A five page read, but Taibbi’s Looting the Pension Funds is worth it. No teaser on this one. Too big.
For Andy Kroll’s Liberal Group to Fight Dark Money…. By Raising 40 Million of It, a short teaser, but really, the headline says it all:
A little-known liberal group backed by the Democracy Alliance, the exclusive club of several hundred wealthy donors that funds an array of progressive causes, has adopted an unusual strategy to achieve its mission of ridding US politics of the corrupting influence of big money: Raising and spending gobs of cash from undisclosed, wealthy political donors.
The take-away:
It will take big money to fight big money. We want to help bring this fight up to a scale at which we all have a much higher probability of winning.
Without intending to single out anyone in particular, I’ve not gotten an enthusiastic response to my idea of going door to door to beat Walker, and if there’s also resistance to raising money to beat him, or others like him, it begs the question just exactly how do progressives/Dems, etc expect to win elections? Do we rely solely on charismatic candidates and the potency of their message/platform? We don’t need money or a ground game?
Hey Steve,
As to enthusiasm for your plan – I was initially excited, but it soon became clear that the core assumption was an either/or proposition with respect to the Solidarity Singers. I rather viewed it as an and/both proposition. So for my part, I guess ambivalence led to my losing enthusiasm. I realize you devised it in that context, yet I thought the plan had the potential to be bigger than binary strategy.
That’s not to say the fundamentals and the message of the plan aren’t sound. They are. Every election needs a ground game (or more than one), and probably as important for Wisconsin we need a ground game(s) far ahead of elections. Most definitely we need an tight ground game and we need to be on the ground early.
As to candidates and messages – I think the lessons of Walker’s victories are, indeed, we need both a competing governing agenda and we need a candidate who is challenging Walker on an ongoing basis now through elections. And if we hadn’t learned those lessons twice already, surely the current absence of both should confirm it.
And of course money always helps. The intent of “Crony Democracy,” I believe, is to funnel the big money to the grass roots ala the Right-Wiing attack machine. Certainly that route has the potential for success, but for your part I should think it could have the potential to realize your plan. I have to admit the first thought that came to my mind after finishing that article was “Wisconsin’s grass roots will never see a dime.” I suppose one thing to do would be to figure out how to utilize some of those monies for your Budget Fairness Initiative.
PJ,
I never intended my proposition to be an either or with respect to the SSA. I spoke last week on WOJB radio in the northwoods, and on FightingBob radio with Ed Garvey about the idea of mobilizing new voters and never mentioned the SSA once. I’ll have an article on FightingBob next week, will be on the radio again up here on Wednesday, I believe, and will be piloting the project myself in the 73rd district to demonstrate that it will work, and will report my results here on Blogging Blue and elsewhere. I’ll write up my petition and post it here before I go door knocking so anyone who wants can participate.
The SSA can do what they want and so will I.
Perhaps it was my misunderstanding. Your interview with Sly left me with the impression that your effort was grounded on the idea that defeating Walker required removal from or abandoning activism in Madison. Glad that you are proceeding accordingly in the 73rd District. I’m certain you are right. It will work. Looking forward to your organizing updates.