BlogPAC - Waging Politics Online

Blue to Bluer: Taking On Sheldon Silver

Chris Bowers — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:56:46 -0400

Today, BlogPac is thrilled to announce our first endorsement in the Blue to Bluer campaign: Paul Newell for New York State Assembly. Newell is running against New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver in the Democratic primary, which will take place on September, so we will have a lot of time to grow familiar with Paul, and work on this campaign. You can visit Paul's website here.

Throughout Blue to Bluer, BlogPac will be relying on local bloggers for their insight. In the case of this campaign, here is the nomination I received from Phillip Anderson of The Albany Project:

From Blue To Bluer

Chris Bowers — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 16:18:51 -0400

Every two years, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) releases it's "red to blue" list of top challengers for Republican-held U.S. House seats.

Five years ago, starting with his Presidential campaign and continuing with his tenure as DNC chair, Howard Dean introduced the idea of a "fifty state strategy" to the Democratic Party. The basic premise of the fifty-state strategy is that in order to truly revitalize the party Democrats needed to organize everywhere in the country, no matter how red or how blue a district may be, and not just in a select few "swing district" districts.

Victory On CNN Delegate Coverage!

Chris Bowers — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:28:50 -0500

Last night, CNN’s John King had the following to say about media reports of delegate counts:

"I think the best thing for us to do as analysts going forward is take the super delegates out of the equation for a moment. They might matter hugely at the end. But over the next several days and weeks, just look at pledged delegates, because that is what the elder statesmen of the Democratic Party will be looking at. And he is beginning to open up a lead there."

Now, on the front page of CNN’s Election Center website, for the first time pledged delegate totals are shown separately from the overall delegate totals. Victory! Thanks CNN! Most of all, thank you BlogPac members, since all of this is almost precisely how 655 of you requested that CNN report delegate counts back on Friday. It might seem small, but winning is still fun. Sign up for BlogPac’s email list at Blogpac.com, and join in the fun.

Ask CNN to be Honest About Superdelegates

Chris Bowers — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 15:47:14 -0500

Regardless of who you support in the race for President, in a race as important as this one for the Democratic nomination, the media owes us a fair and accurate reporting of vote totals, including delegate totals. It's highly likely that unelected superdelegates will end up choosing the Democratic Party nominee, so how they are treated in media coverage is especially sensitive.

It's important that media outlets distinguish between pledged delegates, who are chosen by voters and caucus goers, and so-called superdelegates, who are unelected and independent. A pledged delegate is someone representing voters and caucus-goers and they will vote for the candidate for whom they were elected to vote. A super delegate can make their own decision, and change their mind. John Lewis just did so today, changing his vote (but not his endorsement) from Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama.

Congratulations, Donna Edwards!

Matt Stoller — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:53:20 -0500

Blogpac-supported candidate Donna Edwards defeated Congressman Al Wynn in Maryland's fourth Congressional district on February 12, due to an unprecedented collaborative effort between the netroots and the progressive movement.

Congratulations everyone!

And The Winners Are…

Chris Bowers — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 21:01:42 -0400

Contribute to BlogPac Now, and Build Progressive Infrastructure

Five weeks ago, BlogPac put out a call to "find the five best new, grassroots progressive infrastructure projects in America, and provide those projects with the money, exposure, and connections necessary to get off the ground." Originally, I had scheduled the announcement of the winners for the contest on Thursday, August 2nd. However, due to the sheer volume of submissions, over 100, and to the high quality of many of those submissions, it took us a much longer time to reach a decision than I had originally envisioned.

Announcement Coming Tomorrow

Chris Bowers — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 20:46:22 -0400

I just wanted to let everyone know that the BlogPac Infrastructure Contest selection process is virtually finished, and the announcement post is virtually written. While I had promised an announcement of the winners today, I have to wait to tie down a few remaining loose ends, including final legal approval for all of the grants the judges have selected. Until that comes, and two other loose ends are tied down, I am unable to make the public announcement. But, at this point, we are 99.9% done. I expect to make the announcement tomorrow before noon. This is entirely my fault, and I apologize for the delay. I have a tendency to sign on for more work than I can finish on deadlines that I have promised, and this is another case of that happening.

Entrepreneur Contest Announcement

Chris Bowers — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 15:12:55 -0400

Due to the volume of excellent submissions we received (over 100!), combined with the timing of Yearly Kos, it has been necessary to move the announcement of the winners of the entrepreneur contest back to Tuesday, August 14th. I sincerely apologize for this delay, and I promise it will not happen again. I also want to state how excited I am, and all of the judges are, about this project, and about the great ideas I have seen as a result. I hope to find funding for more than just five, and to work to make this project a regular event over the long-term. The wealth of ideas and energy in the p

BlogPac Progressive Entrepreneur Contest: Five For Under $5K

Chris Bowers — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 13:08:54 -0400

For the past year, as part of our ongoing effort to support the progressive blogosphere and movement, BlogPac has delivered over four-dozen targeted, no-strings-attached grants to progressive activists, organizations, campaigns, and media outlets around the country. Now, we would like to both expand and open up our grant making process, and give your progressive movement building idea a chance to receive one of our grants. As such, today BlogPac is launching a nationwide contest to find the five best new, grassroots progressive infrastructure projects in America, and provide those projects with the money, exposure, and connections necessary to get off the ground.

BlogPac Entrepreneur Contest: Rules and How To Enter

Chris Bowers — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 12:44:08 -0400

Rules And How To Enter In The Extended Entry