Can we beat the liberals at their own game?
The blogging community will play an important part in helping Lt. Col. Bill Russell defeat John Murtha. If you look on my other site (one that has the same postings as this one), you'll discover approximately 40 blogs listed as "4 Russell." All these blogs have printed material supportive of Russell; several of the bloggers have contributed to the campaign; a few are actively involved in their own fundraising efforts for the campaign; an important group of the bloggers (Douglas Gibbs, Eric Dondero, Jenn of the Jungle, and Snooper) have interviewed Bill and other people supporting him on BlogTalkRadio.
Traditionally, liberal, the "netroots" (or "nutroots," as some call them) have been better than we conservatives at online politics. That's changing -- as it must if we're to say competitive.
In 2004, Joe Trippi ran the successful Internet campaign for Howard Dean, and it was a tremendous success. In Trippi's book The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, he says that Dean's "Meetup" site had 600,000 participants. The Dean Campaign raised more than $50 million, much of it coming from people online.
No Republican Campaign has come anywhere close to those numbers, although Ron Paul is setting some records of his own. In one day, Paul raised a total of $10 mllion from people contributing online.
To defeat John Murtha (who will spend $4 million-plus in this election cycle), Bill Russell needs to raise at least $500,000 -- preferably more. As usual, the Murtha campaign will throw money at his supporters in ways that are of questionable legality. In contrast, the Russell effort will be scrupulously legal and very efficient, with every dollar aimed at finding and getting votes.
In terms of contributions, Russell is doing well online, but needs to keep doing better. Correction, those of us campaigning online have to do better. We have to keep spreading the message that Murtha can be beaten -- and will be with the supportive of the conservative online community.
Yes, John Murtha will receive many millions of dollars from lobbyists and companies that he's essentially bought and paid for with federal dollars, a percentage of which are returned to him in the form of campaign contributions. You can check out the malicious mess that is the Murtha Campaign by going to http://opensecrets.org and keying in the name "Murtha." You'll see that for the 2008 election, he'd already spent by last September 30, a total of almost $700,000. By the December 31 Federal Election Commission reporting date, Murtha will have spent more than a million dollars.
I assure you the contributions didn't come from lobbyists and shady companies committed to Good Government.
How can those of us committed to Russell overcome that avalanche of payoffs to "The Prince of Pork?" We can do it by outsmarting him in the campaign, which luckily won't be that hard. We can also do it by making the maximum use of an inexpensive medium -- the Internet. For example, this particular communication is not costing me anything, aside from the blood, sweat, and tears always involved with writing.
What do we need? At least 30,000 people online backing the Russell Campaign by advocating his candidacy (relax, we apparently have more than 1,000 already). Of the 30,000 as many as 2,000 should be bloggers. We also need 3,000-plus people to go the Russell web site and contribute money. A lot of contributions of $20, $50, and $100 will go a long way toward defeating Murtha.
Politics isn't brain surgery. It consists of the three M's: message, mobilization (of supporters), and money, which is necessary to get the message out and to mobilize thousands of people to win this race.
What can you do? Be one of those people that spreads the message; also, be a person who asks others to join you in volunteering to help Russell.The third part is the most important.
We conservatives need to start out-contributing the liberals. Go the Russell web site and so what you can to make sure this outstanding candidate has the support he needs. Trust me: you'll feel good about it.
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2 comments:
Let me ask you this. I was impressed wiht Mutha's oppenet last time. She seemed like a Lady that had a lot on the ball. I would very much like to see him defeated. I sent money to her last time. However I am not rich and must spend my money in an economic manner. I will donate to his oppnent. But can you tell me what he has that she did not have have. Again I would like to see hin defeated. But I am having to figure out where to send my money for the most possible advantage.
this is from James H. who writes one of the best blogs in America (http://opinionatedcatholic.blogspot.com), and he'd like to know what you're bringing to the table that Diana Lynn Irey (one of my best friends) didn't bring. I wish you'd make a brief reply to him, even realizing that Bill Russell is coming back from New Mexico to Johnstown, PA.
My own view: Diana was an outstanding candidate and has a bright political future. In hindsight, one can say that Diana should have put more of an emphasis on volunteers and less on (expensive) TV advertising. Diana was trying new approaches, some of which worked and some didn't. She won re-election as a Washington County Commissioner by the biggest margin ever achieved by a Republican.
To me, the fact that Bill Russell has spent a lifetime in the military (born in a military hospital) and has great practical experience in Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom is very important. Also, the fact that he's emphasizing real economic development (as opposed to government handouts) is going to be important in this race. Finally, William will be registering a lot of new voters in a district where the voter participation has been very low.
What impresses me about the campaign is its willingness to try a lot of innovative, but practical, new ideas about winning the election is crucial. To me, the crucial tipping point has been to get William polling at 45% by October 1, because then the other five percent, plus one vote, will occur as the Murtha effort unravels. It will NOT be easy, ever, but the race is winnable.
In 2006, Diana Irey got many more votes than any Republican before her. She established a foundation for a future victory. I believe the future is William T. Russell.
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