporations and billionaires who can funnel their money through shadow groups that don't have to report their donors, so their funding advantage is enormous.
We need to do what we can. And to help your dollar go further, I'm offering $1,000 in matching dollars. New: dugjxn adds another $1000! Details on the offer are over the jump.
Update: Money has been spent. Thank you very much! $655 $615 $515 $395 $115 $1090 $770 $370 $0 remaining. See first comment thread for details.
Final update: All $2000 (and some extra) has been allocated. Thank you so much to every donor. Now to total up exactly which candidate gets what, divide them between us, and hit our credit cards, all in the next half hour.
Major update: dugjxn has just added $1000 to my original $1000, so there's a lot more money available for matching. I've corrected the diary below, but basically each candidate can receive up to $200 in matching funds, and each donor can go up to $350 and still be matched in full. $1090 $770 $370 remains to be matched in the next two hours and forty minutes.
I have $1,000 that I want to give tonight, before the quarter closes at midnight eastern; dugjxn also has $1,000, for a total of $2,000. Between now and 11:50pm EDT, the money will match dollar for dollar up to $100 $200 for any eligible individual candidate donation (max of $250 $350 per donor, and max of $100 $200 total per candidate, though this latter may increase later in the evening if things are slow). Donations must be made on one of the following two pages: Orange to Blue 2010 or my list. Candidates must be on one of those pages, or they are not eligible.
There is one simple rule: you must announce the donation here—how much each candidate received—to be eligible for the match. Remember: I we want to give this money away today, so I'm we're making it easy.
This is for candidates only; the Orange to Blue page's Daily Kos and BlogPac funds are not eligible. The candidate must be on one of these two ActBlue pages. I'm not averse to being convinced I should add someone to my page, but I don't guarantee I will be convinced, so check first before donating if you need matching funds. Any money left over will go to those candidates on those lists you want me to contribute to (one choice per Kossack). If I'm feeling exceptionally foolish generous, I might go over $1,000, but I'm trying to be sensible.
I will make a blanket exception: I'm willing to match any candidate donation of $10.01 or under even if the candidate or donor has previously maxed out, and I'll happily include the traditional Daily Kos penny on any donation without counting it toward any limits (and will likely add it regardless even if you don't).
I have no ego about my page; as it says there, I set these pages up every two years because it's far more convenient to donate to multiple candidates on a single page than it is to put through multiple donations, each with its own credit card transaction. Especially on nights like tonight, when the minutes count. (Another convenience: my page is alphabetical by last name. It's very easy to find who you're looking for.)
The ActBlue servers live in the Eastern time zone. Regardless of where you live, your donation needs to be made before midnight eastern time to be counted as part of the first quarter. It is possible that some of the candidates in other timezones may have set things up to allow them to use their own local time (not yours), but don't count on it. If you want to be sure your donation counts for the current quarter, get your money in before midnight eastern.
Do I have any suggestions? Well, a few. I'm in Massachusetts, so let's start north of the border.
Paul Hodes has been an excellent member of congress since 2006 in NH-02, and now he's running for NH-Sen. Taking the seat currently held by Republican Judd Gregg would be a wonderful thing, and Paul will be a great senator. (His Republican opponent, Kelly Ayotte, is supported by Sarah Palin. 'Nuff said.) You can donate to Paul here.
Carol Shea-Porter is all kinds of wonderful, and had hard-fought victories in 2006 and 2008 in NH-01. She also attended Netroots Nation in 2009. I cannot say enough good things about her. She's also on my page.
Ann McLane Kuster is running for the NH-02 seat that Paul Hodes is leaving to run for the senate, and she may be even better than Paul has been. Her opponent is the man Paul beat in 2006, Charlie Bass. Ann was one of the first Orange to Blue 2010 candidates, back when she was in a primary against Katrina Swett (one of Joe Lieberman's biggest fans); she won the Democratic nomination handily earlier this month, but now needs an infusion of funds to go up against the Bassmaster.
The Orange to Blue 2010 page has three Senate candidates running against tea party types: Jack Conway (KY-Sen), Scott McAdams (AK-Sen), and Chris Coons (DE-Sen). My page adds another seven in addition to Paul Hodes (and Chris Coons), most in very close races against extreme conservatives: Joe Sestak (PA-Sen) Sestak's matching funds are all used up, Alexi Giannoulias (IL-Sen), Russ Feingold (WI-Sen), Elaine Marshall (NC-Sen), Richard Blumenthal (CT-Sen), Robin Carnahan (MO-Sen), and Rodney Glassman (AZ-Sen).
For House races, Orange to Blue 2010 lists a trio of candidates in addition to Ann McLane Kuster: Manan Trivedi (PA-06), Alan Grayson (FL-08), and Joe Garcia (FL-25). That's so few I'm happy to offer over a dozen alternatives, including the aforementioned Carol Shea-Porter, and Connecticut candidates Joe Courtney (CT-02), Jim Himes (CT-04), and Chris Murphy (CT-05)—Chris is our best chance to oust Joe Lieberman in 2012, assuming he wins this year, so I really want him to win, and win decisively.
Other favorites include Dan Seals (IL-10), Mary Jo Kilroy (OH-15), Tom Perriello (VA-05), John Hall (NY-19), Mark Schauer (MI-07), and Betsy Markey (CO-04), who rid us of Marilyn Musgrave in 2008. And there are more besides, including one Governor: Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, the one candidate here I can (and will) actually vote for.
The ball's in your court. Or the wallet's in your hand. Just make sure to spend some of what's in my wallet (and dugjxn's), and we'll all do our bit for Democratic victory in November.
Note: The reason I specified 11:50pm as the deadline for telling me about your donations is that it takes time to put through two donations, and ten minutes is cutting it pretty close here to get them in before midnight on the busiest donation night of the year.