Congressional Candidate To Launch Money Bomb
I got this in my inbox today from the Reichel campaign. Green Congressional (IL-5) candidate Matt Reichel is planning a “money bomb” which was used very successfully by Ron Paul back in the 2008 presidential election. Good idea! Please consider donating to the Reichel campaign!
For Immediate Release!
Reichel for Congress Launches Money Bomb; Predicts Over $10,000 One Day Rake
The Committee to Elect Matt Reichel to Congress has launched a “Money Bomb” for September 30th. The “Money Bomb” fundraiser idea, popularized by Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, involves recruiting supporters to pledge to donate online on a specific date in the future.
The Reichel campaign has chosen September 30th so as to coincide with the end of the 3rd accounting quarter. If the campaign tops $5,000 in fundraising by that date, Reichel will have to file with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC).
Prior to launching the “bomb,” the campaign “tested the waters” for a week, by asking previous supporters if they would pledge in this fundraiser.
On the success of this preliminary period, Reichel says: “I asked roughly 50 of our best supporters, and have already attracted well over $1,000. As we begin to really promote this pledge drive and attract contributions from progressives throughout the country, I expect that we will raise well into five-digit territory. We will quickly be entering uncharted terrain for a Green Party congressional candidate.”
Since Green Party candidates are required to refuse all corporate campaign contributions, they are at a significant fundraising disadvantage compared to mainstream candidates.
According to Reichel, “We don’t need to match Quigley buck for buck, because we are going to knock on every door in the district and let the people of this city know that we are the solution to the two corporate controlled parties.”
Supporters can sign up for the pledge drive on Reichel’s Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/event.php?eid=246317155586), or by filling out a volunteer form on the website (http://www.mattreichel.us/volunteer.php).
The Reichel campaign will display a pledge progress bar on the website as 9/30 draws closer.
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After Reichel’s 2009 special election campaign, he was quick to criticize the Illinois Green Party for not providing financial and organizational support to his campaign.
“Upon securing the Green Party nomination on March 3rd and declaring that voters were now faced with a decision to “Go Green or Go Machine,” the party offered me absolutely zilch to run an effective campaign. While the rank and file helped the best they could, the party gave me not one dime and were reluctant to provide organizational support…”
http://www.greenpartywatch.org/2009/07/15/matt-reichel-announces-second-run-for-congress-in-illinois/
At the time these comments were made it seemed to me that Reichel had little understanding (didn’t do his homework) of the finances (minimal) and level of organization of the state party.
While other material Reichel posted to his website during the 2009 campaign remains the harsh words towards the Green Party have been expunged now that he is asking for campaign donations.
With this in mind I can’t help but wonder if Reichel will have similar complaints in 2010 if he is unable to raise the level of campaign $$$$ he has established as his goal ($10,000 in one day for starters) .
Mike,
I think those are valid concerns. I too was very pissed off to see Matt unfairly bash the party and expect too much from the state party given the rules (ILGP bylaws state that a max of $500 can be donated to any campaign from the state party).
In his defense I felt there was some sort of rapprochement between the state party and the Reichel campaign at the recent ILGP state membership meeting. The body recognized him as a ILGP candidate after all (although I don’t recall his past harsh criticisms being mentioned during the recognition process).
He is a very good candidate that identifies with the 10 Key Values so I am happy and I support him personally. That aside though, yes Mike, those are valid concerns.
The rank and file is the Green Party. Any thing coming from the Party organization would have originally come from the rank and file. Unlike the Republicrats we don’t have Party Bosses calling the shots. I am a green in Michigan and I sent Matt a contribution last go round and recently as well. It is because of the Green Party that I did so.
Of course Ron Paul had a money bomb, but did Cynthia McKinney ever had one in her campaign for president?
No she tried to raise $5000 in qualifying contributions from at least 20 different states to qualify for FEC matching funds.
Money bombs are a great leap forward for grassroots fundraising. We Greens should encourage more candidates to make use of this technique.
If Cynthia McKinney’s campaign had wanted to make use of internet fundraising and the money bomb tactic, I think they probably could have made the matching funds target in a single 24-hour period.