Sparks filed the appropriate paperwork with the Alabama Secretary of State that very day. At the time, we all wondered if he had only just raised (or spent) $25,000 or if Sparks had just forgotten about that filing requirement. Now that the financial reports have been released, we can see that Sparks indeed passed the $25,000 mark no later than June 12, 2009 when Mack Cooper contributed $25,000. By rights, he should have filed the statement establishing a principal campaign committee within 5 days of passing that milestone ... say June 17th. Instead, he filed the form on July 29th, the day of Danny's reminder.
Here's my reminder to the folks at Ron Sparks 2010: You still have another financial report to file. Alabama's Fair Campaign Practices Act requires
(b) Each principal campaign committee, political action committee, and elected state and local official covered under the provisions of this chapter, shall annually file with the Secretary of State or judge of probate, as designated in Section 17-5-9, reports of contributions and expenditures made during that year. The annual reports required under this subsection shall be made on or before January 31 of the succeeding year.
Now, Sparks has filed a 2009 annual report (it even includes 11 days of 2010) for his gubernatorial committee (SPARKS, RON (GOV)) but as of this morning, the Secretary of State's website does not list a 2009 annual report for his other committee -- (SPARKS, RON) -- that he's used for Ag. Commissioner runs. That committee also has not been terminated, per the SoS website. It doesn't seem to matter whether it was active or not, but we know there was in fact activity because Ron Sparks transferred $107,702.02 from there to his gubernatorial account.
The penalty for not filing these reports is stiff ...
A certificate of election or nomination shall not be issued to any person elected or nominated to state or local office who shall fail to file any statement or report required by this chapter. A certificate of election or nomination already issued to any person elected or nominated to state or local office who fails to file any statement or report required by this chapter shall be revoked.
... and I'd hate to see the Sparks candidacy get in trouble over this. More selfishly, I'd also really like to see the information -- so consider this a friendly reminder to please file the damned report.
BTW, Treasurer Kay Ivey and Rep. Robert Bentley, also running for governor, are in the same situation with a gubernatorial committee and one for their current offices. Both have already filed disclosures for both their committees.
Everybody had to report year end campaign fundraising and expenses last week -- candidates for state races as well as those seeking federal office. This is a little late, but here's our standard summary table of financial info for Alabama congressional candidates for the last quarter of 2009.
Incredibly, super conservative Jo Bonner has a challenger ... from the right. More confusion to both of them!
Bobby Bright is in a supposedly precarious position in AL-02, but his fundraising is still looking good and he is sitting on a nice little nest egg. Martha Roby seems to have a small hole in her bucket, too.
In AL-03, Josh Segall is hanging tough with incumbent Mike Rogers. It's hard to believe that at this point in the last cycle Segall was barely in the race and trailed Rogers by about $800,000 in cash on hand. This time Segall already has decent name id across the district and the two contenders are only separated by $117,000. This is a great pickup opportunity for Democrats and I hope the DCCC will see it that way -- and take action to help this time!
In the 5th district, Griffith still has a ton of money -- unless he's had to give most of it back, lol -- but Mo Brooks had a good quarter and it's looking like he ought to have enough to mount a strong challenge to the Republican incumbent Griffith. Les Phillip is raising money just fine, but his bucket seems to have a hole in the bottom and it all runs out again. Flashpoint recently had an excellent look at fundraising in AL-05.
Things are beginning to shake out in AL-07 where a sizable field is going after an open seat. This is a strongly Democratic district so the June 1 primary is the brass ring here. Terri Sewell continues to do well in the money department with a big lead in cash on hand. She has a loyal cadre of online detractors who seem to think she's a conservative in disguise. I don't know, but hope we're going to squeeze in a brief interview with her Friday and try to put some of the chit-chat to bed. Of course, we'd love to interview any of the AL-07 candidates, so you guys with ties to the campaigns, please put a bug in their ears. Earl Hilliard, Jr. had his best fundraising quarter yet, although he's still far behind Sewell in cash on hand. Shelia Smoot had a major slump -- is it because Birmingham just has election fatigue and anyone with political money to contribute had already been hit up by mayoral candidates 4 or 5 times, or is she just not clicking with folks? I've seen her speak and she's able and energetic, but something is not working here. There are some signs of life in Martha Bozeman's campaign, we'll see. The candidates who don't appear here did not raise a significant amount of money last quarter.
Tim James (R) finished 2009 with more cash on hand than any other candidate -- on either side. That's partly because he probably has more personal money than any candidate on either side -- he loaned his campaign $2 million in 2008 -- but he also has good friends with deep pockets. But don't worry ... the generosity of those deep pocketed friends is all on behalf of good government.
James reported raising $2.06 million in 2009 ($2.12 if you include in-kind contributions) and although he had 935 contributions from individuals, 59% of that haul came from just 3 people.
Contributions:
Warren J. Williamson, Jr. - 6/4/09, $50,000 Guice Slawson - 6/12/09, $250,000 John M. McGinnis - 9/30/09, $250,000
James reported approximately 935 contributions from individuals totalling around $1.24 million or roughly $1332 per contribution, on average. If you just take out the $550,000 those three men contributed, the average contribution drops to $745. Pretty stunning.
The loans are important too, because that extra $700,000 that conveniently showed up in the last 2 days of 2009 allowed James to claim the title of most cash on hand of anyone in the race, and by a comfortable margin. He reported $2.62 million, besting his nearest GOP rival, Bradley Byrne, by $800,000. James had personally loaned his campaign $2 million in 2008, with considerable fanfare, so he needed to show a big advantage over Byrne and the loans allowed him to do just that.
As a big fan of small "d" democracy, I much prefer to see campaigns with many smaller donors and advocate for strict caps on contributions if not actual public financing of elections. Since Mr. James was doing a press conference in Huntsville yesterday, I decided to attend in hopes of getting his view on this small group of donors who are so obviously instrumental to his campaign. Video below the fold.
Parker Griffith's year end financial disclosure records show a sharp drop -- down 37% from the 3rd quarter -- in his fundraising for the 4th quarter of 2009. Nearly a third of his contributions from individuals came from oncologists -- is he now the Rep. from Cancer? He had expenses of about $56,000 and, on top of that, Griffith was forced to refund $19,550 in the final 8 days of the reporting period . So much for "nobody's asking for their money back." I am still waiting for a comprehensible explanation of why Griffith won't return my pittance. In light of this report, the initial excuse, "The money's just not there" actually looks a bit more plausible.
No matter how progressive, no matter how principled, no matter how much their values align with yours, the simple fact is that Democratic candidates can't win elections without money. And if they can't get it from individual small donors, they'll be forced to turn to the folks who can write big checks and who may try to call in favors for those checks later on.
In that sense, the netroots is truly revolutionizing politics, by offering access to a large pool of folks who are savvy and engaged, but may not have the price of entry for $5000 a plate dinners to bend the ear of potential decision makers. We're interested in good government that works for average Americans, not just for the wealthy. To make it happen, we have to open up our wallets and give to the candidates we believe in, even if our personal pain threshold is only $5 or $10. A thousand $5 contributions is a lot healthier for democracy than a single $5000 one, IMHO. So unlimber your credit cards, this is your chance -- the books close for federal candidates at midnight tonight.
Our best bet to elect more and better Democrats from Alabama is Josh Segall in AL-03. Josh came heartbreakingly close to picking off incumbent Mike Rogers (R, What am I doing in Congress?) last November -- a little more money or support would have flipped that seat for us in 2008 -- and we need to make sure he has the resources to do it right in 2010. He's one of only a handful of candidates to reach out to the Alabama netroots so far and we know he's far more progressive than the guy he's trying to replace.
It may seem early, but Josh Segall is already working hard to line up the resources to win in 2010 -- he just held 8 events in 11 days all over the state and has brought in more new donors than ever before. He sent this email yesterday:
Every day, week and month is a critical part of our plan to win next year. We have to convince hundreds of thousands of people to vote for a new direction in this district.
We’ll do it by knocking on more doors than have ever been touched in this district, by holding more town hall meetings, house parties and fundraisers than anyone has ever had. We are working on that effort NOW and we’re working as hard in September of 2009 as we will be a month before the election.
The midnight fundraising deadline is important to building momentum and to garnering national attention and national support for Segall in AL-03. Yes, I'm talking about the DCCC who spent millions on Parker Griffith and Bobby Bright last year that, in hindsight, would have been better invested in Josh's race. Hopefully, we won't see a repeat of that this cycle. Segall's campaign really is working like it's already 2010 and, if their event in Huntsville is any indication, people are excited about his candidacy and digging deep to help him beat his goals and beat Mike Rogers in 2010. Josh can win, but he needs our help to do it.
September 30 is the end of the fundraising quarter for federal candidates and, of course, everyone wants to report healthy numbers. To this end campaigns often cite the filing deadline in an attempt to motivate supporters to give one more time or give for the first time. This time they aren't alone. Artur Davis is also using the Sept. 30 deadline to encourage contributions even though he's running for Governor in 2010, not Congress.
It's a smart move that reminds supporters time is passing and takes advantage of end end of quarter "bandwagon" effect fairly prevalent in the online political community. This email is from Senior Advisor Jessica Vanden Berg:
I hope you'll help us finish September on a strong fundraising note -- and position our campaign for success heading into October, November, December and then on to 2010. Can you help?
Over the last three months, Artur has been working night and day to reach out to Alabama voters. ...
And as you know, we did it all without relying on all the usual Montgomery insiders and power players. To support these efforts, we rely on you, and so we're setting an ambitious grassroots fundraising goal of $25,000 by the end of the quarter, September 30th.
Even though he's not subject to the reporting requirements of the FEC (so the end or quarter deadline is irrelevant) Davis is using the proximity of Sept. 30 to push small donors to contribute. Their goal is to raise $25 K from small donors. In a really nice touch, they even include an Alabama shaped "bat" to show how much they've raised so far.
(More and Better Democrats! Josh is one! Send him some love... - promoted by herding old cats)
Dropped by a fundraiser for Josh Segall tonight - our endorsed candidate in AL-03. Josh nearly beat do-nothing Mike Rogers in 2008. Unfortunately, I had to leave early to get to another appointment and did not get to stay and record his speech.
Josh is raising money all over the state this week. Monday in Anniston. Last night and tonight in Birmingham. Tomorrow in Huntsville. He's working hard to help us get rid of Rogers.
Michele Bachman made some McCarthy sounding comments on MSNBC the other night and it propelled her opponent Elwyn Tinklenberg to raise record money through Act Blue. In fact Tinklenberg has now raised $268k and rising through Act Blue and most have that has come over the weekend.
Well we think we've found the next Incumbent, Mike Rogers, whose scare tactics should cause us all to be fearful. And we haven't had to look that far.
Rogers released attack ads on Friday equating opponent Joshua Segall as being a liberal because of his father's client and being named to the DCCC Red to Blue list. And he's the one accusing Segall of running a negative campaign. He's going on a Bachman like witch-hunt and he needs to be stopped.
This has just gone too far. We need your help in Alabama where we can win this race.
(ActBlue is a little slow right now -- must be all those last minute donations -- so be patient or go directly to the candidate's website to donate. - promoted by mooncat)
This is your last, best chance to leverage a donation to your favorite candidate or candidates. How? By giving before midnight tonight. See, everything you give before the quarter ends at midnight shows up on the FEC filing, showing all and sundry what great support that candidate has, thereby encouraging other folks to give him or her even more in the last weeks before the November 4 election. So, don't wait to make that contribution, 'cause the third quarter turns into a pumpkin in just a few hours.
May I suggest a contribution to one or more of the following Alabama candidates?
Of course, there's always the Obama/Biden campaign which will be needing a ton of money over the next 5 weeks.
The fact that Jay Love (AL-02) and Wayne Parker (AL-05) invited George W. Bush to host a fundraiser for them provides a measure of just how hard up for cash Alabama Republicans are this year.
There is an invisible man in the 2008 election: the president of the United States.
Republican candidates have all but shunned him, save those who need him to help raise money. And to the extent any president can keep a low profile, George W. Bush is doing it.
Saddled with one of the lowest approval ratings in polling history, the president is still in demand to shake the party money tree, though almost all of that is done out of the public eye.
Even next door in Mississippi, the Republican Senate candidate -- in a very close race -- declined to appear with Bush:
``Senator Wicker is running his own race,'' campaign spokesman Ryan Annison said.
Bush did attend a fundraiser for Wicker this summer that brought in $1 million; the men, though, didn't appear together in public, Annison said.
So, Parker and Love are desperate enough to invite Bush down for a fundraiser in Huntsville. Now Bush has stood them up and they'll get Deadeye Dick Cheney instead.
The White House announced late Wednesday night that President Bush is canceling a planned trip to Huntsville today in order to stay in Washington and consult with his economic advisers.
Bush also had planned to attend a Republican fundraiser and tour a waste facility here. Vice President Dick Cheney will attend the Huntsville fundraiser.
Do you suppose they'll offer a refund to people who pledged $10,000 for a picture with the President but will now find themselves standing next to Cheney -- who may or may not even show up in the pictures?
In Alabama's 5th District, Republican Wayne Parker seems a bit confused as to who he's running against. His latest ad gives Howard Dean and Nancy Pelosi more attention than his actual opponent, Dr. Parker Griffith. Barack Obama even gets a mention -- at least Obama will be on the ballot in Alabama, albeit for a higher office. With the corny music and choppy flow of this ad, I wonder if they're running it on television at all -- it feels more like a low budget internet-only spot.
Let me tell you why I don't think these types of ads are going to do the job this year for Peanut Parker -- or the many other Republicans busily running for Congress against Pelosi and Obama. From Rasmussen, Tuesday, July 08, 2008, Democrats Hold onto Solid Lead in Generic Congressional Ballot:
Democrats continue to lead Republicans by double-digits in the Rasmussen Reports generic congressional ballot. When given the choice, 47% of voters nationwide would vote for their district’s Democratic candidate, while 34% would choose their Republican candidate.
This is not 1996 (when Peanut Parker last ran for Congress) or even 2004 when Howard Dean was seeking the presidency. Voters have more confidence in Democrats than in Republicans right now, just as they did in 2006 when the GOP lost 31 House seats. If all they know about a candidate is that he's a Democrat, that's a positive thing for him. Perhaps Dr. Griffith should send Peanut Parker a note of thanks for reminding voters that he's a Democrat, because voters like Democrats right now. Frankly, I'm grateful to Peanut for the reminder that Parker Griffith supported Howard Dean back in 2004 -- maybe he's a better Democrat than I thought he was.
A Birmingham News story by Jeff Hansen and Michael Tomberlin starts off with this information about Dick Cheney's recent visit:
Republican leaders said they raised $125,000 to $150,000 Friday with a luncheon at Shoal Creek Golf and Country Club where Vice President Dick Cheney was the special guest.
About 100 guests paid $500 each to attend, and several paid $2,000 per couple to have their photographs taken with the vice president, said Mike Hubbard, chairman of the state Republican Party.
Does that math work for you? 100 guests times $500 each equals $50,000. They only say that "several" paid $2000 per couple for the photo op. Several is a loose term, but I don't think it stretches to the 37 to 50 couples needed to make up the difference between that $50,000 and the "$125,000 to $150,000 raised."
I have another question about the amount raised. Assuming Cheney really did bring in $125,000, is that gross or net? Because there were some expenses, you know. Did Shoal Creek Country Club donate the space and the lunch? Surely the Republican Party had to pay for that out of the receipts. What about the Alabama state trooper escorting the motorcade or the Birmingham police and Jefferson County sheriff's deputies who blocked adjoining roads? What about the cost of feeding Blue Moon barbeque to the 75 people who remained on Cheney's plane while he was at the Country Club? In fact, what about the cost of flying Cheney and that huge entourage down here for a fundraiser?
That stuff isn't free and I hope we aren't going to be told that the taxpayers picked up the tab for all that. Cheney didn't conduct official government business while he was here -- this was a political fundraising trip and the taxpayers should not foot the bill.
A couple of weeks ago, President Bush dropped in for a fundraiser in Atlanta to benefit the campaign of Republican Rick Goddard. Goddard's campaign ended up paying a portion of the travel costs.
The flight to and from Georgia was the only trip on Bush's Tuesday agenda, which prompted Marshall, Goddard's opponent, to suggest that his Republican opponent pick up the entire cost of the presidential visit.
Vice President Dick Cheney flew to Macon for a Goddard fund-raiser last month. Douglas Moore, a spokesman for Marshall, said such visits cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"These things are wrong. Rick knows it. This is a character issue," Moore said.
Baker said the Goddard campaign will write a check for $40,000 to the Republican National Committee, which will use that money to reimburse the federal government.
"We're in full compliance with federal law that's been in place for 30 or more years," Baker said.
Congressional hopeful Rick Goddard's campaign shows a $15,000 payment to the Republican National Committee to help pay for the trip, which undoubtedly cost much more than that.
...
Federal regulations require that a campaign pay the equivalent of a first-class airline ticket for each campaign traveler on a flight - meaning people deemed to be traveling with the president or vice president for a political reason and not an official one.
...
The Government Accountability Office, which investigates federal spending on behalf of Congress, studied the presidential and vice presidential travel for a 2000 report that focused on the cost of foreign travel. That remains the latest GAO report on the issue, according to a GAO spokeswoman in Washington. The study put the cost of operating C-32 jet airplanes like the one Cheney flew on to Macon last month at about $14,000 an hour, in 1999 dollars.
That doesn't include the federal government's security costs, the cost of getting the vice president's limousine to a location or the local security costs.
Aaron Schock's campaign also paid travel expenses when Bush visited Peoria on his behalf last month. The total amount was not revealed.
Is the Alabama Republican Party reimbursing taxpayers -- both federal and local -- for the expense of bringing Cheney to Birmingham for a fundraiser? Has anyone asked them to do so or is it just assumed that because it's Alabama, no one minds?
Alaska Senator Ted Stevens (R-Bridge to Nowhere), who famously informed us all that the Internet is "not a truck" ("it's a series of tubes"), was so good at shaking down big mules with his Northern Lights PAC that he piled up more sleaze-bucks than he could spend on his own campaigns.
So when you have excess money, what do you do? Why, invest it, of course! Invest in fellow legislators, to make sure they vote the "right way". And of course, once you're into them for a few large, they owe you, and it's just so easy to come back to the sugar daddy every election. So the hook is set - corruption is a matter of habit, isn't it.*
Guess What? (come across the fold to find out What)
In an email to the General Mukasey at US Dept. of Justice, Arnebeck said “We have been confidentially informed by a source we believe to be credible that Karl Rove has threatened Michael Connell, a principal witness we have identified in our King Lincoln case in federal court in Columbus, Ohio, that if he does not agree to "take the fall" for election fraud in Ohio, his wife Heather will be prosecuted for supposed lobby law violations. This appears to be in response to our designation of Rove as the principal perpetrator in the Ohio Corrupt Practices Act/RICO claim with respect to which we issued document hold notices last Thursday to you and to the US Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform.”
The small group were acting under Iowa law that states private citizens have a responsibility to arrest someone if they believe a felony has been committed. That person is then turned over to police officials and a judge for formal indictment. Under the law a federal judge must evaluate the charges and decide if an indictment should be made.
Saturday's 32nd annual Statemen's Dinner is scheduled for the Nashville Convention Center with the theme "Taking the Hill," the state GOP's longstanding goal of winning a majority of the state Legislature. Ticket prices range from $200 per person up to $5,000 per couple, which includes a private "VIP Reception" with Rove.
... It has traditionally been open to media coverage, the previous four state GOP chairmen dating to 1995 said Thursday - contradicting current party spokesman Bill Hobbs' assertion that it has traditionally been closed to reporters.
5) And Karl has also been in Missouri, fundraising for and advising GOP Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder who is involved in yet another Republican sex scandal:
Peter Kinder, the incumbent, got caught up in a sex scandal when his Chief of Staff was arrested for having pornographic conversations with a cop he thought was a thirteen year-old girl. The police report is nauseating. Kinder drew himself into the fray by declaring, 3 hours after the arrest, that an investigation had determined state computers weren't used, and the criminal conversations took place during "comp time".
Bad enough? Yes, but there's more . . .
It turns out that people at the Chief of Staff level do not receive comp time, and computer experts are pointing out that forensic investigations of computers cannot be conducted in three hours.
... Kinder has the ability to release the emails and quell the scandal. Sam Page, the Democrat running against him, has called upon him to do just that, but Kinder has refused.
Instead, he's bringing in Karl Rove today, to speak at a $2700/plate fundraiser, and, presumably, offer some off-stage advice in how to juggle multiple scandals.
7) This is the reception Rove got at a Virginia Beach fundraiser for yet another Republican House candidate. Do the GOoPers really think it's worth the bad press to invite this guy to their district?
8) And of course Rove is involved in the presidential race, informallyadvising John McCain's campaign and potentially acting as a go-between with so-called independent groups like Freedom's Watch. Which is skirting the rules, but that's nothing new for Rove.
Mr. 18% himself is speaking at an August 1st fundraiser in Birmingham for Jeff Sessions and Alabama Republican House candidates. Realistically, I expect most of the loot Cheney raises will go to Jay Love, Mike Rogers and Wayne Parker since they are in the toughest races this year.
Even in Alabama, how many people are prepared to fork over $500 for lunch with Cheney or $2000 for a photo with him? Notice how Republican chairman Mike Hubbard is busily lowering expectations for the event:
"We appreciate the vice president's willingness to come to Alabama," Hubbard said.
...
He said he expected a good turnout despite the administration's poor approval ratings in other parts of the country.
"Most Alabamians respect what the administration is doing," he said. "It is not going to be a huge crowd, but it is not designed to be."
They're downplaying the amount Cheney will bring in, but any money at all flowing to those Republican candidates is too much. We need more and better Democrats in office, not more Cheney style Republicans. What can we do to turn this visit into a net negative for the Republican party?
How about something like Washington bloggers and the netroots did when George Bush held a fundraiser for Darcy Burner's opponent? They started a Burn Bush for Burner campaign and raised over $100,000 for Darcy Burner. That's the sort of response that would make the party think twice about sending Cheney back to Alabama for money. There aren't that many places Cheney can go anymore and we ought to make them cross Alabama off his list, too -- read this reaction to a Brooklyn fundraiser:
Political experts told The Brooklyn Paper that Fossella risked little by having the unpopular Cheney stump for him in Manhattan’s Gucci Gulch. After all, one consultant told us, voters have short memories.
But voters have it in their power to prove that adage wrong.
This November, one factor in choosing a candidate should be remembering who his friends are.
What do y'all think of the idea? We have a great progressive, populist Democrat in Josh Segall who might benefit from a Chap Cheney kind of an effort.
On the same topic, will Birmingham end up with a multi-thousand dollar security bill for Deadeye Dick, as happened in this city a few weeks ago?
There's a certain type of Republican who can be counted on to accuse his opponent of whatever he is guilty of himself. It's an "offense is the best defense" sort of misdirection that the Bush crowd has turned into a fine art. It works as long as the media just parrots their talking points, but get a reporter checking facts and the story falls apart.
That's exactly what happened to AL-05 Republican nominee Wayne Parker Wednesday. Wasting no time after wrapping up his parties nomination, he attacked Dr. Parker Griffith by accusing him of having too many out of state contributors. He got specific, saying "49% of his contributors are from out of state."
Fortunately, WHNT's Amber Stuart decided to do a little research, talking to Griffith and actually checking the contributors listed in each candidates campaign finance reports before filing her story.
What does Parker Griffith have to say about this?
"I had 579 individual contributors, I had 85 PAC contributors, but of the 579 individuals who contributed to me I think 35 were from out of state. So it's untrue what he's saying. But it's a classic pattern of Wayne Parker who has contributed absolutely nothing to this community. And has nothing to talk about what he wants to do is distract the voters," said Parker Griffith.
We wanted to know which, if either, candidate is correct. So, we checked. We went to the Federal Election Commission's web site to see the information firsthand. Following the money, we tracked money coming into both campaigns from out of state sources.
Amber: You have out of state donors too.
Parker: Yea, yea, yea.
Amber: From Singapore, Texas, Florida, and Virginia several out of state donors as a matter of fact a few more than Parker Griffith. It's kind of hard for you to make that statement.
I scanned the contributor lists, too and Ms. Stuart is right. Griffith has too many donors for me to tally them up tonight, but I only found about 30 from outside Alabama -- nowhere near 49%, and probably less than 10%, so Parker's initial claim was just plain false. Wayne Parker didn't bother to actually look at the factual information before he made a false accusation. It's a darn good thing reporters like Amber Stuart at WHNT are around to call BS on lies like this. If they get caught often enough, maybe they'll quit making stuff up.
Now that we know who the Congressional candidates are in Alabama, let's take a look at the money aspect. Fundraising for the first quarter of 2008 is summarized here. Second quarter numbers have just been reported:
There's no question that Alabama Democrats are doing a good job of raising money this cycle, and th ey're hanging onto it for the general election, too. Except for AL-03, where incumbent Rogers amassed most of his money early in the cycle (even this quarter, almost $100K of his receipts were from PACs), Democrats enjoy a significant cash on hand advantage over Republicans.
Can Jay Love continue to loan himself money at the rate he did in the primary? Or will Terry Everett open up his piggy bank for Jay as Harri Anne Smith's supporters thought he would on her behalf? Can Terry Everett do a campaign-to-campaign transfer like that? Would he?
OK, you can still give tomorrow, but it won't help a progressive candidate nearly as much as a contribution today. That's because today is June 30, the end of the fundraising quarter and the total given by midnight tonight is what will show up on FEC reports. Not only do candidates get favorable media when their fundraising looks good, other people look at the quarterly totals before deciding whether to get behind a candidate.
When I say "other people" I mean the investor class of political donor. That would be PACs, political committees like the DCCC and big donors who want to be sure they're backing the winner. The next quarterly report will be released in mid October -- too late for new backers to do much good -- so this is the all important data that will determine which candidates are doing well enough to win additional support.
There is a handy form to make a secure, online contribution through ActBlue over on the left -- just enter an amount in the box and click "Contribute." Look at this as an investment in better government -- better for We the People to fund candidates than leave it up to the Fat Cats.
In particular, Josh Segall in AL-03 is trying to meet a fundraising goal to make the DCCC's Red to Blue list. As of this morning, he's close, but still a little short.
Vivian Figures is also facing a well-heeled incumbent in Jeff Sessions and needs our support.
Although they haven't asked me lately, I'm sure Parker Griffith in AL-05 and Bobby Bright in AL-02 are also working hard to meet fundraising goals. The national Republican party will spend every penny they can scrape up to win those districts, so Griffith and Bright are looking at very expensive races.
Anything you can contribute today will be leverage these candidates can use to convince others to give in the coming weeks or months, so now is the time to give whatever you can. Five, ten or twenty dollars makes a difference. If you abhor the influence big money has on our government, it is in your power to change it. Get behind a candidate who will change the culture in Washington, then give and encourage everyone you know to do the same, AND DO IT TODAY!
Barack Obama did two great things for the Democratic Party today. He kept Howard Dean as head of the DNC and he pledged that the DNC will no longer take money from PACs and federal lobbyists.
"Senator Obama appreciates the hard work that Chairman Dean has done to grow our party at the grass-roots level and looks forward to working with him as the chairman of the Democratic Party as we go forward," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said.
Barack Obama, today at a town hall meeting in Bristol, Virginia.
Throughout my career, in Illinois and the United States Senate, I've worked to reduce the power of special interests and the power of lobbyists. I've sent a strong signal in this campaign by refusing to take contributions from federal registered lobbyists and from PACs.
And today, today as the Democratic nominee for president, I am announcing that going forward, the Democratic National Committee will uphold the same standard — we will not take a dime from Washington lobbyists or special interest PACs.
We are going to change how Washington works. They will not fund my party. They will not run our White House and they will not drown out the voice of the American people when I'm President of the United States of America.
I couldn't be happier that Obama has asked Howard Dean to stay and pulled up the welcome mat for special interest money. Obama has run a 50 state primary campaign and today's development signals that the party will continue Dean's "election by election, state by state, precinct by precinct, door by door, vote by vote" strategy to "take this country back for the people who built it." And we're not doing it with money from federal lobbyists and PACs. This is not the DLC's Democratic Party -- and this grassroots Democrat is thrilled to death to hear it.
More bad news for Republicans running for Congress. They are super worried about the MS-01 special election, they have very little money, GOP fundraising is toast, Newt Gingrich says voters are deciding "Not you" and Tom Cole admits that America "isn't an idealogically conservative nation." Wow! How long before they have to put bowls of Prozac on the table for the Republican Caucus meetings?
I apologize for the cut and paste nature of this post, but the material is just too good to rework. See it below the fold.
Our best bet to elect more and better Democrats from Alabama is 
September 30 is the end of the fundraising quarter for federal candidates and, of course, everyone wants to report healthy numbers. To this end campaigns often cite the filing deadline in an attempt to motivate supporters to give one more time or give for the first time. This time they aren't alone. Artur Davis is also using the Sept. 30 deadline to encourage contributions even though he's running for Governor in 2010, not Congress. 
