Pool it!

In the past two or three weeks I have received "emergency" requests for donations from perhaps half a dozen candidates. The candidates range from Congressman, to Senator, to President. I have given to each of them in the past (or at least I have blogged or in other ways opined on their behalf), and I am not a constituent (or potential constituent) of half of them.

The candidates include Tom Udall, Martin Heinrich, Dennis Kucinich, Robert Wexler, and Barack Obama. I don't remember for sure who all I've actually contributed money to in the past, but clearly they all consider me a donor for their current and future needs.

And if I had sufficient resources I would give more often and more freely (I discovered just a few days ago that I had inadvertently signed up for a monthly give-a-thon to the ACLU when I thought I was just donating once - I believe very strongly in the ACLU, so I didn't cancel this "generosity," but it cramps my style all that much more).

So I decided (at first) when I received this deluge of requests, that I would only give to actual candidates who would (if elected) represent me. That list includes Tom Udall, Martin Heinrich and of course, Barack Obama (sorry Dennis and Robert). But now I realize that I can only afford so much and even a continued commitment to these three is difficult. They're like a hungry baby! I understand the constant need to feed the campaign, but I just can't do it all.

We're house-hosting a gal working Obama's campaign in Albuquerque, and as of tonight, we've signed up to host yet another (a guy this time, I believe). That is a continued commitment, and I have no qualms claiming "campaign equity" for that generosity. But I do realize the realities here.

The realities are:

1) the smear ads being launched against all five of the candidates I listed above are in fact essentially the same. The claims made are untrue, or at best, a mockery of the truth. If you read/listen to the ads you get the idea really quickly that you can pretty much exchange the names of the candidate and state for different Democratic candidates, and end up with advertisements that are equally "effective," and

2) Democratic responses to these smear tactics spend probably too much time on the defensive. They obsess, as do the smear campaigns themselves, with the personal aspects of the candidates. And they treat these Rovian tactics as if each is an isolated incident.

So here is my idea: Pool your money. Let's make our Democratic responses count. A) Quit spending so much just trying to make essentially the same point over and over, only for different candidates and in different venues; B) find a common message about the health and common good of our candidates and spread it across the board; and C) find a common message about the depravity and common destruction embodied in the Republican party.

Hammer these messages home. Leave no stone unturned, but shout the same cohesive (and brutally honest) message as each stone is upended. Let's get a mantra going. You know, one of the brilliant strategies of Karl Rove is that mantra politics works, and that it's cheap! I wouldn't want to lie like these bastards do, but I want to shout the truth in ways that scare the bejeezus out of their party faithful.

Let's save our money and hit a home run! What do you say Tom and Martin? What do you think Barack? And how about you Dennis and Robert? We can make this an inclusive club if we all pool our resources.

All of you espouse changing our system. Let's start here.