Is he kidding?
Jack Bogdanski
Got an interesting fundraising pitch in the snail mail yesterday.
From Earl Blumenauer.
Earl the Pearl, sitting in one of the safest congressional seats in the country, wants my money. What's up with that?
I guess he needs it for potential future races. I can understand. The guy has only $300,000 (half of it from PACs) in the bank.
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4:36 p.m.
Aug 22, '04
Well, there is a valid reason to give money to a sure-thing winner... Giving money to a candidate isn't just about supporting a particular candidate's electoral hopes. It's also about advancing that candidate's causes and issues.
For example, if you care deeply about the same things that Earl does (livable cities, alt transportation, etc.) then you might send him money ... he'll be able to use those funds to support other candidates, gain greater prominence in Congress, and advance those causes.
Making change isn't just about winning elections. It's also about gaining influence in policy-making bodies after those elections.
Full disclosure: I built EarlBlumenauer.com.
Aug 22, '04
So what happens to all that money if Kerry gets elected and makes Blumenauer his right hand man so that the entire country can experience the same benefits we have kept to ourselves in Oregon?
I would think this is a given based on his "Patriot" status (or is it Double-Diamond a la Amway) for raising funds for the DNC.
5:57 p.m.
Aug 22, '04
For example, if you care deeply about the same things that Earl does (livable cities, alt transportation, etc.) then you might send him money ... he'll be able to use those funds to support other candidates, gain greater prominence in Congress, and advance those causes..
Yeah, I guess we're all too dumb to figure out on our own where to send the checks to help those causes.
10:29 p.m.
Aug 22, '04
Well, sure, one option is to send money directly somewhere to advance those causes - but other folks might figure that helping advance the congressman's position is a smarter bet than sending a few bucks to another organization.
Maybe I'm just obsessed with reading books about poker these days (McManus, at the moment) but I think it's really about the cost/reward structure. How much payoff is sure/likely/risky for your investment?
Sure, you could send $100 to John Kerry - but that feels a bit like bringing goldfish to SeaWorld. Alternately, you could give $100 to Earl Blumenauer - be a bigger fish in a smaller pond. Or, you could give $100 to your local friends of whatever group - a bigger impact on a smaller project.
OK, enough mixing of metaphors for a Sunday evening.
Aug 24, '04
Sure wish Earl would work as had getting federal funding for our "Big Pipe" project as he does getting Kerry elected.
Kerry = $100,000 Portland's Big Pipe = $0
Well done Earl! I'll be sure to vote for your opponent!
7:45 p.m.
Aug 24, '04
Earl is a great guy. Where can we send a check?
11:45 p.m.
Aug 24, '04
Forget the check; save a tree. Do it online. ;)