This was a fantastic article, thank you so much! I donate to independent media, the ACLU, Democracy Docket, and the few remaining newspapers that have not sold out. I have to admit that I wonder what campaigns do with the money. I mean, are they using it on the crappy fliers that fill my mailbox? Are they phoning people hoping to change their vote/affiliation (which, to be honest, I would consider obnoxious and off-putting rather than helpful). Anyhow, thanks so much for this helpful primer on the various upcoming elections.
Thanks for the list. I find myself donating/subscribing to credible independent media organizations so they can continue to get the word out to larger audiences.
A a national survey by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that exactly 66% of U.S. adults believe a democratically elected government is "extremely" or "very" important to the country's identity, with those aged 18-29 reporting the lowest belief in U.S. democracy’s centrality at only 51%. This figure is a sharp decline from 2021, when 80% of Americans linked democracy to the core of U.S. identity ("US News & World Report"). The poll also showed that only 3 in 10 Americans believe democracy in the United States is currently functioning well.
So, if this poll is accurate, we more-or-less survived trump's first attempt at authoritarianism, but the second trump iteration has basically broken us. The whole democracy thing now seems like an extremely uphill battle to get to a place nobody seems to know how to find anymore. Sad.
Such foolish people! If they are unhappy with democracy, just wait until they find out what REAL authoritarian governance is like. What we have right now is just a warmup.
"And now that the number of House swing seats has dwindled thanks to partisan gerrymandering,: That is just not true. When the majority party in a state abandons the typical packing and cracking gerrymandering strategy to win the maximum number of seats, that strategy is accomplished by reducing the electoral margin in their incumbents' districts to spread out the majority party vote more evenly and, hopefully, win more districts.. Any political scientist will tell you that creates MORE competitive general elections, not less. It also creates the possibility of an electoral wipeout in a wave election. Dummymandering 101.
I would donate to campaign, even though I read the FEC numbers, too, and I see how much money they have. I won't donate online because if I send one penny I'll be deluged with junk mail until the end of time. I have to send checks, and that takes real time and effort. Plus, campaigns aren't supposed to accept checks unless the checkwriter affirms that he/she is eligible to make a campaign contribution.
I'm not persuaded about this shorthand summary of MT. MT has historically had D senators; a few R's, but mostly D's. MT had a mix of D and r governors, even recently. MT has actually trended r in the past 10 years, not D. Obama lost MT by 7 in 2008; Biden lost MT by 16. The popular D governor Steve Bullock was elected governor twice, by 1 and then by 4, and then lost the senate election by 11.
Meanwhile there's no public polling on the MT senate race.
I want MT to be trending towards D's, but I'd want to see some evidence.
The bad news is that SOME people are burning up cash in campaign donations--- the good news most of those campaigns attracting piles of cash to burn is cash from billionaires who wouldn't do anything better with their money if they had the opportunity.
My own plan for donating goes (generally and sometimes with exceptions) as follows:
1.) State and local candidates get the first and most generous cut. (Florida and Wisconsin)
2.) They have to be a serious candidate and they have to be genuinely competitive and the more odious their opponent the more money they get.
3.) I am an independent and I never give money to candidates in primaries. I let the parties decide and then I make my decision about who to support.
4.) I sometimes donate to out of state campaigns but only after due diligence research on my part (not just based on antisocial media buzz or an MSNBC/NOW flavor of the month.)
5.) I donate to the campaigns directly, get their mailing address and pay by check, or credit card if it is not being collected by a third party (like ACTBlue).
Thanks for a great article. I agree with your picks- all are excellent and as a small contributor I will donate to some, even though my priorities are Talarico and Vindman in Florida (why did you miss him?). As a retired state Rep in Illinois (16 primary years of primary challenges and 15 years of Republican opponents backed by Democratic rats)I do disagree with your paragraph against campaign donations. As a one-time 2nd target of the statewide GOP I can tell you every cent was vital and every penny went to get elected and re-elected, not a penny was spent for me personally. In fact, to get elected Wife and I put up our life savings-$17,000, latter repaid.
This is a serious question: does ActBlue allow you (or someone) to create a kind of group contribution? I would love to spread some money (not a huge amount but some) among all these names; but I don't want to be typing all day. I've seen this done by (I think) the States Project -- where they identify six or so state-legislative candidates and evenly divide your money among them, giving the donor the option to override the even division (if I remember correctly).
If you are looking for a way to support women D's, WomenCount is a 501c3 for small contributions for women running for public office. They offer "slates" or you can create your own slate and give, say $100 to be split evenly. They make it very convenient to spread the dollars across a group vs. individually. www.womencount.org
I do enjoy Tim's candor although I hid my copy of his book so my kids won't learn new words.
This was a fantastic article, thank you so much! I donate to independent media, the ACLU, Democracy Docket, and the few remaining newspapers that have not sold out. I have to admit that I wonder what campaigns do with the money. I mean, are they using it on the crappy fliers that fill my mailbox? Are they phoning people hoping to change their vote/affiliation (which, to be honest, I would consider obnoxious and off-putting rather than helpful). Anyhow, thanks so much for this helpful primer on the various upcoming elections.
What about Scott Colom in Mississippi?
Thank you. This is very helpful. And you corroborated my suspicions about campaign $.
Thanks for the list. I find myself donating/subscribing to credible independent media organizations so they can continue to get the word out to larger audiences.
And then there is always this:
A a national survey by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that exactly 66% of U.S. adults believe a democratically elected government is "extremely" or "very" important to the country's identity, with those aged 18-29 reporting the lowest belief in U.S. democracy’s centrality at only 51%. This figure is a sharp decline from 2021, when 80% of Americans linked democracy to the core of U.S. identity ("US News & World Report"). The poll also showed that only 3 in 10 Americans believe democracy in the United States is currently functioning well.
So, if this poll is accurate, we more-or-less survived trump's first attempt at authoritarianism, but the second trump iteration has basically broken us. The whole democracy thing now seems like an extremely uphill battle to get to a place nobody seems to know how to find anymore. Sad.
Such foolish people! If they are unhappy with democracy, just wait until they find out what REAL authoritarian governance is like. What we have right now is just a warmup.
"And now that the number of House swing seats has dwindled thanks to partisan gerrymandering,: That is just not true. When the majority party in a state abandons the typical packing and cracking gerrymandering strategy to win the maximum number of seats, that strategy is accomplished by reducing the electoral margin in their incumbents' districts to spread out the majority party vote more evenly and, hopefully, win more districts.. Any political scientist will tell you that creates MORE competitive general elections, not less. It also creates the possibility of an electoral wipeout in a wave election. Dummymandering 101.
I would donate to campaign, even though I read the FEC numbers, too, and I see how much money they have. I won't donate online because if I send one penny I'll be deluged with junk mail until the end of time. I have to send checks, and that takes real time and effort. Plus, campaigns aren't supposed to accept checks unless the checkwriter affirms that he/she is eligible to make a campaign contribution.
"Montana is slowly purpling..."
I'm not persuaded about this shorthand summary of MT. MT has historically had D senators; a few R's, but mostly D's. MT had a mix of D and r governors, even recently. MT has actually trended r in the past 10 years, not D. Obama lost MT by 7 in 2008; Biden lost MT by 16. The popular D governor Steve Bullock was elected governor twice, by 1 and then by 4, and then lost the senate election by 11.
Meanwhile there's no public polling on the MT senate race.
I want MT to be trending towards D's, but I'd want to see some evidence.
What do you think of Laubacher v Boebert in Colorado 4?
Thanks for this rundown
The bad news is that SOME people are burning up cash in campaign donations--- the good news most of those campaigns attracting piles of cash to burn is cash from billionaires who wouldn't do anything better with their money if they had the opportunity.
My own plan for donating goes (generally and sometimes with exceptions) as follows:
1.) State and local candidates get the first and most generous cut. (Florida and Wisconsin)
2.) They have to be a serious candidate and they have to be genuinely competitive and the more odious their opponent the more money they get.
3.) I am an independent and I never give money to candidates in primaries. I let the parties decide and then I make my decision about who to support.
4.) I sometimes donate to out of state campaigns but only after due diligence research on my part (not just based on antisocial media buzz or an MSNBC/NOW flavor of the month.)
5.) I donate to the campaigns directly, get their mailing address and pay by check, or credit card if it is not being collected by a third party (like ACTBlue).
I never donate to parties, PACs or SuperPACs.
Griff - I use your #5. Easy to find candidates legit info these days. Act Blue blew it with me
Thanks for a great article. I agree with your picks- all are excellent and as a small contributor I will donate to some, even though my priorities are Talarico and Vindman in Florida (why did you miss him?). As a retired state Rep in Illinois (16 primary years of primary challenges and 15 years of Republican opponents backed by Democratic rats)I do disagree with your paragraph against campaign donations. As a one-time 2nd target of the statewide GOP I can tell you every cent was vital and every penny went to get elected and re-elected, not a penny was spent for me personally. In fact, to get elected Wife and I put up our life savings-$17,000, latter repaid.
Smokejumpers are seriously badass.
Basically their job is to jump out of airplanes into burning forests and fight forest fires with hand tools.
This was a super helpful Triad. Thanks!
How about Alex Vindman to defeat Ashley Moody?
This is a serious question: does ActBlue allow you (or someone) to create a kind of group contribution? I would love to spread some money (not a huge amount but some) among all these names; but I don't want to be typing all day. I've seen this done by (I think) the States Project -- where they identify six or so state-legislative candidates and evenly divide your money among them, giving the donor the option to override the even division (if I remember correctly).
If you are looking for a way to support women D's, WomenCount is a 501c3 for small contributions for women running for public office. They offer "slates" or you can create your own slate and give, say $100 to be split evenly. They make it very convenient to spread the dollars across a group vs. individually. www.womencount.org