Democrats find their answer to the Koch brothers

[ffr]

Democratic House candidates raised nearly $36 million online in August, giving many the resources to air early TV ads.

Hundreds of thousands of online donors are pouring gobs of cash into Democratic House campaigns at an accelerating clip — a bulwark against a late-summer advertising assault that Republicans hope could save their majority.
<snip>

Digital windfall
The top 25 online fundraisers among House Democrats in August included many of the nominees in the most competitive toss-up districts around the country.

Candidate District ActBlue donations
Danny O'Connor OH-12 $2,906,690
Andrew Janz CA-22 $1,271,120
Abigail Spanberger VA-07 $792,408
Sharice Davids KS-03 $782,135
Sean Casten IL-06 $751,997
Jared Golden ME-02 $729,684
Harley Rouda CA-48 $663,594
Josh Harder CA-10 $653,030
Kim Schrier WA-08 $633,639
Amy McGrath KY-06 $587,372
Kathleen Williams MT-AL $585,202
Dana Balter NY-24 $521,866
Katie Hill CA-25 $509,802
Lauren Underwood IL-14 $502,744
Cindy Axne IA-03 $498,183
Katie Porter CA-45 $484,791
Ammar Camap-Najjar CA-50 $484,259
Lisa Brown WA-05 $483,985
Antonio Delgado NY-19 $479,674
Dan Feehan MN-01 $419,331
- Politico

[2naSalit]

1. Good to see

the candidate, for our one House seat, is on this list. There was a debate last night but I couldn't bear to listen to it, I hate the incumbent with a passion and his voice grates on me like the cheatolini's.

[ananda]

2. The blue wave is on!

..

[CrispyQ]

3. Note how it's not all white men.

[Hekate]

7. Things that make me proud as all get-out to be a lifelong Democrat!

The Dem candidates of 2018 -->

[GemDigger]

4. Nice! Thanks for the post.

[Me.]

5. And...Let's Not Forget

“Through June, Pelosi had raised an eye-popping $83 million”

and

“A source briefed on the matter said that through July she had raised nearly $91 million for the party committee”

https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/15/politics/nancy-pelosi-fundraising-democrats/index.html

It's now the end of September so how much more did she raise in Aug. & Sept.?

[Hekate]

8. THANK YOU! ....and people wonder what it is exactly that Nancy Pelosi does in her "old age." Ha!

Nancy Pelosi -->

[Hekate]

6. We can really pull it together when we try, & I'm proud of us. BUT where we differ from the Kochs...

Last edited Sun Sep 30, 2018, 02:02 PM - Edit history (1)

...and the Koch Cabal is not just about money, it is about having a long-term plan and playing the long game. A really long game, like 40 years. It is coming into fruition about now

Democrats don't do that, and way too many Democrats are proud of it. Every time someone at DU smugly quotes the old Will Rogers joke* I want to reach through the screen and slap them about the head and shoulders.

* "I'm not a member of any organized party. (pause. pause.) I'm a Democrat." Sorry, Will Rogers has long gone home to that great roundup in the sky, and his joke reached its expiry date about the time Nixon was elected.

For those who think I'm just being unpleasant, Right Wing Watch and People for the American Way have some very good primary sources linked to their sites. Right Wing Watch is especially good for travelling into primary sources, where you get to read what our opponents say about themselves, how much they are involved in, and how successful they have been in playing the long game while Democrats squabble over whether they are Progressive or Liberal and whether Blue Dog Dems should even be allowed in the tent. Dems squabble over whether Hillary is inspirational enough, but just try to talk about the importance of the SCOTUS and the lower federal courts and hear the crickets.

Sorry to be a wet blanket, really. It was just the reference to the Kochs that set me off. We really will have a blue wave this election cycle -- IF our votes are counted honestly. But even if the GOP loses the House and Senate, the Kochs et al. know it is only one election cycle, while the Supreme Court is forever.

[CrispyQ]

9. I don't believe the dems have had a long term strategy since I was of voting age.

I don't think they have one now. The right created think tanks to craft their message & bought up radio stations to broadcast it while, like you said, the dems argued over the descriptions liberal or progressive. Now we have an entire segment of the population who would rather vote for a child molester than a democrat.

[ancianita]

11. +1000 Dems have lagged behind Koch for 44+ years in network building.

[erronis]

12. Isn't that partly because liberals (Democrats) believe that reality and pragmatism are also needed?

It's one thing to be so hell-bent on implementing some Any Rand-ish philosophy that rewards the players. Set a 5 year plan, a 50 year plan, whatever. Start indoctrinating young people to be able to take over governments 20-30 years down the road.

It's another thing to be able to respond to real-life events and changes in demographics, international politics, global and national economics. To be able to do this requires some smart thinkers, not ideologues.

I would fear for the democracy if the major parties both had inflexible platforms and couldn't adjust to the reality.

[yonder]

10. That's a wonderful, representative photo

and a cross-section of what our Congress should look like.

[erronis]

13. What's so nice about this picture is that I can imagine almost all of my diverse friends/relatives

being represented here.

Let US keep on being all-encompassing.

[sprinkleeninow]

14. 👍

💙🇺🇸🌊

[irisblue]

15. 😁😁😁😁

fuck the Kochs

[SWBTATTReg]

16. This is the true picture of Americans hard at work for all of us. I've love to print off and ...

post on my wall.

[lindysalsagal]

17. It's about effing time. The people with the money need to do the right thing.

But we need to have election reform and get the money out entirely. Europeans spend a tiny fraction of this kind of money and campaigns last weeks.

[peacebuzzard]

18. What a great group photo