Why you should give to the Democrats
Overheard late last night from guest host Jon Elliott on Air America's nationwide "Majority Report" program...
Go over and visit Democrats.org and donate. They need the money to the fight the Republicans. They've got the big oil companies, the big pharmaceutical companies, the big insurance companies... We've got, um, Powell's Books in Portland, Oregon, and, um, well just go over to Democrats.org.
Nice!
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July 27, 2006
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Jul 27, '06
The whole "democrats are poor" line is really tiring, and inaccurate. There's lots of rich democrats, and lots of big industries (cough Hollywood cough) that support the Democrats.
If you want to support your favorite party, go do it. But resorting to "poor me" tactics to drum up support is pretty sad-looking...
9:57 a.m.
Jul 27, '06
There's a HUGE difference between a few dozen Hollywood stars - with net worths of $10-20 million, and hundreds of multi-billion dollar corporations.
Seriously, Barbra Streisand is lovely and all - but her capacity to give pales in comparison to Ken Lay. (Er, before he was convicted and died....)
10:56 a.m.
Jul 27, '06
It is quite a struggle at times - ok a lot of times - to raise money for Democratic causes. Kari is right, Exxon has more money than say, New Seasons. As a fundraiser, I can't say "poor me," but I can say that there is such a difference of opinion within our own party in terms of political giving that its hard to convince Dems that a climate of giving should be more institutionalized. The only we way we win is with money. That's all it is. We could argue the politics of it all day, but it does no good when we are left holding the bag on election day. Open your wallets, donate to like-minded candidates. Buy a Streisand CD. Yentl's a classic!
Jul 27, '06
“They need the money to the fight the Republicans.”
Where’s the evidence the Dems want to fight the Repubs?
Both Gore and Kerry ran miserable campaigns against Bush and their party failed to fight the election results in Congress afterward. They rolled over for Bush when it came to the Patriot Act and the Iraq war, to the point of taking special votes acknowledging their support.
They rubber stamp Supreme and federal court appointees, offer no new proposals, and are constantly in a reactive mode to Repub initiatives.
All I’ve seen is an “opposition” party that seeks to maintain the status quo because it retains the perks they enjoy in Washington at the taxpayers expense. No thanks, I’ll keep my hard-earned $$ in my pocket.
1:03 p.m.
Jul 27, '06
The Democratic Party of yesteryear is not the party of today-- not since Dean took over.
And please don't judge the Democratic Party based on what Dems in Congress do or what a few of its candidates have done-- there are many, many Dems who are nothing like that. Many of them are in leadership positions at the national, state, and county parties.
If you're still weary of the national party, consider giving to your state or county party.
Here in Multnomah County, I can tell you that we did a lot to fight against the election results in 2004. A work group was formed, and we met with representatives from every one of our members of Congress. The work group grew and ended up becoming the Oregon Voter Rights Coalition, a non-profit group working on election reform.
Your state and county parties are working hard, and they deserve your support.
Jul 27, '06
Instead of the Democrats, why not give money to the Socialists? They're not just another Republican Wannabe like the Democrats are
Jul 27, '06
I think it's fair to say Democrats traditionally pull in a considerably smaller amount of cash than Republicans. One need only look at the $10.5 Million Cash on Hand number of the DNC vs the RNC's $40.5 Million.
Some might say we have less because the DNC is spending all their money on re-building the party from the ground up in all fifty-states, but if you look at the before and after numbers, the RNC simply gets larger contributions from larger donors. And they get a lot more of them.
1:52 p.m.
Jul 27, '06
Don't you get irritated when Baloo type comments make to the gathering round the watercooler? Sweeping generalizations with no factual support serve no purpose here.
Our family donates to the National, State, some local Dem candidates and Act Blue. We do it because we know from common sense experience that money and party politics are the way it's done. Do we like it? Hell no. In Fantasy Land, fund raising would be unneccessary, but we're stuck with the real world of today. I don't see many changes down the road until lobbying is seriously restricted.Unfortunaely, lobbying has been going on since Abe Lincoln was President. Corporations buy the Republicans. Dems are much more dependent on small donors like our family. Howard Dean figured that out.
Jul 28, '06
I always give to the Dem candidates of my choice. I don't give to the Dem party as such, either nationally or at the state or local level. Not exactly sure why I have made this decision, except that specific candidates and specific ideas excite me and my checkbook, whereas the party always seems to be plugging away at nothing in particular.
4:56 p.m.
Jul 28, '06
I can say that here in Multnomah County we're working on many things:
working in targeted races, including Larry Galizio, Rob Brading, Mike Schaufler, and Rick Metsger. We've already done some work, and will be continuing this weekend when we canvass for Brading and drop lit for Kulongoski.
helping to carry Multnomah County for Kulongoski
training new PCPs, as well as veteran PCPs
instituting the new neighbor-to-neighbor and neighborhood headquarters program
having volunteers out working in their neighborhood-- talking to voters, building a relationship with those voters, and bringing their neighbors' concerns and issues back to the party and our candidates
Jul 29, '06
Why you should give to the Democrats JK: How are local Democrats working to: Reduce traffic congestion? Reduce the pressure to densify my neighborhood? Cut off corporate welfare to the developers in the South Waterfront? Reduce my cost of living.? Reduce my taxes?
Thanks JK
Jul 30, '06
I think that the Democratic Party needs a shot in the arm, but the needed shot isn't financial. The Democratic Party is not standing up for itself in the face of Republican opposition allowing the Republican Party to misrepresent Democratic views, throwing in the towel on issues such as election fraud, and allowing a large number of cross-over Republicans to set the Democratic agenda having abandoned their own Republican Party that was taken over by the Theocrats. Until the Democratic Party stands up and acts like the Democratic Party, then how can we at the grass roots level be expected to donate money?
Aug 7, '06
Don't you get irritated when Baloo type comments make to the gathering round the watercooler?
Ad hominem attacks only serve to demonstrate you don't have an argument worth defending, paulie.
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