MyDD :: Use It Or Lose It Indeed. $833,599.60

Use It Or Lose It Indeed. $833,599.60

by lipris, Fri Nov 03, 2006 at 12:19:06 AM EST

$833,599.60 That's how much cash the New York DSCC has on hand as of their last filing. It's 5 days out from a once in a generation cycle and they are sitting on close to million freakin' bucks. The scuttlebutt I hear is that they are saving money for the next cycle. No, really. You read that right. They are hoarding for the future.

Some background and why this is pissing me off so freaking much is in order.

I'm up here in the Hudson Valley busting ass for a fantastic State Senate candidate, Brian Keeler, our very own NYBri. We are running a totally people powered campaign. We have a paid staff of...

...none. We get a bigger bang for the buck than just about any campaign in the country.LarryInNYC recently referred to us thusly:

NYBri's campaign is the 50 state strategy.

Jump the dots for more...

We've done much online outreach and people from across the district and from across the nation have responded. At the beginning of the race, we were told we be total rock stars if we could raise $40K. As of today we've raised just under $100K. The last challenger for our opponent, a 26 year republican incumbent, raised $4K.

And we've been the most frugal stewards of that money, too. I made our TV spots for about 8 bucks. They're not bad either and we're saturating the district for the last two weeks with 'em.

And they're working, too. Brian has to introduce himself less and less these days.

What is bothering me so much is that we've had so many repeat donors. We've had people from all over the country give and give and give. We love to read the messages attached to the checks and PayPal contributions. They're what keep us going many days.

And now I read that our state DSCC is sitting on over $800K days out from the best chance they've had to take back the state senate in 40 fucking years?, that they are hoarding that money for the next cycle, the one without names like Spitzer, Clinton and Cuomo at the top of the ticket? Seriously. WTF?

If I were a contributor to the NY DSCC, I'd be furious! The stated aim of the NY DSCC is to elect democrats to the New York State Senate and yet we haven't seen a dime from them. They dropped some cash in a few races a couple of days ago, much too late to, ya know, actually help all that much.

So, here's what I want to know. If the NY DSCC exists for the sole purpose of electing dems to the SS, and they are sitting on close to a million bucks in the last week of the cycle for the ages, why does anyone donate to them in the first place? Do their donors have any idea that the money they gave the DSCC to elect dems to the SS isn't being much used for that purpose?

Why do they exist at all?

If there's any silver lining here, it's that we're gonna win this sucker despite the NY DSCC. We're gonna win this thing despite many of the entities and individuals that one would presume exist to make such victories happen. When Brian takes the oath, he doesn't owe anyone other than the constituents of the 41st District a flippin' thing.

What makes this so special to me is that this really is a special campaign. Brian isn't some pol that is "hip" to the blogsosphere/netrroots community, he's not some guy that stops by and talks to us, he's one of us who just happened to decide to roll up the sleeves and run for office. Recruiting from our own community and running/financing our own candidates is a pretty big deal in my book. It changes everything and sometimes I daydream about a whole freakin' slew of such candidates.

That day gets closer every minute.

For some more on what we're doing up here, check out my dKos series on our campaign:

Illustrated: What a People Powered Kossack Campaign Actually Looks Like

Inside NYBri HQ: Wherein I Save Our Ad Buy With a Paperclip and a Salad Fork. (New TV Ads!)

Inside Keeler HQ: Big Dog Edition! Plus Brian Sings! (Video!)

Inside NYBri HQ: Debate Video Edition Plus More Photos!

Inside NYBri HQ: Kossacks Hit Streets Edition!

Inside NYBri HQ: Spitzer, Ninjas, Hall Not Oates Edition!

Oh, and those $8 ads? Take a look:

Poll

Votes: 2
Results : Vote Link : Polls

Tags: New York State Senate, Brian Keeler, NYBri, New York State DSCC, NYS-41 (all tags)

Permalink :: 6 Comments :: Post a Comment

Re: Use It Or Lose It Indeed. $833,599.60 (3.00 / 0)

if you think that the NY DSCC is doing a heckuva job, why not let them know personally?

Democratic Senate Campaign Committee
107 Washington Ave., 2nd Floor
Albany, NY 12210

T: 518 462-2867
F: 518 462-1082

hat tip to MrMacMan for pointing out that i was doing a heckuva job by not including such info.

it's time: the albany project

by lipris on Fri Nov 03, 2006 at 03:49:58 AM EST

Re: Use It Or Lose It Indeed. $833,599.60 (3.00 / 1)

lipris understates the importance of this election. I live in NY State for about 12 years. The Makority Leader in the State Semate and the Speaker in the state Assembly are absolute rulers. legislators do only one important thing: vote of the leader. As for the rest, everything is negotiated in secret. The State senate has been gerrymandered to be an absolute lock for the GOP. The State Assembly is an absolute lock for the Democrats. The Governor nrgotiates everything one-on-one with the leader from the other party (in Spitzer's case it would be the State Senate) on the basis of equals.

Frank Bruno was installed as the State Senate Majority Leader in a coup by George Pataki twelve years ago. Pataki has been able to "get things done" by merely buying off the State Assembly speaker and treating Bruno as his lap dog. If memory serves me right (and I haven't lived in NY for ten years), Spitzer needs to win five State Senate seats to change this culture of corruption. One of the seats was stolen, barely and should be available (although the hospital workers union is running radio ads for the Republican). Several in the City have been targeted by Mayor Bloomberg. NY City does not make all the normal decisions that any city makes. the State under "home rule" provisions has lots of vetoes. NY State Senate heads have made a habit of screwing NY City. Then there are seats like NY Bri.

Even if Democrats win four or five House seats in this year's election, a Senate Majority Leader would take them back in redistricting. The deck was pretty much stacked for this decade but there are so few Republicans these days that most of the nine GOP seats are vulnerable in a tsunami. I would expect that NY would lose two seats and the "new" format would be 20 Democrats and 7 Republicans.

People actually talk about winning the State Senate back next time. There is no next time in NY State politics. This truly is a once in a lifetime chance.

by David Kowalski on Fri Nov 03, 2006 at 08:16:12 AM EST

Re: Use It Or Lose It Indeed. $833,599.60 (none / 0)

new york state really is run by "three men in a room" and our lege has been called the "most dysfunctional in the nation". there is a real opportunity to make some headway here, the best chance to take back the SS in 40 years, and these folks are sitting 800 large?

if i were to keep scratching my head at this pace, i'd be bald by dinner time.

and you're spot on about this:

There is no next time in NY State politics. This truly is a once in a lifetime chance.

there is no next cycle. the fact that those entrusted with making the most out of every cycle don't seem to get that makes me want to kick puppies.

and i like puppies.

it's time: the albany project

by lipris on Fri Nov 03, 2006 at 02:37:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Use It Or Lose It Indeed. $833,599.60 (3.00 / 1)

It's not clear to me that the NY DSCC actually does want to win the Senate. If all three of the men in that room were Democrats, they might actually be expected to do something about the state's problems instead of punting them down the road and racking up more debt. At least this way if things all go to crap they can still blame Joe Bruno.

by antidoto on Fri Nov 03, 2006 at 06:05:36 PM EST

Re: Use It Or Lose It Indeed. $833,599.60 (none / 0)

i really, really hate to say it, but that is the conclusion i myself have come to in the past few days.

it's time: the albany project

by lipris on Fri Nov 03, 2006 at 08:39:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Use It Or Lose It Indeed. $833,599.60 (none / 0)

it's time: the albany project

by lipris on Fri Nov 03, 2006 at 08:39:45 PM EST

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