Eric Massa NY29: People-Powered Politics vs. the Fat Cats

[trillian]

Cross posted from dKos, where Eric is live blogging right now.

Senator Obama’s recent fundraising success shows the potential for presidential candidates to rely on a lot of smaller individual donors rather than only the monied interests that currently have undue influence in the political process. I believe any of the Democratic candidates for President in 2008 would be better than the current president or any of the Republican candidates, but I do take Senator Obama’s fundraising as a hopeful sign for people-powered politics. And I agree with Markos (link) that it is better to build a movement and focus on people than to constantly ask for money and constantly treat donors like an ATM. But, as Senator Obama and/or his staff pointed out to Markos, even those who focus on people have to talk about fundraising sometimes.

The Importance of People-Powered Politics

This is what people are asking for and this is what the corporate interests have achieved under President Bush:

Economic conditions for workers are deteriorating so dramatically in the new American economy that an overwhelming majority, nearly 70 percent, now say that basic security - not opportunity - is their number one concern, according to a new survey released today. The finding is a stunning reflection of the anxiety, anger and demand for action rising in Working America in the global economy. Among the other key results of the poll of 800 non-supervisory workers:
• Nearly 80 percent of workers, both college and non-college alike, no longer believe the next generation will be better off. Nearly half think their children will be worse
• Nearly 80 percent of workers view multinational corporations as too powerful, and have driven down wages, eliminated health care and retirement security, and disregarded labor laws.
• Nearly 70 percent of workers feel that government doesn't take action to rein in greedy and unethical behavior by corporations and CEOs.

Bringing People Power to NY 29: Round 1

I made up my mind to be a people-powered candidate from the very start. Two years ago, I steadfastly refused to accept a single penny in corporate PAC money. While many were debating the concept of doing something about cleaning up campaign finance, I decided to take a terrible risk and actually do something about it. The political reality is that this decision cost me the support of most of the institutional money that Democrats usually come to rely on. Member of Congress after Member of Congress told me I had made a tremendous mistake. All of this was captured and documented in the Discovery Times channel 90 minute documentary “Taking the Hill.”

While I was doing a people-powered campaign, my opponent received some 70% of his money from corporate PACs. My opponent opted to just not campaign – instead he earned the title of the most improved golf game for a Member of Congress. He traveled overseas – even to Iraq for 16 hours where he declared that the “country was at peace” and that our troops were gaining weight eating lobster. He spent his time in the back seat of George Bush’s limo as they drove around the District selling privatization of social security and Medicare Part D.

Round 2: People Power will win

Today, I need to bring it back to the reality of running for Congress. I need your help again. In the face of the requirement of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to raise $300,000 by 30 June, I need your help to make this race a national focus for reinforcing the New Majority in Congress. Remember our new Majority in congress accomplished more in the first 100 hours of deliberations than the Republicans had managed to make happen in the previous 100 months. I believe in and strongly support Clean Campaigns and Clean Candidates legislation that is currently enacted in states like Maine and Arizona. We need to take that concept and apply it to all elections in this country. It is the only way to return democracy to the people of the United States.

The last time, with a lot of help from small donors, I came very close to winning. The netroots came through in a big way for us during the last cycle with near $500,000 (Is this the right total?) in total contributions. In the end we raised over 1.5 million dollars and went on to do something that few campaigns have ever done – a challenging Democrat out-raised a Republican incumbent. It was only the tidal wave of hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee that dumped hundreds of false negative TV ads on the air that swayed some 5% of the voters and we dropped from being up six points to being down by one – where the election concluded. And sad to say, the DCCC and DNC despite their money dumps around the country did not do anything to oppose the negative ads and robocalls. (???)

This time I need to follow the same tactic except I need to start sooner. Most of that fundraising success came in the second and third quarter of 2006. If I get an earlier start I will be able to focus more on meeting voters at the end and will be better prepared if negative advertising money is dumped into my district as it was the last time.

We did it before. We can do it again. We can do even better than before by starting sooner, knowing the political realities.

My first hero, in the dim past of my 12th Birthday, was John Paul Jones who published a recruiting broad sheet that said:

"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me." -- John Paul Jones

Well time and tide have not dimmed the call. It has broadened it to include all Americans and not just “young men” – to the benefit of us all (and there is still work to do there with the abolishment of “don’t ask don’t tell”). But, my mission is no less urgent or critical today. Our current Administration and their rubber stamps in Congress have taken us into the darkness of failure after failure after failures compounded by incompetence, ineptitude and corruption.

Today I am launching our fund raising efforts. All last week I sat on the phone calling those who had backed our team last year. I talked about the criticality of early money both to united the Party, clear the field, obtain National party support and do the work that has to be done by a challenger to maintain name recognition and to open a dialogue with the voters. We have a goal the measure of $300,000 by 30 June. This is a decision not for me alone but rather for those who desire to see a seat in Congress represent what is right for America and not demanded by the Corporate boardrooms. Idealism can triumph over cynicism, corruption and false negative attack TV advertising and go hand in hand with realism. Sign on and sail with me.

It’s time to hold them accountable, it’s time to stand again and after the pummeling of a 1% loss cross the finish line and reinforce our majority in Congress. With your help I will be a Member of Congress who leads and who refuses to follow blindly.