Over at Horses Ass, blogger David Goldstein gives his take on the importance of ActBlue. It’s a spot on analysis both of what ActBlue does and why it matters.
Emphasis Mine:
When people talk about the progressive “netroots” the first thing
that comes to mind are the plethora of local and national blogs that
have grown to challenge the legacy media’s diminishing control over the
political narrative. But in fact it is much, much more than that, and one of the most exciting and important netroots developments of the past few years has been the growth of ActBlue,
an online fundraising clearinghouse that is beginning to enable the
financial power of the people to challenge the entrenched power of
corporate America.
The US Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that money is speech, and
in that context, the special interests of the ultra-wealthy have long
spoken louder than the interests of the average Joe, but by
democratizing fundraising, introducing efficiencies and creating new
grassroots opportunities that flip the traditional top-down model on
its head, ActBlue has begun a process that could eventually free
candidates from the financial stranglehold of corporate sponsors. The
fact is that money, and the media it buys, be it television, radio,
direct mail or other, is the primary means by which candidates
communicate their message to voters; no realistically achievable amount
of doorbelling or coffee klatches can win a congressional district on
its own, and no candidate can be expected to compete for votes without
securing at least a somewhat level financial playing field. ActBlue
provides a tool that doesn’t just enable progressive campaigns to tap
into the aggregate resources of the public at large, it enables the
people to organize ourselves in support of the candidates we prefer, as
opposed to merely those candidates the political establishment would
prefer we be limited to choose from.
Most of us can’t afford to max out to candidates. What we can do is
come together and maximize the impact of contributions to a campaign. ActBlue exists to give you that power. We’re a resource for you.
