Money, Hey John and Marty
On Thursday, I wrote a post that mentioned the $8 million in John Kerry's warchest from his 2004 presidential bid, and now the Globe has a piece about it as well. I know that Sen. Kerry has indeed been there for many candidates, giving money, advice and other assistance. So, don't think I'm ungrateful for what Kerry's done for many Democatic candidates this cycle. He's been out there, pushing hard, and I'm appreciative of that. What I don't appreciate, however, is that our junior Senator is holding on to 8 million dollars that people gave him more than two years ago to spend on a national, general election.
Well, this is the next national, general election in some ways. And I want my money out there, being spent, not rotting away in an account that Kerry may use to defeat other Democrats in the 2008 primaries. This money was given as much to "the Democratic nominee" as it was to John Kerry. While I didn't support Kerry until the nomination process was over, I certainly rode the rails for him once he was the choice to represent the clear-headed, rational, Democratic position. Both authors of this blog spent election week 2004 in Ohio working hard to put John Kerry in the White House. And now, I want him to use everything in his power to put a Democratic House (and maybe Senate) in charge of the final two years of Bush's Administration. That money was given to him so that he could change the manner, method and substance of politics and policy in this country. Though he didn't succeed two years ago, he has the opportunity to do that now, and I adamantly believe that he should.
And as for the website to which I linked on Thursday, HeyJohn, I don't care who runs it. It doesn't matter. I can't understand why anyone would actually think that the DSCC was somehow behind an anonymous website, when they would be much more effective using either the mainstream media or the usual beltway backchannels, criticism from which drive Kerry insane. And even were they behind it, it wouldn't matter a lick to me because they'd be right. The content of that site is correct. John Kerry has the opportunity to inject more than $8 million into this race, with two weeks left, and dramatically shift the way politics are done in this country for at least two years. It's a huge amount of money that could generate a tremendous wave of advertising, GOTV and and other programs that might just swing the election, and thus make this country and the world a better place. Here, in terms of political capital: John Kerry can save the world!
There's another candidate close to home who's sitting on money that could be used to help his fellow Democrats over the next two weeks: Rep. Marty Meehan. I know he actually is running right now, but his seat isn't in danger and he really has no chance of losing --- and no prospect of spending all his $5 million. He's saving it up for a potential Senate bid when one of our lions steps down. That's his right, and I appreciate that, just as I appreciate Sen. Kerry's right to save his. But squirreling that money away for another day doesn't help folks like Diane Farrell (CT-4), Sheldon Whitehouse (RI-Sen) or Paul Hodes (NH-02), and those are just a few of the Dems in need in only neighboring states. Meehan could easily give $100K-500K to each of those races and still retain more than enough cash to set up a campaign for Senate. And if he does that, he'll probably have my support.
I'm adamant about spreading the money around right now because we're within striking difference of taking over at least one house of Congress, and we could potentially take both. But we can't do it without everyone going above and beyond. We're asking regular folks to donate every dime they can, all while they man phonebanks and canvass door-to-door; and many are stepping up and doing just that. All I'm asking John Kerry and Marty Meehan for is a level of dedication to other Democratic candidates that they've taken for granted from their own supporters.
And now I will take Deval Patrick's advice and "get off my high horse."
Well, this is the next national, general election in some ways. And I want my money out there, being spent, not rotting away in an account that Kerry may use to defeat other Democrats in the 2008 primaries. This money was given as much to "the Democratic nominee" as it was to John Kerry. While I didn't support Kerry until the nomination process was over, I certainly rode the rails for him once he was the choice to represent the clear-headed, rational, Democratic position. Both authors of this blog spent election week 2004 in Ohio working hard to put John Kerry in the White House. And now, I want him to use everything in his power to put a Democratic House (and maybe Senate) in charge of the final two years of Bush's Administration. That money was given to him so that he could change the manner, method and substance of politics and policy in this country. Though he didn't succeed two years ago, he has the opportunity to do that now, and I adamantly believe that he should.
And as for the website to which I linked on Thursday, HeyJohn, I don't care who runs it. It doesn't matter. I can't understand why anyone would actually think that the DSCC was somehow behind an anonymous website, when they would be much more effective using either the mainstream media or the usual beltway backchannels, criticism from which drive Kerry insane. And even were they behind it, it wouldn't matter a lick to me because they'd be right. The content of that site is correct. John Kerry has the opportunity to inject more than $8 million into this race, with two weeks left, and dramatically shift the way politics are done in this country for at least two years. It's a huge amount of money that could generate a tremendous wave of advertising, GOTV and and other programs that might just swing the election, and thus make this country and the world a better place. Here, in terms of political capital: John Kerry can save the world!
There's another candidate close to home who's sitting on money that could be used to help his fellow Democrats over the next two weeks: Rep. Marty Meehan. I know he actually is running right now, but his seat isn't in danger and he really has no chance of losing --- and no prospect of spending all his $5 million. He's saving it up for a potential Senate bid when one of our lions steps down. That's his right, and I appreciate that, just as I appreciate Sen. Kerry's right to save his. But squirreling that money away for another day doesn't help folks like Diane Farrell (CT-4), Sheldon Whitehouse (RI-Sen) or Paul Hodes (NH-02), and those are just a few of the Dems in need in only neighboring states. Meehan could easily give $100K-500K to each of those races and still retain more than enough cash to set up a campaign for Senate. And if he does that, he'll probably have my support.
I'm adamant about spreading the money around right now because we're within striking difference of taking over at least one house of Congress, and we could potentially take both. But we can't do it without everyone going above and beyond. We're asking regular folks to donate every dime they can, all while they man phonebanks and canvass door-to-door; and many are stepping up and doing just that. All I'm asking John Kerry and Marty Meehan for is a level of dedication to other Democratic candidates that they've taken for granted from their own supporters.
And now I will take Deval Patrick's advice and "get off my high horse."
posted by 1st Against the Wall at 10:50
1 Comments:
If that is the case, I would be ecstatic, as 30% of Meehan's stash is over a million bucks, which could make a huge difference in any number of races. Still, knowing how badly he wants to run for Senate and how long he's been collecting cash for said run, I'll believe it when I see it.
(And boo for google/blogger if you really do need to start a blog to sign in. I didn't know that.)
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