The GOP needs to be crushed in 2020 so that a center-right party can arise from the ashes.
I regret not taking this stuff more seriously in 2016, but I am taking it very seriously now. And by serious I mean applying as much money as I can. The total amount I spent on politics in my entire life prior to 2016 was $0.
So the question is, where are the best and most effective places we can send money to help crush the GOP in 2020, absolutely in the presidency, but also across the board in every remotely competitive race?
So far I’ve got this:
donate to JD Scholten 2020 campaign (Iowa, vs the hideous Steve King)
donate to Amy McGrath 2020 campaign (Kentucky, vs the hideous Mitch McConnell)
also donate to Ditch Mitch Fund because seriously, fuck Mitch McConnell
I agree with that, although they’re making gestures in a leftward direction, which Dem establishment is doing its best to quell. That center-right assertion really stood out.
I’m attempting to influence family friends and neighbors by non-confrontationally stating my beliefs about policy questions, while trying to avoid framing it as us vs. them, D’s vs. R’s.
Any other suggestions of places we can send $ that will be effective in helping to crush the GOP in 2020? This is literally free money folks. Chime in.
Also, am I a bad person for praying that we have a giant recession during the election? I don’t feel this is a partisan thing; the president, whoever it is, always gets blamed for the current economic conditions even though the president has very little direct control over the economy.
Start locally. Support your local dem party via school board elections, city councils, county supervisors, state representatives. state senators etc…
Erode the GoP foundation in your state until it collapses.
I don’t think there’s much future for the Republican party in California already:
When asked how Republicans combat all these woes, and what they need to do to turn out their own voters, Issa got on an elevator and remained silent until the doors closed.
Just find tight senatorial races and contribute to the D. Maximum impact will be to wait until after the primaries, though. The DSCC usually has this information available (though don’t contribute to the DSCC, nor to the DCCC). I say “Senate” and not “House”, because that’s where we need the big win this year.
Tight races often involve a conservative Democrat, so you will need to be able to not worry about their ideology.
I usually “adopt” a district, Senate or House, outside my area and contribute strongly to a single candidate. For example, in 2005 Melissa Bean, a pretty conservative Democrat, had a slim chance to beat Phil Crane in the Illinois 8th. Crane was one of the worst people ever in the GOP, even by today’s standards; back in the 70s I had actively worked for a candidate against him in the 13th district. I didn’t like Bean, and had I lived in the district I would probably have supported one of her opponents in the primary, but thanks to contributions from individual donors like me the DCCC finally decided to risk some national money on her (despite the 8th being a “safe” R seat), and she won.
Incidentally, the 8th has been held by Democrats for all but 2 years since then, including by the person who coined the nickname “corporal bone spurs”.
I’m not sure who the “we” would be – the principals of this blog are usually pretty clear on candidates they support – but in any event the general elections are way off. It isn’t a bad time to get behind people for the primaries, if that’s what one wants to do, but the biggest impact for national policy is after the primaries, once candidates have been selected, and in any event I think the Democrats in a given district have the right to pick their local nominee for themselves. Outside money – whether it is from the DCCC or ActBlue – is often supporting an agenda which is uninformed w/r to the local needs.
(Last election @doctorow blogged about giving money to a candidate in my district. I understand that some of his rhetoric and positions made him attractive to someone from the outside, but he was someone I’ve known for years and who I wouldn’t trust to walk my dog; the donation kind of pissed me off.)
Primaries are also for Senate and House races. The race you linked in NC is a special election and the primary is past, so seems a reasonable place to donate. In the elections you linked earlier, Scholten seems to be running unopposed. I think there’s still time for a primary opponent to McGrath, though I doubt one will materialize.
It will be really hard to beat McConnell next year, in part because voters won’t want to lose the clout he has. The more likely way to reduce his power is to demote him to Minority Leader. However, it is always worth a shot, and McGrath seems like a strong candidate. If nothing else, it might force McConnell to publicly address issues he likes to duck.
Republican Dan Bishop pulled off a narrow victory in a closely-watched North Carolina special congressional election
…
Bishop is a critic of LGBTQ rights who once compared gay rights activists to the Taliban, and spearheaded North Carolina’s so-called “bathroom bill,” which banned transgender people from using public restrooms otherr than those designated for their biological sex as defined on their birth certificates.
I don’t know how true this is (does she really have a chance?) but given she’s up against the vile Mitch McConnell, please support her with $ if you can.
that we have a giant recession during the election? I don’t feel this is a partisan thing; the president, whoever it is, always gets blamed for the current economic conditions even though the president has very little direct control over the economy.
needs to lose everything he touches.
donate at 