Hey, I know the majority of us are broke, myself included. I have sat back this election assuming any small contribution I could make to the Obama campaign was not worthy in a world of megafunders under Citizens United.
However this diary last night by Kos finally spurred me to pledge a donation, and today I had to make good on my promise.
Markos made an important point I had not considered:
[Romney] is so unloved by the conservative grassroots that he can't feed off small dollar online donors the way Obama does. While 38 percent of Obama's haul has come from donors giving less than $200, only 18 percent of Romney's have. Meanwhile, a much bigger percentage of Romney's "big donors" (those over $200) have maxed out than Obama's (I didn't find updated info after a quick perusal, but back in June, 60 percent of Romney donors were maxed out, compared to just 17 percent of Obama's).
So that means taking precious and severely limited time off campaigning on the ground to hobnob with Romney's country club pals in states with zero electoral relevance. In addition, the extra travel and energy spent on those fundraising efforts means more tired candidates, and tired candidates are more likely to gaffe. Or, in Romney's case, more likely to be his unlikable self.
It's a serious dilemma for Team Red. Romney's $50 million in the bank (along with $15 million in debts) is nearly $40 million less than Obama's $89 million. And unlike Obama, that kitty isn't being constantly refreshed.
Aha! So my contribution does matter, however modest. I must kick in. And in fact there is an important deadline this Sunday September 30.
From Bill Clinton:
I hope you'll pay attention, because this is important.
We're facing a big FEC fundraising deadline—after this, there's only one more before Election Day.
Here's why that matters: Your donation will go further now than it will next week. That's because it will immediately be put to use—if your dollars go toward hiring an organizer in Akron, Ohio, she'll have more time to do her job and reach more voters. And that's how elections are won.
I hope you'll donate before the September fundraising deadline.
Thanks for everything you do.
Bill Clinton
The link to donate is here:
https://contribute.barackobama.com/
I kicked in $25. Fyi there were no "processing" fees added, and the website is amazingly efficient.
I hope you will kick in too if you can! Let us know below if you do. Sunday deadline. We do count.