An Unexpected Party

Could we turn the Red Sea blue?

Early money is like yeast: it helps to raise the dough. But late money—contributions in the final weeks of the campaign—can bring us across the finish line.

I know you’re getting besieged by pleas for fundraising right now. I’m on a first-name basis with my buddies Kamala and Tim, they text and e-mail me all the time. Barack and Michelle and Joe e-mail me a lot, too. So I know no one wants to hear about fundraising. But it’s a sad fact, the bottom line is the bottom line. Money wins.

For years, I used to contribute to campaigns to get rid of politicians that were unspeakably awful, like Elise Stefanik or Matt Gaetz. But they’re all but impossible to dislodge, so Indivisible and other progressive organizations have rightly urged us to concentrate on winnable races in flippable districts.

But such is the blue wave of enthusiasm for Harris and Walz—genuine enthusiasm that seems to be holding—that races that were thought to be impossible are now considered possible. Could there be a hope…just perhaps…that we could get rid of Ted Cruz?

A guy named Colin Allred is apparently running next and neck with the loathsome Cruz and has even squeaked out a percentage point ahead of him in one poll. Polls are notoriously unreliable, but taken overall they can indicate a potential shift.

So anyway, if you happen to have any spare cash lying around, here’s the link to donate to Colin Allred.

A friend of mine, who is brave enough to go knocking on doors in rural PA for Harris, tells me that “another key Senate race is Maryland's. The Republican, Larry Hogan, touts himself as a moderate but I'm confident he won't buck the party line when they need him.  Angela Alsobrooks is the Democratic candidate. Hogan is outspending her and she needs our support.”

The media are so focused on Harris vs Trump, the Presidential Battle, that it sucks all the oxygen out of the room. But the Congressional races are just as important. We few—we happy few—who are paying attention to the details in this endless election season, we need to look at the whole map. Our job is to spread hope—hope grounded in realism—that we could do it—we could win.

Oh, think of it—winning control of the House and the Senate, turning Congress Blue. As blue as the sea, as blue as the sky, as blue as sapphires and blueberries and bluebells. Now that would be something to party about.

Dear Friends,

Are you biting your nails about the election of 2024 and wondering what to do about it? I hope you’ll continue to check out The Optimistic Activist.

Every week I post some ideas for doing something. How to get out the vote, spread the word, and support progressive candidates. Ideas for simple but effective activism. As easy, as practical, as do-able as I can make them.

Together, I think, we could really make a difference.

                “Optimism is a strategy for making a better future.”

                                      --Noam Chomsky