So Here's To You, Edward Kennedy

For more than forty years, everyone who works in Massachusetts politics has done so in the shadow of  Senator Edward Kennedy and his passing will do little to change that. ActBlue in particular owes him a profound debt of gratitude. When many in the Democratic Party had yet to see the potential of ActBlue, Senator Kennedy offered us his support and became an early champion of our goals.

We were proud to call him our senator and humbled to have his blessing. Today, we celebrate his accomplishments and mourn his loss with the rest of the country.

Two More ActBlue Democrats to Run in November

Washington state's first top-two primary election was held yesterday, August 19, and ActBlue superstar Darcy Burner has offered further proof of her campaign's building momentum in the weeks leading to the November general elections.

Burner came within three points of Republican incumbent Dave Reichert in yesterday's primary, and left Reichert with fewer votes than were cast for the three Democratic candidates. Burner and Reichert will advance to the November round. (Washington State is one of few jurisdictions to offer what's called a 'top-two primary,' wherein the two candidates who receive the most votes will advance to the general, regardless of party affiliation.)

Burner has been one of ActBlue's most successful candidates, raising more than $420,000 this cycle from a whopping 11,300 donors. For more about Burner and the race, see our video blog post from last week. 

In Wyoming, Gary Trauner is officially the Democratic nominee for Congress. Trauner, a former elected official, has served as chair of his school board and on the Jackson Hole Land Trust. An accomplished entrepreneur, Trauner co-founded Cell Response Formulation and OneWest.net and served as Vice President of Teton Trust Company. Trauner, who has been using ActBlue since 2006, has raised more than $215,000 on ActBlue this cycle. He will stand against former State Treasurer Cynthia Lummis in November.

Congratulations to Darcy Burner, Gary Trauner, and their campaigns. And congratulations to all of you. Keep up the good work!

*ActBlue does not take sides in contested primaries, and does not endorse particular candidates for office.

Obama and Public Finance

ActBlue just released the following statement in response to the Obama campaign's decision to opt out of the public financing system.

Barack Obama announced this week that his presidential campaign would be opting out of the public financing system.

The decision has been met with considerable, and we think misguided, consternation in the press.

As delightful as it can be to note, and be noted for noting, apparent contradictions in the actions of public figures, we fear that the media are missing the broader point here: that in an era of extraordinarily complex politics, this most recent decision of the Obama campaign undergirds, rather than undercuts, the campaign's unwavering commitment to participatory democracy.

Public financing could work, in a closed system, and it may well be that such a system would carry certain advantages. But the system, as it exists, is not closed; funds from special interests often drown out public monies.

Recognizing this, the Obama campaign chose to opt out of public financing. The grand irony, of course, is that it would have been Obama's other, and far more virtuous, choices-the decision not to accept money from special interests and lobbyists, for instance-that would have placed him at a disadvantage relative to the Republican apparatus, which has not made similar commitments. Had Obama not opted out, Democrats would have suffered from the apparently virtuous constraints of the public financing system, gaining perhaps in public perception but losing ground to a Republican machine that carried in one hand the banner of campaign finance reform and in the other great wads of checks from lobbyists.

To accept public financing, in Obama's case, would have been to choose a strategy because it looked virtuous. But there is nothing virtuous about martyring a campaign for the passing glory of a good news cycle. There is glory in victory, and there is virtue in playing fair. We hope that the public sees this decision for what it is: a commitment to the idea that the financing of elections should be the province of the many, not of the few.

Jonathan Zucker
Executive Director

                                               

Democratic Fundraising on ActBlue Tops $50 Million

We hit a new record yesterday, and we're pretty excited. That's right: $50 million raised for Democrats since 2004. And we're just getting started.

Here's the release we just sent out, and a picture to mark the occasion.

DEMOCRATIC FUNDRAISING ON ACTBLUE TOPS $50 MILLION

CAMBRIDGE, MA, JUNE 10, 2008-- Democratic fundraising topped $50 million on ActBlue yesterday evening, signaling a surge in fundraising well beyond the presidential contest. The $50 million total represents contributions from more than 395,000 donors to more than 3000 candidates and committees, with a median contribution of $50.

Propelled by high numbers from, among others, Rick Noriega's Texas Senate campaign and Leslie Byrne's bid for a Virginia Congressional seat, ActBlue's totals also reflect records from some unlikely directions. In California's Third Senate District, all four Democratic primary challengers used ActBlue, raising more than $500,000 ahead of last week's primary. The victor in that contest, Mark Leno, raised more than $227,000 from 600 donors, an ActBlue record for a state race.

"Small dollar donations are the key to Democratic strength, because as we've seen with the Obama campaign, sustainability comes from being able to return to your base and ask for help when you need it," says ActBlue's executive director, Jonathan Zucker. "We're building that capacity for Democrats at every level. You don't have to be a national campaign to harness the power of small donors."

ActBlue's nearest Republican counterpart, Slatecard.com, has raised $350,000 since 2007. (For comparison, ActBlue raised more than $890,000 in its first six months of operation.)

The nation's largest source of funds for Democrats, ActBlue produces a set of tools that allow individuals and groups to raise money for the candidates and causes of their choice, tools that now power the fundraising operations of hundreds of campaigns, from the state house to the White House. Top fundraisers on ActBlue include groups from every part of the Democratic spectrum, from establishment Democrats and elected officials to insurgent Democratic candidates to networks of prominent bloggers.

Another great day.

Thanks from all of us. Keep up the good work!

                                       

ActBlue Obama Fundraisers in the LA Times

We've been extremely busy at ActBlue this week, as Democrats come together to support the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Barack Obama.

After Senator Obama reached the delegate numbers needed to clinch the nomination on Tuesday night, we sent an email encouraging ActBlue Democrats to show their support by creating a personal fundraising page for Obama.

Here is an excerpt of the email:

Now it's time for Democrats to come together and start working for victory in November. ActBlue wants to help you do your part.

Build a personal fundraising page and ask each of your friends and family members to contribute to the Obama campaign.
Build it right here. Ask right now.

Join the legions of Democrats who are ready to fight.
Become a fundraiser and create a fundraising page.

Less than 36 hours later, dozens of people have taken up the fight for the White House and started fundraising for Obama on ActBlue. This morning, the Los Angeles Times cited these new ActBlue pages as "a measure of [Obama's] power on the Internet." As ActBlue is a barometer for the strength of Obama's online support, we need you to get involved and prove that a united Democratic Party cannot and will not be defeated.

Keep the buzz going and build a page for our nominee, Barack Obama.

From all of us here at ActBlue, thanks.

One more special election. One more ActBlue Democrat in office.

Longtime Democratic activist and former state Senator Jackie Speier flies to Washington this morning after winning a special election yesterday to replace the late Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA). Speier took 78 percent of the vote in a field of five, and will represent California’s Twelfth Congressional District.

Speier will join two other ActBlue phenoms, Indiana’s Andre Carson and Bill Foster of Illinois, both elected in special elections in March, in the House after being sworn in on Thursday.

For anyone who doubts that special elections matter, or questions the need to fight for every seat, consider this: On the day that Bill Foster was sworn into office, replacing former GOP House Speaker Dennis Hastert, an ethics bill came up for a vote. Democrats eventually passed ethics reform legislation, but not without a struggle.

Before passage, House members had a chance to kill the bill without voting against it.

But the bill was kept alive by a single vote.

Foster’s.

This is why we fight, folks. Congratulations today to Jackie Speier, and to all of those who are working hard in every corner of the country for Democrats. We’re behind you all here at ActBlue.

ActBlue Stats Week: Tuesday

Raw Numbers System-Wide

Total Contributions
2007 Q4	$5,581,770.40
2008 Q1	$7,091,127.39
Lifetime	$42,351,009.00

The first quarter of 2008 represents 16.7% of lifetime contributions made to ActBlue since 2004. This percentage is a 1.5% increase from last quarter and sets ActBlue on a path to raise $100 million for Democrats by election day. 

Total Donors
2007 Q4	41,628
2008 Q1	54,918
Lifetime	357,341

The first quarter of 2008 represents 15.4% of all ActBlue donors since 2004, and an increase of 3.7% in donors from last quarter. As the number of donors skyrockets, we want the number of fundraising pages to soar as well.  You can help us reach our goal of adding 10,000 new fundraising pages by election day by starting your own fundraising page and reaching out to your personal network to raise money for Democrats.

Average Contribution size made to ActBlue
2007 Q4	$134.08
2008 Q1	$129.12
Lifetime	$118.42

The average contribution size for the first quarter of 2008 reflects a 4.1% decrease in the average contribution from last quarter.  This decline shows that individuals and organizations can create powerful fundraising networks using small donations, which is what ActBlue is all about.

WEEKLY STATS REPORT

The first quarter of the 2008 fundraising period brought exciting news for ActBlue, as we broke two records and watched surging numbers of pages, donors, and dollars. Even though this quarter falls right before tax day and the media has recently been claiming that Democrats are divided, these new records  prove that Democrats are enthusiastically behind Democratic candidates and organizations

FIRST RECORD: Most money raised in a single day
Just when we thought the quarter couldn’t get any better, ActBlue raised $799,827.60 on the last day of the quarter.  This is as much in a single day as ActBlue’s entire first year in operation.

SECOND RECORD: Most money raised in an election cycle
Raising $24 million from 54,918 donors, ActBlue also reached a new record for the amount of money raised in one election cycle. As the total number of ActBlue contributions hit $42,351,009 yesterday, this $24 million represents 57 percent of all contributions made to ActBlue.

Each day this week, we will break down one facet of the quarterly stats report.  By comparing the 2008 first quarter statistics with the previous quarter (Q4 2007) and ActBlue’s lifetime totals, you will see how far we’ve come, and what we need to hit our goals of raising $100 million for Democrats and adding 10,000 new fundraisers by election day. Here is the schedule:

Tuesday
Raw Numbers System-Wide

Wednesday
Top 10 Candidates by donors and dollars

Thursday
Top 10 Fundraising pages by donors and dollars

Friday
Top 10 Pages with Highest Percentage of Tippers

DEMOCRATS SURGING; FUNDRAISING ON ACTBLUE BREAKS TWO RECORDS

Democratic fundraising is surging across the board, as indicated by record-breaking EOQ totals at the Democratic fundraising hub ActBlue. Fundraising on the site reached an unprecedented $24 million from more than 199,069 donors*, contributing to an all-time total of more than $42.35 million.

ActBlue broke a second record yesterday, raising more in one day than ever before ($799,827.60), nearly as much in a single day as in its entire first year in operation, when the group first raised eyebrows in traditional Democratic fundraising circles.

ActBlue, the nation's largest source of funds for Democrats, produces a set of tools that allow individuals and groups to raise money for the candidates and causes of their choice, tools that now power the fundraising operations of hundreds of congressional and senatorial candidates and dozens of officeholders. In the four years since its inception, ActBlue users have outpaced MoveOn and EMILY's List in raising funds for Democrats, and bested Republican rivals by several orders of magnitude.

A list of top fundraisers on ActBlue and top recipients of ActBlue funds is below.

Top fundraisers on ActBlue include groups from every part of the Democratic spectrum, from establishment Democrats and elected officials to insurgent Democratic candidates to networks of prominent bloggers.        

• Major Democratic figures are leading fundraising efforts on ActBlue. Senator Dick Durbin's effort to support Bill Foster's Congressional bid in Illinois is online at https://secure.actblue.com/page/durbin4foster. Note Senator Durbin's use of an embedded video endorsement from Senator Obama.
• Two coalitions of major bloggers, including Blue Majority, a joint project of DailyKos, OpenLeft, and the Swing State Project established to support congressional candidates, raised funds for more than fifty Democrats from more than 4000 donors (https://secure.actblue.com/page/bluemajority). The other coalition, Blue America '08, unites bloggers from Firedoglake, Digby, Crooks & Liars, and DownWithTyranny at https://secure.actblue.com/page/blueamerica08.
• Two projects of Democracy for America, one supporting a slate of candidates and another supporting Oklahoma challenger Andrew Rice (https://secure.actblue.com/page/supported and https://secure.actblue.com/page/supportandrew)
• The "People's Email Network," which has long supported Dennis Kucinich, among others, raised from more individual donors than any other fundraising group on ActBlue this quarter.https://secure.actblue.com/page/thepen
• A FISA issue campaign led by Blue America to "fund accountability for congressmembers supporting retroactive immunity and warrantless wiretaps" raised nearly $48,000 this quarter from 814 people. https://secure.actblue.com/page/fisa
• Pages built to support Rick Noriega's Texas campaign and Donna Edwards' Maryland bid are in the top ten pages by donors and dollars. https://secure.actblue.com/page/ricknoriega

We'll be highlighting specifics in this week's Stats Week posts. Stay tuned!

*An earlier version of this post cited 55,000 donors. That's the number of donors this quarter, not this cycle. Our apologies!

Forty Million for Democrats!

More great news from ActBlue this morning. As of last night, ActBlue has raised more than forty million dollars for some 2,557 Democratic campaigns and committees across the United States.

A great day for us here, and a great day for ActBlue Democrats in all fifty states. Congratulations all around!