While I was out...

ONE MILLION, NINE-HUNDRED NINETY-TWO THOUSAND PLUS SOME! I don't do math well, but that's pretty fracking close to TWO MILLION! Sorry about the yelling; I'm in despair for Obama's chances. That can't possibly stack up to McCain's celebrity power!

This diary is in reaction to the diary about former Democrat Joe Lieberman giving more money to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) than most Democratic Senators. It's also a try to get another "use it or lose it" campaign going.

All numbers below the fold.

UPDATE 8/13/2008:

When I looked through all the numbers I was surprised that several Senators did not have a PAC. I now learned that Sen. Schumer does have a PAC (Impact). For some reason it's not listed on Open Secret's Chuck Schumer page. His PAC has contributed to the DSCC and individual Senate candidates. I've updated the numbers below.

Sen. John McCain's campaign is returning about $50,000 raised by a Florida oil executive because some of the funds were collected by a foreign national and came from donors who may not support the candidate, aides said yesterday.

John McCain himself said it best:

It was seemingly inevitable that new and disturbing questions would arise about the McCain campaign's contribution bundling by Florida Finance co-chairman Harry Sargeant.

Previously reported hereby SusanG was the initial Washington Post story on Sargeant's large and intriguing bundled donations to the McCain campaign.

Then this morning's New York Times follow up reported here by smash artist.

Now, two additional questions have arisen regarding the fundraising activities of Mr. Sargeant and his business partner and bundling coordinator Abu Naba'a.

more after the fold....

I think I see something that is going to be in the mainstream media soon:

On the one hand, TPM's been reporting on suspicious bundling by Hess Oil to McCain just before and after McCain announced all sorts of goodies for them. Similarly the Washington Post now reports what look to be similarly suspicious bundling bundling by a former intelligence officer with connections in the Arab world and to Oil companies.

However, meanwhile, over at (ugh) Atlas Shrugged and (ugh) WorldNetDaily there has been starting around August 4th an expose about suspicious donations to Obama by some Palestinians living in the Gaza, that is being circulated in the right wing blogosphere, but so far as I can tell not yet by the mainstream media.

Alas, according to my quick research over at the FEC website and searchable databse, this appears to be true.

While I was browsing through my emails on this somewhat sleepy Saturday morning, I came across one from Congressman Wexler that I want to share with you.

But first, a word about Representative Wexler. He fits into the "better" category when we talk about electing "more and better Democrats" --  and we can't afford to lose him. He's one of the very few Democrats in Congress pushing to hold Bush's criminal administration accountable, and he's been using some of his re-election funds to operate his national impeachment campaign against Cheney, Bush, et al. And in general, he's been a strong, passionate voice on progressive issues. We can't afford to lose him.

From an email I just got from David Plouffe. 200,000 donations in the last week!

About an hour ago, I recorded a short video message on my laptop to thank you for your recent support.

I want to make sure you know how much of an impact you've made over the past two weeks, and exactly how you've strengthened this campaign.

You can watch the video here:

I don't give to presidential candidates.  I give to Congressional candidates.  And not just any Congressional candidates.  Nosir.  I don't have the kind of money I'd need to give to all the candidates I want to support.  I am one of those people who gets buffeted by the harsh winds of the economy.  When the economy goes down, it gets harder for me to keep my store open and my employees employed.  And when you're thinking about life in those terms, you get to be tight with your money, and you want your money to have the greatest effect possible.  So.  Where I stick my money is in State Houses and State Senate races where the balance of power is one Democratic vote away, and the cost of media is generally radio and yard signs.

Sometimes, I throw some money at people like Gary Trauner, who, I think, would benefit from the pittance I can afford to give, because Wyoming's media is so cheap.  Or where I perceive the race will be so close that ten extra yard signs might just make the difference between a D and an R.

Today is the last day of the month, and the last chance to show continued strong monthly fundraising numbers for the Obama campaign.  Obama needs to demonstrate that his decision to opt out of public financing was the correct one, and to keep pace with the tons of cash the RNC and McGramps will have to run a negative/ racist campaign.

Donate

Update: It seems that Politico got this story wrong. The actual article.

I'll leave this part up - the point of the diary anyway - so you can make a Friday contribution of you like. [end update]

We should donate to Obama's campaign and ignore them.

Just donate.

Donate.

And donate.

The End.

P.S. I started with a little $25 just now.

    I've always been interested in politics even though my careers have led me in other directions.  One of the claims that caught my interest long ago is that the broadcast media treats liberal candidates differently than conservative candidates.  This supposed media bias didn't wash with me because media policy is made at the top of the corporate ladder, not by the reporters.            

There are almost 170,000 members of DKos now. Aside from a small number of idiot trolls sent by the McBush campaign, they are mostly strong Democrats. What I want to know is this: given this site's incredible technical prowess, is it possible to mass email ALL of us at once? If so, I have a proposition. If we could get the members of DKos to give an AVERAGE of $20 a month to the Obama campaign for 4 months, that amounts to a contribution of $13,200,000 to help our man become #44. Here are my thoughts.

Today Kos wrote a diary about how he decided not to endorse Obama to the hilt and why it doesn't matter.

He says it doesn't matter, and that others will "pick up the slack."

This would seem to undermine the whole premise of getting people involved as volunteers, organizers and contributors, and also, to vote.

I'll share the experience of why one of my friends doesn't vote, today.  I'll say exactly what he said, and show that it maps perfectly to Kos' "Why I aint contributed and it's okay" post.

After staying completely financially independent of any primary POTUS candidate, I finally started giving to our Democratic nominee Barack Obama.

That being said as many of you know me here I believe in my heart that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are both great Americans and Democrats...

We are at a crossroads as a progressive movement, and what we do now will determine our relevancy for the foreseeable future. It may also determine our country’s future.

Last week, the majority of this community was on the verge of immolating itself on the altar of "party unity" and accepting the FISA capitulation without a fight. But Feingold's maneuverings on the Senate floor have given us a little over a week’s reprieve. A week’s time to make it CRYSTAL CLEAR that the Fourth Amendment and the Constitution are OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE to us and that eviscerating  is not just "one issue" that we can live with. It is THE ISSUE. And we need to tell Democrats everywhere, especially Obama, that it is a non-negotiable item. And this should be our SOLE FOCUS between now and the time the Senate reconvenes after the July Fourth holiday.

Typically I only write diaries when I think I have something profound to say.  (As opposed to when I actually do have something profound to say ... but if I held out for that, I'd only write once every six months or so.)

But thinking is hard, dammit. And it is Friday afternoon, and I do not like thinking hard on Friday afternoon. So no deep thoughts today.  My turn for a cheap "Let's give Obama more money" diary. So here goes...

T-shirts!  Get yer Obama T-shirts here!

I've already written in one comment that I'm very disenchanted right now.  Somehow, we're still in Iraq, don't have universal healthcare, don't have stem cell funding.  We're seeing pushes for offshore drilling.  And this week, our party assumed the position when it comes to FISA.

What was even more infuriating is to see candidates that many candidates heavily supported the grassroots and the Netroots (both in the more limited sense that includes the page DailyKos, Swing State Project, etc collaborate on. and the broader sense to include all of the liberal websites such as Democracy for America and MoveON).  It's both heartbreaking and infuriating to see people like Patrick Murphy, Kirsten Gillibrand, Nancy Boyda, Jim Webb, and Jerry McNerney, people we thought would be the vanguard of the coming progressive era, vote they way they do, with the likes of Murphy and Gillibrand joining the Blue Dogs!

I'm a bit of a newbie when it comes to political horseraces; this is the first election cycle I've been following with a magnifying glass. I'm endlessly fascinated with the very different ways Obama and McCain are going about their campaigns.

Obama tends to veer towards populism, hiring extremely smart people who might not be best of friends but definitely know their stuff. We all know this, we're betting the next four years on this extraordinary guy.

But he's extraordinary for another reason; he's forgone public campaign financing. This, coupled with his reliance on small donors, makes him different in that for the first time, "We, The People" seem to have been given the purse strings for his entire campaign.