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 rasied 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 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.
Showing posts with label Howard Dean. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Howard Dean. Show all posts
Friday, December 28, 2007
Friday, December 7, 2007
ABORTION & THE DECEITFUL DEMOCRAT
ABORTION & THE DECEITFUL DEMOCRAT
I wrote a column yesterday in which I confessed I was very suspicious about whether the concept of "pro-life" was really meaningful to Congressmen John Murtha and Jason Altmire I pointed out that Democrats who run for Congress in Pennsylvania – especially those outside Philadelphia – had better say they’re pro-life (and pro-guns) if they want to get elected.
After I wrote the piece I came upon comments by Democratic strategist Joe Trippi (the Internet guru of Howard Dean campaign fame). Here’s what Trippi says in The Revolution Will Not be Televised, p. 33:
“I remember working on a [Democratic] congressional campaign in the mid-1980s. We were meeting with the candidate to film a commercial about his views on abortion. . . [Then] the guy casually informed me that he wanted to film two spots.”
“I was confused. Two?”“That’s right. He wanted to make a pro-choice ad, then – as long as we had the crew and everything – just ‘turn the camera around’ and make a pro-life spot.
That way, he explained, he’d have one of each ready when his polling people told him which way to go.”
Trippi adds, “After it was all over, I think we all wanted to go home and take a shower.”
Who was this poll-driven (as opposed to conscience-driven) candidate? Trippi doesn’t identify him by name.Could it have been Dick Gephardt, the congressional power, who also ran for President – and employed Trippi? When Gephardt was a Missouri congressman, he was, like most Missouri congressman, he was a staunch pro-lifer. Later, of course, when he began to contemplate a national office, he switched to joining the Democratic "mainstream" and being pro-choice.
Or could it even have been Al Gore? When he was in Congress and the Senate from Tennessee – a bastion of pro-lifers – he was strongly for what’s called “the sanctity of life.” But when the vice-presidency and the Presidency loomed before him, his own "inconvenient truth" is that he switched his views.
A more interesting question: could it have been John Murtha? As far as I know, Trippi never worked for “The Prince of Pork.” Probably not. And certainly not Jason Altmire who, in the 1980s, was playing high school football.
However, like Trippi’s sleazy candidate, Murtha is very much driven by polls. When the American people were strongly for the war in Iraq, so was Murtha. When the War’s “poll numbers” dropped, Murtha bailed out, calling for “redeployment” of the troops to Okinawa of all places. The early evidence suggests that Altmire is same kind of poll-obsessed individual.
Trippi’s candidate was a slimeball. So, for that matter, is Trippi himself. Notice that he doesn’t say he stepped from the lucrative campaign slot. Instead, literally and figuratively, he took a shower. After reading Trippi’s book, my assessment of him is that he might consider spending the rest of his life in the shower.
People who look carefully at the votes of people like Murtha and Altmire – as I did in previous columns – have a hard time understanding exactly where they stand. The fact is that people obsessed with polls – Trippi’s client, Murtha, Altmire – don’t really "stand" much of anywhere.
Anyway, if anyone knows who Trippi’s pro-life/pro-choice candidate was, please let me know. Until then, I’ll just assume it could have been one of many Democrats.
I wrote a column yesterday in which I confessed I was very suspicious about whether the concept of "pro-life" was really meaningful to Congressmen John Murtha and Jason Altmire I pointed out that Democrats who run for Congress in Pennsylvania – especially those outside Philadelphia – had better say they’re pro-life (and pro-guns) if they want to get elected.
After I wrote the piece I came upon comments by Democratic strategist Joe Trippi (the Internet guru of Howard Dean campaign fame). Here’s what Trippi says in The Revolution Will Not be Televised, p. 33:
“I remember working on a [Democratic] congressional campaign in the mid-1980s. We were meeting with the candidate to film a commercial about his views on abortion. . . [Then] the guy casually informed me that he wanted to film two spots.”
“I was confused. Two?”“That’s right. He wanted to make a pro-choice ad, then – as long as we had the crew and everything – just ‘turn the camera around’ and make a pro-life spot.
That way, he explained, he’d have one of each ready when his polling people told him which way to go.”
Trippi adds, “After it was all over, I think we all wanted to go home and take a shower.”
Who was this poll-driven (as opposed to conscience-driven) candidate? Trippi doesn’t identify him by name.Could it have been Dick Gephardt, the congressional power, who also ran for President – and employed Trippi? When Gephardt was a Missouri congressman, he was, like most Missouri congressman, he was a staunch pro-lifer. Later, of course, when he began to contemplate a national office, he switched to joining the Democratic "mainstream" and being pro-choice.
Or could it even have been Al Gore? When he was in Congress and the Senate from Tennessee – a bastion of pro-lifers – he was strongly for what’s called “the sanctity of life.” But when the vice-presidency and the Presidency loomed before him, his own "inconvenient truth" is that he switched his views.
A more interesting question: could it have been John Murtha? As far as I know, Trippi never worked for “The Prince of Pork.” Probably not. And certainly not Jason Altmire who, in the 1980s, was playing high school football.
However, like Trippi’s sleazy candidate, Murtha is very much driven by polls. When the American people were strongly for the war in Iraq, so was Murtha. When the War’s “poll numbers” dropped, Murtha bailed out, calling for “redeployment” of the troops to Okinawa of all places. The early evidence suggests that Altmire is same kind of poll-obsessed individual.
Trippi’s candidate was a slimeball. So, for that matter, is Trippi himself. Notice that he doesn’t say he stepped from the lucrative campaign slot. Instead, literally and figuratively, he took a shower. After reading Trippi’s book, my assessment of him is that he might consider spending the rest of his life in the shower.
People who look carefully at the votes of people like Murtha and Altmire – as I did in previous columns – have a hard time understanding exactly where they stand. The fact is that people obsessed with polls – Trippi’s client, Murtha, Altmire – don’t really "stand" much of anywhere.
Anyway, if anyone knows who Trippi’s pro-life/pro-choice candidate was, please let me know. Until then, I’ll just assume it could have been one of many Democrats.
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