This is a plea. I am saddened to feel the need to make it.

[rzemanfl]

Nonetheless, here goes:

Last night I attended a meeting at the home of the Democratic candidate for Congress in Florida's District 10. That's right, her home, in her living room. Samm Simpson is running a grassroots campaign to unseat C.W. "Bill" Young a Nixon-era Republican who has held his seat since 1972 and has his District gerrymandered to exclude as many minorities as possible. Samm is getting no assistance from the Democratic party and no coverage from the media to speak of. Her opponent just ignores her.

Okay, here comes the plea, NOTHING COULD SIGNAL THE END OF THE NEO-CON REPUKE ERA MORE CLEARLY than "Bill" getting retired by the voters. Remember his wife's t-shirt the night Cindy got hauled out of the State of the Union? They are putting it a museum!:

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/08/10/Tampabay/Patriotic_T_shirt_bac.shtml

Young and his drama queen wife should be retired to their home in Indian Shores.

ON EDIT: If you can't contribute, please recommend this post. Thanks!

The problem is that it is very difficult to get support for the Simpson campaign when so few people here know that Samm is on the ballot.

I am asking DU to "prime the pump" by getting ten thousand dollars to Samm's campaign so that she can get the word out locally. This is a wealthy county (although I'm not in the wealthy group) and there are many fed-up, pissed off people in it-hoping for change. I think that money can be raised locally once enough folks are made aware of Samm's candidacy. It is damn hard to do that by going door to door or making phone calls.

The New York Times says this District is "safe Republican"-let's change that. Let's get some DU money to this lady and retire Young, you can send it by Pay Pal:

http://sammsimpsonforcongress.com/supporters/contribute

It should be noted that Ms. Simpson has not authorized and is at this time unaware of this message. I'm hoping that I can tell her about it when she asks where the ten grand came from. I will consider a "done" reply to equal ten bucks, so if you give more, repeat "done" the appropriate number of times.

ON EDIT: If you can't contribute, please recommend this post, thanks!

[annabanana]

1. Sure, I'll kick in a littel

The thought of all those rich people looking to jump ship is alluring.

[rzemanfl]

4. Thank you! n/t

[rzemanfl]

5. Thank you! n/t

[rzemanfl]

32. Need to get this near the top. The link to the St. Pete Times has

changed. New link is:

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/08/10/Tampabay/Patriotic_T_shirt_bac.shtml

[wakeme2008]

2. Done Done Done Done Done and Nom

:)

[rzemanfl]

3. Thank you times 5!!! n/t

[TAPat]

6. K&R nt

[rzemanfl]

7. Thanks. n/t

[Oversea Visitor]

8. a kick and a vote

thats is all I can do :(

[rzemanfl]

9. Thanks! Always happy to hear from you! A few minutes ago

Samm Simpson was a local politician. Now she is internationally known!

[acmejack]

10. Consider this done on payday

Word is my bond.

edit, other than his support of the wounded guys, I have nothing but contempt for Mr. Young...

[rzemanfl]

12. There is that, but think about this, if you caused an accident

wouldn't you visit the victim in the hospital? Wouldn't anyone, except
Dick Cheney? Thanks for the donation.

[pooja]

11. K & R

I feel for you. I have Bilirakis.

[mom cat]

13. K&R

[usregimechange]

14. No seat should go unchallenged!

[rosesaylavee]

15. K & R

plus 10 bucks.

Good luck!

[rzemanfl]

29. Thanks!!! n/t

[rosesaylavee]

60. Had a nice email exchange

with your candidate. I hope she makes it and runs the incumbent idiot out of office. :)

[rzemanfl]

62. Me too. n/t

[fishwax]

16. kick

:kick:

[rzemanfl]

17. Didn't notice until now that the "ON EDIT" line appears twice,

once in the body of the message. My bad. Thanks for all the recommendations, please send $.

[tsuki]

18. Done, K&R

[rzemanfl]

19. Thank you! n/t

[AzDar]

20. Kick! n/t

[DesertRat]

21. I just gave a small donation

Good luck to Samm and the people of District 10! :)

[rzemanfl]

22. Thank you! n/t

[DesertRat]

23. A question

Why isn't the Democratic party helping her?

[rzemanfl]

24. She has to have $100,000.00 to get help from the party. This is

considered a "safe Republican" district and they are unwilling to fight for it.

[DesertRat]

25. I see. I wish her the best!

Keep us posted.

[rzemanfl]

26. Thank you. n/t

[zalinda]

27. It's probably because of it's label

It says it's safe/republican. Why throw money after it, if there is no way to win. I think that may be their logic.

zalinda

[rzemanfl]

28. You hit the nail on the head. The District is gerrymandered so

that it excludes the county's blacks and hispanics (Cities of Clearwater and St. Petersburg)but retains the rich white enclaves on the beaches.

[wakeme2008]

30. kick

:kick:

[Omaha Steve]

31. Act Blue small donation and R!

PLEASE keep us up to date on the fund raising and the finale results.

[rzemanfl]

33. Thanks so much. I should have mentioned Act Blue. n/t

[sagesnow]

34. K n R

Done x2.

[fooj]

35. Why doesn't Ms. Simpson know that you are making this plea on her behalf?

It should be noted that Ms. Simpson has not authorized and is at this time unaware of this message. I'm hoping that I can tell her about it when she asks where the ten grand came from. I will consider a "done" reply to equal ten bucks, so if you give more, repeat "done" the appropriate number of times.

Repeat "done" the appropriate # of times? Wow. That seems really strange. Ten thousnad dollars seems to be the going rate these days...

:shrug:

[rzemanfl]

38. Would "because it is supposed to be a surprise" be okay with

you? Actually she needs a hundred thousand.

[rzemanfl]

40. The done thing is just to keep track here. No other reason. n/t

[fooj]

41. I wish that I could help, however there are too many candidates

in my own state that need a financial boost. Thanks for clarifying this for me.

[rzemanfl]

43. I know, this is a nationwide fight. But in the end, all politics is

local. The sad thing is that C.W. "Bill" Young prabably can raise thousands of bucks with a few phone calls.

[bleever]

36. Done x3.

Because we know that FL is really a blue state.

:thumbsup:

[rzemanfl]

39. Thank you and you are 100% correct. This would be a blue

county too, not so sure about the District though, what with the gerrymandering. I am hoping that some Republicans in this county were disgusted by the Schiavo case theatrics and will either stay home this year or vote Dem.

[floridaextreme]

76. This is a purple district

Gore won handily in 2000. About 167K Repubs, 152K Dems, and 101K Indies. The indies in this area are mostly libs, I'd wager, given that Kerry lost the entire county by only 250 votes in 2004, but Nader took 2,400. Besides, can we name an "indie" who would be to the right of the current Repub party? Given that Young is a wholly owned subsidiary of the military industrial complex, anti-war sentiment should be a powerful motivator for occassional voters who haven't seen a reason to show up and dump him before.

[newyawker99]

79. Hi floridaextreme!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[bonito]

37. Kick

[femrap]

42. Done.

I hope she can get the word out.....maybe think about doing something somewhat outrageous or outlandish to get some press coverage. Maybe something that would garner the attention of WOMEN! Like she wants to pass legislation for Child Care or legislation that speeds up the testing of DNA of rape kits (which from my understanding sits on shelves for over 6 months.)

Think women! Check out Women's Voices, Women Vote on line. I think it's:

www.wvwv.org or it could be .com. Hope this helps!

Good luck to her!

[rzemanfl]

45. Thank you. I will make Samm aware of this website if she isn't

already.

[flyarm]

44. hey can i add on MENENDEZ in NJ he is up against Tom Kean's son

you know Tom Kean who lied and didn't disclose THAT the FAA and Norad people lied to the 9/11 commission before the 2004 election..?!

Yes Tom Kean's son is neck and neck with Senator Menendez..who is in the fight of our lives in NJ...

lets get money to all those that need it in all our states !!

And watch the lying liars who lie on Meet The Press tommorrow and ask ..why wasn;t this information given out before the 2004 election when we could have taken our White House back..

we need to retain this seat in NJ..

its imperative..especially when our ports ..some of the largest in the country are being sold off..and the biggest in air traffic and gateway to the USA internationally ..and some of the biggest nuclear power plants in the country are not being protected at all!!

and how about NY there are seats being fought for there , as well..where our national security is involved..

and of course Philly!

lets not forget PHilly and the fight for Casey to take back Santorums seat..

send money to Menendez!!

send money to Casey!!

send money to Lamont!

hey i have a congressman here in NJ who needs help too..Rich Saxton..going against Sexton..

send him money too please!!

[Omaha Steve]

46. DUH! We should have a DU fund raiser page on act blue

That way we get up to the moment results on how we are doing. rzemanfl do you want to do it?

[rzemanfl]

47. Doesn't the little line that ends up in Bush's ugly face update?

Thought it did. I never heard of Act Blue before today.

[Omaha Steve]

48. Marta and I were # 23 @ $1,026.50

http://www.actblue.com/entity/fundraisers/9643

See who's supporting Samm Simpson (FL-10)
Across ActBlue
Donors 24 Total $ 1,031.50


The below directory lists all the public fund raising pages that are supporting Samm Simpson like John Fontana did
.

Want to join them? Start Fund raising Now!

Fund raising Page / Author

Donors

Total Raised
Samm Simpson for Congress -- FL-10
John Fontana 2 $20.00

Register and then sign up for donations to Samm. it will keep up to the moment results of how we are dong.


We have given to campaigns around the country through Act Blue.
OS

[rzemanfl]

49. I need to learn about this. When the campaign started, PayPal

was the only option.

Thanks for the contribution.

[flyarm]

50. there is a forum for campaigns and campaigning! here is the link...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=108

Politics/Campaigns

[opiate69]

51. My Father & Step-mother are in Palm Harbor..

I've sent them a link to this thread and implored them to support her... best of luck!

[rzemanfl]

66. Thanks! n/t

[rodriguez94]

52. REC and I can sympathize with you...

This is the year of the grassroots movement. Across this great nation, hundreds if not thousands of grassroots candidates, ordinary people just like myself, are running for every level of elected office whether it is at the city, county, state, or even the national level.


see my earlier post


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=2757125




Good Luck!!

Tina


[e-mail]
http://www.myspace.com/votetina06
Paypal Donations Also Accepted!

:kick:

[Omaha Steve]

53. OFFICIAL DUers for Samm page on Act Blue!

Feel free to help on this page. We can track everything up to the second here.

http://www.actblue.com/page/help.samm

OS

[rzemanfl]

57. Thank you! I feel like the cobbler who woke up to find the elves

had fixed all the shoes while he was asleep. I feel like a real amateur rookie at this

[Critters2]

54. K & R nt

[DLnyc]

55. done, done

Look at Samm's web page: some good stuff there. Sounds like a classy dame who's not afraid to speak up.

I realize people have limited funds, but if the 'safe' repub districts start becoming competitive that could really turn the mid-terms into a rout. I'm betting 20 bucks it's gonna happen.

[rzemanfl]

67. Thanks. n/t

[Kurovski]

56. K&R.(nt)

[IdaBriggs]

58. I'll kick with a question -- is she running against Bush or the incumbent?

The big lesson I walked away from the Lamont/Liberman thing with was that running against Bush is the winning ticket. Running against the incumbent isn't going to work 98% of the time. People "know" the incumbent, and they most likely don't really give a hoot what he's actually DOING in Washington once he's elected (based on the fact 98% of them get re-elected).

Let me know what her strategy is, please.

[rzemanfl]

68. I will ask her about this. This may be a special case because of

the Schiavo outrage here.

[JNelson6563]

59. Comments

First off I commend you for promoting your candidate and doing what you can for her. I'm sorry I cannot contribute as I am already tapped for what little I can give.

I'd also like to comment on your remarks about the "Democratic party". Are you talking about your state party? Local parties? The DNC? Regardless, it isn't the party's job to finance a campaign. The source for such funding is the DCCC. Let us remember that there are over 300 House races this year. Given the fact that there is only so much money to go around, if I were the decision maker I wouldn't be putting precious funds into such a longshot either.

That leads me to this: Local party building. I know that Congressional districts vary in size. Some are comprised of many counties, some only a partial county, depending on population density. Just think if we worked hard in between elections building up those parties. Driving membership, holding fundraisers and gaining valuable visibility. The county parties could then provide some of the desperately needed funding, accurate mailing lists of core Dem voters (for targeted fundraising mailings by campaigns), precinct delegates who know their neighborhoods and will work to get the vote out.

The mistake so many make is to think you first get a candidate and then "the Party" should just belly up a bunch of money (no matter how experienced/inexperienced the candidate or how gerrymandered the District in opponent's favor) and the campaign commences. Wrong. This method leads to frustrated candidates and supporters.

Lastly, please take a look at FEC regulations. They're all posted on the web, easy to find. You will see that federal PACs have strict limits on what they can give. That limit is a collective $5000 per cycle. For instance, here in my 14 county Congressional district we have lots of federal PACs under the Democratic umbrella. The state party, the district organization and 4 of the county parties also have fed. PACs. That's six PAcs that are yoked together to a $5000 limit. Even if we raised $100,000 at the District level we couldn't give it to our House candidate because of those limits. You know who those limits do NOT apply too? The DCCC. But again, they've got hundreds of races and limited funds and have to pick and choose carefully where they invest.

This is why I am so pleased to see Dean working to establish state parties in every state. This sort of work needs to be done by the people on the ground. As groups we can raise seed money to help our candidates.

Here in my district we also have a longshot candidate. Since we are so limited in what we can give directly we are donating much of it as "in-kind" contributions to get the most bang for our buck. We're investing in fundraising events for our candidate. Next weekend, for example, we have a very nice event planned at a local winery. The owner of winery agreed to donate the venue and a few cases of wine. The local county parties (that have been being built for several years now) each kicked in $$ so we could print and mail some 2,700 invites. The district will spend several hundred on the food. Altogether the federal PACs involved will have spent about $1,400 out of our $5,000 limit but, with every guest making their check out to the candidate, the candidate will raise thousands from individuals.

Our candidates deserve our support and the fact of the matter is that it is up to us to make it happen.

Julie

[rzemanfl]

61. Thanks for the information. I realize that "bang for the buck" is

a real concern. I will pass your ideas along.

[DLnyc]

64. Actually, I think it's over 400 house races.

My understanding is that ALL house seats come up for election every two years. So I think the number is 435.
for example, see http://bensguide.gpo.gov/3-5/government/national/house.html

I agree that these races should depend primarily on local resources. But I also think it is a good national strategy to kick in seed money (say 10,000) to 'safe republican' districts if there is a hard-working Dem candidate who can make the incumbent thug sweat a little. ( by the way, 10,000 times, say, 200 'safe repub' districts comes to 2,000,000--not a huge figure for a national party.)

The Lamont race was a primary, not a general, so it's a different issue, but still the conventional wisdom was Lamont didn't stand a chance against the well-funded incumbent Lieberman. But, with hard work, local activism and some national activist support, Lamont DEFINITELY made Joe sweat and then actually won.

Anyway, the craven hypocrisy of the tee-shirt guy makes me happy to kick in 20 bucks to be a thorn in his side, especially since Samm Simpson's web site has a copy of the Declaration of Independence, which I think is a classy touch.

[JNelson6563]

65. Even moreso then.

And I agree that there should be some support out there for tough races but, again, it's not really the DNC's role so much as it is the DCCC. Remember the limits on Federal PACs. If the DNC gave $10,000 to a candidate it would have to be divided between the primary and the general cause the limit's $5,000 per cycle. Also this would preclude any of the candidate's county parties who have Fed. PAC status as well as the district org. and state party from donating to the campaign. All are under the Dem umbrella so are limited to that paltry $5,000 per cycle collectively.

The DCCC is a different animal. They do have such limits. That's were the serious funding comes in.

Julie

[DLnyc]

75. That's what I meant

Seems like the DCCC could kick in some bucks a district like this, to make the incumbent have to defend his/her position.

[floridaextreme]

72. Local DEC legally can't help Samm

Thanks for the ideas, Julie.

We're doing house parties/grassroots fundraising events as well.

The big challenge here is that legally our local DEC is not allowed to provide any help for federal candidacy. They have no PAC for federal candidates. Bottom line, the local party can't do anything for us.

This is evidently the case for many of the "100 Orphans" -- an actual group of the 400+ who are running who haven't seen a dime from the Democratic Party apparatus, local, state, DNC or DCCC.

For races like Samm's, it's definitely up to We The People.

[Imagevision]

63. C.W. "Bill" Young and Santorum must be replaced

[sendero]

69. Done...

... this is where the rubber meets the road folks. Dean and the DNC cannot do it all.

It might be $10 down a rat hole or it might be the $10 that gets one more sign or poster or letter that gets one more voter.

Spread out among a bunch of us, it's easy to participate. If you can spare the $10, consider giving it. These "safe" races make a big splash when they become "not so safe". :)

[rzemanfl]

74. Thank you! n/t

[calimary]

70. Dang, too old a thread to add a recommendation, but at least I

can help keep it KICKED!!!

[floridaextreme]

71. I gave $500 to this record setting campaign and thanks!

First, thanks to DUer's for jumping on board here!

I've been volunteering with the campaign to the tune of 60 hrs. a week since late March for two reasons. 1) Young has to go; 2) Samm is the real deal. Not only progressive, but most importantly just one of us. A regular gal who is standing up for the constitution and the ideals that historically have made this country great. Never had aspirations towards being a career politician. Just got so filled with righteous indignation over recent developments that she stood up.

And this energy is infectious. She, I, and a team of volunteers made Pinellas County history by getting a federal candidate on the ballot via petitions. Over 4,500 collected in less than 5 weeks. We needed 4,088 signatures. By the time the Supervisor of Elections office was done, we had 4,089 officially. EVERY VOTE COUNTS.

And so does every dollar. I gave $500 earlier on -- not via this particular campaign -- and challenge anyone/everyone here to match it! And I'm not one of her rich constituents, either. I made less than $20K last year, and will do the same this year. If you can't manage $500 right now, we'll thankfully accept any amount you can swing.

Sorry this got so wordy. But when I start talking about Samm's campaign, I tend to get pumped up!

[rzemanfl]

73. Good for you and welcome to DU! n/t

[Omaha Steve]

77. Do most of us not know what Act blue is?

I put up the fund raiser for Samm over the weekend. There hasn't been a single donation yet, despite all the posts. Act blue is a Democratic fund raising site. My wife and I use it all the time to give to candidates around the country.

http://www.actblue.com/faq

From the FAQ: ActBlue is a PAC, registered with the FEC and not connected with any candidate, party, or other entity. We are permitted to directly contribute to and coordinate with candidates, and can transmit earmarked contributions from individuals to candidates.

By contrast, so-called "527 organizations" do not register with the FEC, and cannot financially support or coordinate with Federal candidates.


Frequently Asked Questions
Campaign Finance Laws

* Is ActBlue a 527, or a PAC, or what?
* For the purposes of contribution limits, are contributions made via the ActBlue web site counted separately from other contributions?
* What are the limits on my campaign contributions?
* Are my contributions to candidates or to ActBlue tax-deductible?

Contributing through ActBlue

* How does my money get to the candidates?
* Are you taking a cut? (Hint: no!)
* What about credit card fees?
* How do I know that my contributions go where I intend them to go?
* If I donate to a campaign using ActBlue, will I get phone calls from the campaign?
* Why is there a $5 minimum donation per candidate?

Special kinds of contributions

* How do I make recurring contributions through ActBlue?
* How can I modify or cancel recurring contributions once I have created them?
* How do "General Election Funds" work?

Listing candidates, committees, and independent groups

* How do you choose who to include in your candidate directory?
* My favorite candidate isn't listed. Why not?
* You listed a candidate who clubs baby seals—shouldn't you take them off the site?
* Which independent groups do you include in your directory?

Miscellaneous

* I have a great idea about how to make this site better—who do I tell?
* What's with this missing/broken link?
* Who are you?

Campaign Finance Laws

[Sammscript]

78. Thanks, folks

I'm the candidate that this thread is referring to. Thanks to the folks from Democratic Underground that threw in over $300 dollars to help in our campaign. We are totally grass roots and got on the ballot with over 4000 signatures last spring. My opponent was the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee and is one of the most prominent Republicans in D.C.

He is a full representative of the Military Industrial Complex and I represent the reasonable needs of "we the people." Please visit the (http://www.sammsimpsonforcongress.com) and tell your friends. Everyone says I'm in the "impossible" race, but that matters not. We're going to seek the truth and share the truth and stop the neocons.

thanks, folks for being awake and alive. Let's take our nation back!

[newyawker99]

80. Hi Samscript!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Omaha Steve]

81. I got this wonderful hand written thank you card today from Samm

Samm wrote it herself. Act Blue really got the check to her in a hurry. Good luck Samm!

[Sammscript]

82. Hi Omaha Steve

No, didn't get the check yet. Act blue sends it out once a week on Mondays. But I can check and see who donates. I like to thank folks as quickly as possible. We need more kindness in this world. I've got some good friends in Omaha. Used to live in Iowa myself. take care and thanks again. We need word of mouth down here, I'm fighting the military industrial complex. blessings to all.