From: Allen Hacker Sent: Friday, October 06, 2006 9:33 PM Subject: Allen's Update #3 (Links correction)
(Sorry guys: Had to fix the links - never copy-n-paste a typo!) Hello; This is Allen's Update #3. Please reference it that way in your responses and contributions. It's almost exactly a month until the election, and we are going strong. In fact, it's a good time to be a Libertarian. More in a moment. As always, to make this thing happen, we need that old bugaboo, money. To do the best I can to help you make the decision to up your contribution to Badnarik for Congress (and Smither for Congress), I'm going to format this update around the ten questions offered by Cathy Allen in an article adapted for 'Campaigns & Elections' magazine. Then I'll step up the frequency of these updates to weekly so you'll always know what's happening. _Questions People Ask When You Ask Them For Money_ --- 1. How is it that you expect to win? The political climate, and the facts of our particular race, are a perfect storm for us: - the media continues to expose the follies of the megaparty officeholders, and remind us every week that - congress' approval rating is less than 25%, OR, looked at from the other side, - congress' disapproval rating is almost 80%; - fully 60% of voters across the country are actively considering voting for any reasonable third-party alternative. That's any Libertarian candidate who shows up, looks acceptable, and sounds coherent. - Bob Smither is at 25% and in the lead in an informal straw poll of 100 random TX22 voters. - our Democrat has been caught on tape flip-flopping one of his most important (and outlandish) claims. - our Republican incumbent is Delay's "boy" and appears to have committed flagrant violations of the campaign finance laws. (No, we're not going to let it go unmentioned; he's a former US attorney and prosecuted people for lesser things.) There may be worse abuses than that. - Our own internal poll shows Michael at 31% as gauged by name recognition, and, - an online poll on FacePage put Michael at 71% among young people who know about us. Of course, that's the key: they have to know about us. Oh, and we have to get them out to vote. www.badnarik.org/donate.php<http://www.badnarik.org/donate.php> select Allen's Update #3 --- 2. How much money have you raised to date? We've raised over $395,000 so far. It should be much more by now. www.badnarik.org/donate.php<http://www.badnarik.org/donate.php> select Allen's Update #3 --- 3. How much will this campaign cost, and how do you expect to raise it? We expect to spend another $225,000 this month, on door hangers, targeted cable TV, radio and newspaper ads. We plan to do this in two stages. First, we need to raise another $75,000 from our existing contributor and inquiry base (this email update list). The people on this list gave over a million to Michael's presidential campaign just to get the Libertarian message out there; there's every reason to expect them to give at least half that much (why not TWICE as much?!) as that to elect Michael to congress. $25,000 of that will go to ongoing operations to maintain our infrastructure and continue outreach already in place: Michael going to fairs, events and forums, the RV as a rolling billboard, strategic road signs and billboards, the Smile Brigade.... Check the calendar and blog regularly for news on these. The remaining $50,000 will put doorhangers on 200,000 of the 223,000 voter households in our district, representing 87% of the voters, just as early voting begins. The doorhanger will be extra-large, devoting the top half of one side each to what's wrong with our opponents, the next one-quarter contrasting Michael as the Reasonable Alternative and Of-Course! vote, and the bottom 1/4 will be a contribution solicitation on one side and contact information on the other. With the doorhanger itself including a fundraising appeal, allowing that only one-half of the voters will look at it, and given that the Dem's poll showed us with a solid 7.6% will-vote base, 7.6% of 100,000 is 7600 contributions; at a minimum average of $20.00 each, the doorhanger will potentially raise a further $150,000 for a repeat doorhanger just before the actual lection, and the remaining items listed above. If we raise more, we'll spend it. (-: www.badnarik.org/donate.php<http://www.badnarik.org/donate.php> select Allen's Update #3 --- 4. Who's helping you? (Manager, consultant(s), staff?) Of course, I'm the campaign manager and chief bottle washer. Jon Airheart is assistant CM, taking care of video productions and keeping marketing moving. Emily is coordinating volunteers, Susan is preparing to be overwhelmed by 7200 contributions over the next 3 days, and we have three independent consultants for project-management assistance, Michael's Contract with the voters, and Media. --- 5. Can you delegate? This is always the tough one. Michael is a very strong personality and likes to be involved in every nut and bolt. After all, it is his campaign and name on the line. I am also obstinate, and there is a bit of strangeness because I never tell anyone everything I'm doing or have planned, not even Michael-- what no one knows, no one can accidentally reveal. But we've figured out how to make it all work, and the team is functioning far better than the usual herd of cats. Personally, I can delegate quite well. I learned a long time ago that a thing is better done by someone else! Michael can too, particularly when he's so busy he has no choice. www.badnarik.org/donate.php<http://www.badnarik.org/donate.php> select Allen's Update #3 --- 6. How much time are you spending on the phone? Primarily, this one's about the candidate in particular. Michael has spent as much as half of his time calling donors and potential supporters. It's difficult work, not only because some people just aren't able to be with us just now, but also because he has to leave a lot of messages and play phone tag a lot. Not much fun, that. It's also been complicated by the inter-party sabotage I mentioned last update: far too many people have felt the need to challenge Michael, myself and staff to explain things that were never happening. Rumors take a vicious toll on morale, and can cripple a campaign. For the biggest example, just look at how futile it has seemed for the campaign of the LP itself to preserve liberty. Fortunately, that's over now, with the primary perpetrator having publicly confessed to trying to destroy the campaign without cause and been disgraced on one of the major blogs. I really had to persevere to get it to that point, even over Michael's concern that I should back off rather than risk aggravating the situation. But all's well that ends well, and things have returned to normal with respect to that thing. No, I don't just mean that it's over in this campaign. We've demonstrated here just how destructive these abuses can be, and that they need not and must not be tolerated. There's a new day a-dawning for the LP and her candidates. Of course, the value of direct phone-calling to reach any but the largest potential donors has never been great, and before the internet, there wasn't much of a substitute for reaching the middle and regular donors. But now we have the web and email, and the blog and these updates. (Aren't you glad?!!!) www.badnarik.org/donate.php<http://www.badnarik.org/donate.php> select Allen's Update #3 --- 7. What are you going to do that's different from others who have run and failed? First, we're going to believe: we're running to win. This has ben true all along, even while we were being pushed down into the emotional dumps by the disloyal opposition's sabotage. So go forward and disregard anything you might have hear to the contrary, even if one of us said it during a moment of high stress and disappointment, because we are on track and going for it. Different? We're not running a paper campaign. We're not listening to nay-sayers. We're showing up. We're on the streets and in the opposition's faces, and we've only just begun. We spent 14 months building an infrastructure upon which we are poised to steamroll our opponents with more embarrassing truth than they can handle. We will reach and impress the voters, and show them that we are the reasonable alternative. Of course, this question has to be directed to each of you, out there in update-land: what must YOU do differently? You must contribute the funds we need. There just isn't any other way. www.badnarik.org/donate.php<http://www.badnarik.org/donate.php> select Allen's Update #3 --- 8. How many votes will it take you to win, and where will they come from? There are 470,000 voters in our district. In the 2004 presidential election, almost 232,000 actually voted. In an off-year, turnout is generally less than 80% of presidential; that would be 184,000 voters. Given that 42% of the vote has always been safe for the winner in a 3-way race, we need a minimum of 77,280 votes to ensure victory. The Republican base plus carry-ons is at best 18%. The Democrat's, at best is 24%. Our base is 8% per the Dem's polling. That's a total of 50%, leaving at least 50% of the voters in play. In a political environment with 60% of voters actively wishing for a reasonable third alternative, we only need 2/3rds of the in-play 50%, or our base of 8% plus 34% of the total vote. Our safe total needed of 77,280 votes is fewer than 17% of the total votes possible. We will be reaching into every voter household in the two population centers of our district, northeastern Austin and western metropolitan Houston. These are 87% of the voters and 200,000 households. That reach will be two doorhangers backed up by targeted cable TV and newspaper ads. Research has consistently shown for decades that where people know about the libertarians, our true base is 18-20%. We only need to reach, contact and motivate that true base among those who haven't heard of us at all, and we get far more votes than we need to win. www.badnarik.org/donate.php<http://www.badnarik.org/donate.php> select Allen's Update #3 --- 9. Are you going to campaign full-time? Have been for 14 months, not gonna stop now! www.badnarik.org/donate.php<http://www.badnarik.org/donate.php> select Allen's Update #3 --- 10. What's your message? Congress is corrupt, the country is in a squeeze between a two-party fraud controlled by socialist and fascist extremists, and Michael Badnarik, representing Mainstream America from the excluded middle, is the Reasonable Alternative. Michael will live the oath of office, preserving, protecting and defending the constitution and thus the nation, he will not be false to his moral standards, and he will keep his commitments. www.badnarik.org/donate.php<http://www.badnarik.org/donate.php> select Allen's Update #3 As you know, Michael has signed a Candidate's Employment Contract with the voters, which the voters may accept and make binding upon him by electing him. The voters we've told about it, love it. They wish every politician would do it, but of course, our opponents can't because they're boh already in violation of their word. Here's a closing message from Jeff Aldrich, the campaign consultant who developed the Candidate's Employment Contract" "Hello to you all, "I think you for your interest and support of Michael's campaign. These are truly historic times, and the Libertarian Party has never before had such a perfect environment within which to succeed. "Before I begin, forgive me for being bluntly truthful: given the political climate and the opportunity you and Michael have in this election, and given that the only way to lose this one is to do nothing-- if you've not helped already and you receive this email and take no action, you are part of the problem. "On the other hand, if you receive this email and take action, you are a revolutionary. Revolutions do not take place in a vacuum and it has been suggested by some that what follows might spark a second American Revolution. If it does, we'll all leave this place a bit better than we found it. "God knows we need to do something. And we believe this is the something we must do. We ask that you join us. Join us in the vision I wrote for my proposal of the Candidate's Employment Contract:" www.badnarik.org/donate.php<http://www.badnarik.org/donate.php> select Allen's Update #3 "Imagine an America" - by Jeffery D. Aldrich, American Political Theorist "Imagine, an America where politicians at all levels of government include in their campaigns for office a new social contract, a Candidate Employment Contract or CEC. A CEC includes a handful of action items candidates for elective office choose to offer voters all nicely wrapped around crystal clear language that says that if they fail to do these few items they will not seek re-election in the next election cycle. If there is a dispute as to whether or not an elected official performed all "action items" as put forth in their CEC, any direct constituent can launch a class action binding arbitration process to force an arbitration decision on that dispute. "Is this a fantasy?? Will politicians voluntarily hold themselves accountable? "Michael Badnarik has done exactly that in his Candidate Employment Contract and his campaign for the 10th Congressional District in Texas has the potential to impact every congressional district in the nation. "With Michael Badnarik elected to Congress on a Candidate Employment Contract ,we will have rocked all levels of government, including Congress, with an impact the likes of which have not been seen in America since the launch of the Civil War. "With your help right now we can begin to make this political accountability a reality in America. "The Democrats Call for Change but have no new ideas. The Republicans are imploding. Unity08 has formed in an attempt to do something, anything, to harness the demand for change from the American public. But much like the Reform Party, Unity08 and other attempts at change fail because the change offered is policy-based when *the problem is systemic*. "Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic is not a solution. "The opportunity before you to help elect Michael to Congress is not just about party, or even Michael himself it is about driving a shift in power from the powerful back into the hands of the people of this country: exactly where that power belongs. Even if you are not a Libertarian, this is your chance to truly spark change in our very broken political system. "Here is what you can do right now to help: "1. Chip in your twenty-five dollars or more We will use this money to blanket the district with door hangers to alert and move the voters, and raise money for targeted cable TV, radio and newspaper ads. www.badnarik.org/donate.php<http://www.badnarik.org/donate.php> select Allen's Update #3 "2. Forward this email to 10 or more in your email list Maybe 14,000 good people will receive this email directly. But we need to inform more Americans. Here's where you can really help. By forwarding this email to others in search of a better America, you'll help us reach our goal of reaching 1 million Americans in the next 3 days. Be sure to include a cc of your email to the campaign at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] - we want to keep an internal tally on how many people we reach with this email. "3. Call your best friend and ask him or her to contribute too. www.badnarik.org/donate.php<http://www.badnarik.org/donate.php> select Allen's Update #3 "Do you want to wake up the day after the election and ask yourself, 'If I only did a little bit more?' We sure don't. We're not asking you to go all the way to 'Give me Liberty or give me Death,' we're not asking you to put your life on the line; just a few dollars so we can get this message out. Which means we can focus more on winning than fundraising. Can you chip in $25 or more to help? Click below. "Pause for a moment, now, and think about the impact electing one Liberty-loving Statesman, Michael Badnarik, to Congress on a Candidate Employment Contract. "Think about the impact this one act can have on the entire country. Politics is about winning elections. If we muster enough strength (read money) to elect Michael, every politician and potential politician in the nation will be far more receptive to offering his or her constituents a Candidate Employment Contract. Truthfulness and honest commitment could suddenly be seen as necessary! "Every politician now in office considers themselves an 'employee of the people.' Howard Dean last month in a CNN interview said, '..the people are the boss.' "Really?? If we are, then where's our recourse? Where are the employment contracts for our employees?? "Dean's rhetoric on CNN is part and parcel of the problem much ado about nothing when there's no substance behind it. If Howard actually believed what he says, then he would embrace the systemic change Michael has proposed in his Candidate Employment Contract with the people of the 10th Congressional District in Texas. Perhaps we should ask for his support??? "If you are like me, I'm tired of empty rhetoric. It is my humble hope this email is spread like a virus across the Internet and reaches a million or more Americans. Why do this? Because all of us would like to leave this great nation a bit better than we found it for our children, and for ourselves. "Thanks for your time, energy and effort. And money!" --Jeffery D. Aldrich www.badnarik.org/donate.php<http://www.badnarik.org/donate.php> select Allen's Update #3 Okay, folks, there you have it. A winnable campaign with a very active and committed candidate, a full slate of consultants, specialists, researchers and staff, all the essence and infrastructure necessary to pull it off. We've built the engine, and all we need now is the financial fuel and a few more volunteers. So: you have your assignment for helping make it happen: contribute, mail this update to your friends, call your best friend. I'll let you know how well we did in next week's update. Do it now: www.badnarik.org/donate.php<http://www.badnarik.org/donate.php> select Allen's Update #3 -0- PS: This is a historic moment: the campaign, the Candidate's Employment Contract, the times that definitely are changing, and it's up to us, here, now, to ensure that the changes are good: "Imagine an America...." Help us get the word out now. Time is short. Contribute, forward this update, call your best friends. Thank you, and I'll see you next week. -Allen Allen Hacker http://ArticulateCampaigns.com Libertarianism: socially tolerant / fiscally responsible Clients: www.badnarik.org CompleteCampaigns.com 610 Gateway Center Way, Suite K San Diego, CA 92102 Powered by CompleteCampaigns.com<http://www.completecampaigns.com/> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ForumWebSiteAt http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Libertarian Yahoo! 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