Lets' harness the power of DU to win seats in '06. Here's how.

[Strawman]

Setup a DU Congressional PAC for the 06 election. Anyone who contributes to the PAC (make the minimum $25 or something like that) gets a Capitol dome icon next to their star on all posts.

This is a good way to separate trolls from new people also. How many trolls would want to contribute $25 if they knew that was going straight to financing Democratic candidates?

I'm not sure if there is a way to give an additional benefit to contributors (e.g. DU contributors can search archives). Maybe only those with stars and capitol icons can search archives when traffic is high (which has been alot lately).

I'll bet we can raise alot of money this way between now and '06. People will give just for the psychic satisfaction and cred of getting that little capitol dome next to their names.

Those funds could be distributed to Dems running against the 10 most vulnerable incumbents or something like that. What do you think?

[Zuni]

1. couldn't hurt

I am in

[DireStrike]

2. I trust DU to direct the cash to where it's needed

Perhaps moreso than any other organization out there right now.

[Strawman]

3. Me too

And I think more people will give because they identify with DU more than any of the particular candidates. We have a critical mass of activists here.

[cvoogt]

4. Bring it on

sorry for quoting *, but yeah, bring it on. With 55000 new users and who knows how many more visitors, we can do some damage.

[coloradodem2005]

5. That's a great idea.

If there ever comes a day that I have money, I would be happy to give a few dollars.

[ayane-chan]

6. OK, but fighting repukes with money is like...

fighting a fish with a water gun. The gut reaction is going to be "buy more ad time", "get more full-page NYTimes spreads", "mail more leaflets", but I don't think these old playbook solutions can work anymore.

[Zuni]

7. It is for '06----we need to organize to get back some seats in Red States

heck, maybe this money could be used to pay for private investigators to dig up dirt

[Strawman]

9. Challengers need money to have a chance to win

Your average challenger gets outspent by incumbents 12 to 1. Without $, there is not even name recognition. 96% of Congressional candidates who spent more money won. I agree that it takes more than just $ but it's a prerequisite for everything else.

[Abelman]

8. Good Plan

I agree wholeheartedly, but I have a few comments.

-There are a few quality PACs around. I'm thinking of WesPAC and Democracy for America. If we could somehow start uniting these PACs along with ours, I think we could really have something going.

Why just post this? Email the powers that be here at DU. We must be heard, and it will only happen through the correct channels.

[Zuni]

11. WesPac is great

I think we should be working more with the General anyway. He has a lot to say.

[Strawman]

12. Right. Done n/t

[Zuni]

10. This will also make DU a lobby to contend with

More people will have to listen to us, and not to other groups

[aquart]

13. Money means nothing if those machines are still in place.

Americans gave a fortune to the Democrats. Americans voted for Kerry. The votes went to Bush.

[Strawman]

14. Sure but we can't stop fundraising in the meantime

Fighting on both fronts need not be viewed as mutually exclusive. By the same token, it won't matter what kind of machine we're voting on either if our candidates aren't well funded.