Use it or lose it

Last week, Chris Bowers put out a call to action.

Today, I am asking you to call the unopposed, or barely opposed, Democratic Representatives in your home state with more than $200,000 in their campaign bank accounts and ask them to donate 30% of that cash directly to Democratic House challengers and / or to party committees. Along with the help of several outstanding volunteers, I have put together a webpage that details the 69 Democratic House incumbents who we need to target. It tells you who these Democrats are, what districts they represent, and how much money they have in their campaign accounts. It also provides you with phone numbers to contact their campaign offices. If no one is answering there, it provides you with backup phone numbers for their Washington D.C. offices. If no one is there as well, one of those two numbers should provide you with a district office number to call.

Use this webpage to call each of the representatives in your state that appear on this list, and ask them to use 30% of their campaign funds in order to take advantage of this remarkable political landscape. You can see the list here:

Use It Or Lose It

When you call, make sure you are polite. You can also expect to receive pushback when you call, because many of these Democrats has already given to both the DCCC and / or directly to Democratic challengers. However, make it clear that because we have put so many seats in play, we all need to give far more than usual. This is a conservative ask, only 30%, and it will be used to fund a once in a generation opportunity. Thirty percent of more than $200,000 won’t cripple anyone. Some have already given much more. It won’t make anyone more vulnerable in 2008. It won’t require anyone to lay off staff. It won’t present serious obstacles for the Representative if s/he runs for higher office. It will, however, allow us to fully fund competitive challenges in districts where we may not be competitive again for years. We need to use this money, or lose this opportunity.

While I agree completely with the goal of this plan, I’m not interested in seeing Texas money go outside of Texas when we have a slew of outstanding candidates, including two DCCC Emerging Races, right here that need our support. I would like to see Texas Democrats help their fellow Texas Democrats, especially this year when the possibility of real gains is more than wishful thinking.

Therefore, I and my fellow Texas progressive bloggers are asking everyone to call their favorite Democratic Congressperson, State Senator, and State Representative and talk to them about doing what they can to help their ballotmates. I suggest following the MoveOn template, with some slight modifications:

1. Be polite

2. Be prepared for pushback – they’ll likely say they already gave to some Democrats, but they need to do more.

3. Tell them this is an extraordinary situation because so many seats are in play–and they will get public credit for doing the right thing.

4. They can legally give unlimited amounts to the DCCC or $2000 to candidates.

5. Mention the DCCC Emerging Races, mention the ParentPAC candidates, mention whoever you want to see them support.

6. Ask them to call you back when they decide how much to pledge. Get their name.

Please give me some feedback, via comments or email, as to whom you contacted and the response you got. With Early Voting now underway, time is extremely tight. Changing the perception about Democrats in Texas starts with working towards a shared goal. If we don’t use all the resources available to us for this opportunity, we’ll all lose out. That’s what this is all about.

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