For those who may not know, today is Blogosphere Day, which is a celebration of the political empowerment that the blogs and online activism have brought to the political process. This year's festivities revolve around ActBlue, which has been instrumental in the growth of political activism online, and represents a priceless tool in the progressive arsenal. Matt Stoller had a post up yesterday about Blogosphere Day, and he says it better than I could:The powerful principle behind ActBlue is that it is a neutral governance mechanism for the party. They keep the data clean, they keep your email address private, and they give every Democrat the same tools to use to organize. This isn't because they are 'official', but because their stuff is incredibly useful and trusted. It just works, dammit. This has the effect of empowering candidate organizers instead of just media stars, which is a naturally populist outcome and very healthy. ActBlue has only existed since 2004, and they pumped hundreds of thousands of contributions to thousands of candidates from hundreds of thousands of people. But they aren't nearly done. The service is on track to hit nine figures this cycle, and they are considering moving into event management to help empower campaigns and groups that can't afford or don't know how to do online logistics. They are moving to more states, educating more campaigns, and training legions of staffers and candidates and organizers how to make an ask, follow up, and collect the money honestly, ethically, and transparently. As part of today's festivities -- which you are all part of, whether you knew it or not -- I am asking that you consider doing three things:-- Donate to ActBlue. After helping to raise millions for Democratic candidates, it is often easy to forget that these folks have bills of their own. In an off-year election season such as right now, they need our support more than ever, so consider heading over to chip in a few bucks toward a better tomorrow. Donate Here.
-- Donate to a Blue Indiana. I recently registered an ActBlue page for Indiana's progressive blogosphere, and I would be thrilled if you chipped in a few bucks to get things started. I know we are a long way off from next year's elections, but now is the time in which infrastructure is built and the groundwork is put down so that a victory can be achieved. Don't see your favorite candidate? Leave a comment in this thread saying who you think should be on this list. Donate Here.
-- Listen to Joh! That's right, there is a special edition of Meet the Bloggers tonight, and Joh has pulled out all of the stops to bring in some big names for the event. Here's what he has in store for you all: My guests on the show thus far will include ActBlue President and Co Founder Ben Rahn to talk about Blogosphere Day and what ActBlue is doing this year, as well as blogger Bob Bigham to discuss the history of Blogosphere Day, Boedica from the Texas Kaos blog to talk about Rick Noriega, Siun from Firedoglake and more callers from all over.
I really want some Hoosiers to be involved as well to discuss our candidates, or by joining me in support of the Blue Indiana ActBlue page. All you need to do to participate is to call in between 7-8pm EDT to (718) 508-9856 to be connected to my show in the BlogTalkRadio system. You will hear the show live as you are on hold to be connected to the discussion. You can listen only at the host page for the show at http://blogtalkradio... which is also where you can subscribe to my podcast feed. A podcast is available a few minutes after every live show from that page, as well as from iTunes and other feed readers. If nothing else, consider registering with the site, and posting a diary or leaving a comment. It's quick, it's easy, and all the cool kids are doing it.
Happy Blogosphere Day! |
