Targeted Political Donations

by Pa Rock
Political Activist


As campaigning gets more expensive with each passing day, political candidates of all parties step up their appeals for donations.  Republicans know better than to ask me for cash, but I still get the occasional letter to my deceased father asking for cash to help finance some GPO nitwit.  But the Democrats shamelessly ask me for cash, with multiple appeals coming from some candidates daily.

And I do support some individual candidates, ones that I suspect can win or whose message I find particularly appealing.  What I do not do anymore is to support the general  money collection efforts set up by Democrats in Congress.  The Senate Democrats have their Democratic Senate Campaign Committee (DSCC), and the house has its counterpart, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC).  I quit donating to those two groups this year because of their strong tendency to support incumbents - including some who need to be out of Congress.  (Senator Blanche Lincoln, I'm looking at you!)

That's not to say that I don't read the deluge of emails sent by the DSCC and the DCCC.  I am always interested in learning more about which candidates need and deserve support.   There are some very good Democratic candidates out there who may make it into Congress this year.  Joe Sestak, a Congressman and retired Admiral, has a good chance to take Arlen Specter's old senate seat in Pennsylvania.  Scott McAdams chances look better and better in the Alaska senate race, and Robin Carnahan of Missouri has an excellent chance of ridding Congress of Roy Blunt.  And there are more good Democrats out there with actual chances of winning - unlike Blanche Lincoln.)

It's going to be a tough year, and it is important that good candidates have the resources to get their messages out and correct the falsehoods loosed by their opponents.  I'll send my money where I think it will do the most good, and I won't waste it on people like the Democrats who stood in the way of medical and financial reform.  It's called targeted spending, and its what people do when times are tough.