Strangely enough, it was via the Roanoke County Democratic Committee's St. Patrick's fundraising party at our home last March - featuring the unintentional but now "legendary" conflict between Harris Miller and Mudcat Saunders - that the scope, importance and universality of RK was brought to my attention.

The morning after our party, I was working in my office when I received a phone call from another circuit court clerk in northern Virginia, kidding me about that incident while quite accurately describing it to me, much to my surprise. 

Puzzled, I asked him how he knew so much about what I thought had been an isolated incident at my home the previous day.  This fellow clerk gave me RK's website address, and the rest is history.

Since then, I have become well acquainted with a number of impressive individuals including no less than Jim Webb, his wife, Hong Le, and many of his campaign workers, all of whom have spent many hours here in our home while on the campaign trail in southwestern Virginia.  I give much credit to Raising Kaine for Jim's victory and for introducing me to so many interesting, knowledgeable, motivated people.

Regardless of whether you remain local or go national, please keep Raising Kaine.  Thanks again!

Steve McGraw

There is a huge distrust of blogs, fanned in large part by the so-called MSM.  So, we need to get more folks of kindred spirit logging in.  And get those logging in to spread the details of what we learn here.  It's doable and would really help rapid response in the face of disinformation by the "other side."

Besides an RK party around the time of the swearing-in of Senator-Elect James Webb, I think we should meet once or twice a year in real space, not just cyber space.

But we could also have polling for members and listservs for updating us.  AND, of course, there are those of us who can always use updating our compupter and web skills.  Maybe Kenton and some of the others could teach some of us some webpage techniques we have yet to master!!!

Is that really a choice for us to make, or just something you are thinking about doing?

Because, to be simple and clear, I'll kick your ass HARD if you throw in the towel.  That's all.  HUGE ass-kicking coming your way courtesy of not-so-phriendlyjaime.

You're welcome. :)

It's time for us to adapt Howard Dean's "50 State Strategy" into our own "140 District Strategy."  We need to take the fight to the Republicans everywhere: no safe seats this year.

I really appreciated learning of the Congressional races.  Having said that, the only thing I wonder about is whether or not there should be a sector dedicated to House and Senate races.  There are so many districts!  It could get unwieldy.
 

Let's start Monday.

There are already many blogs covering the national scene. We can certainly talk about national issues if and when we wish. 

-Fred

I would love to see policy discussion- research and debate on the bills that are drafted and who votes how as we go along. This would be informative and interesting, and I love the idea of a 140 seat strategy where we get people so interested in what is going on good qualified people might read up on the policy and their current reps and say- hey, I could do a better job of that.

Plus, you want this to be around for the 2008 national races- will Warner retire? If not, will he have real competition, given Webb's win? Will there be a serious netroots nomination for President coming out of Virginia, or someplace nearby?

In this neck of the woods the word has to get to us faster then the once a week Nelson County Times or the Charlotteville Daily Progress and the Lynchburg News and Advance. All Media General newspapers who are changing their letter to the editor policy after this election. We have done so well with letters to the editor they are trying to kill our voice. I for one am for boycotting, but that is a different story.

Yesterday, Mark , Kathy and I had a little social and I asked the same quest Lowell did. They both assumed RK had done such a great job that it would continue for years. And I assumed '07 would be the next step. Some how we need to organize a Virginia PAC to support ever candidate who runs next year. As of now, I know of 2 challengers stepping up to the plate. Could one of RK's goals be to find a candidate to challenge every Republican seat in VA. Isn't it Virginia's "Time For A Change" campaign, time to start. I will be rested and ready to start running January 2, 2007. In the mean time silently working for a new state legislature.

Three questions at Miller's, and one of them from Nelson chair, Janet Hunter, and another from you, Gordon.  You may want to contact Don to get a copy.

Now is the time to seize this opportunity and continue to build in the state, both on the General Assembly level and on our congressional representatives level.  The huge disappointment was that we failed to take back a single district even while states like Indiana were doing so! 

I'd also like to see more focus on the activity and direction that the state party is taking.  I feel they have been strangely quiet over the past year and I haven't seen their influence or involvement.  Not saying they haven't been active, just that I hadn't seen the activity.  No matter what anyone thinks of the national or state Democratic Parties, we need to work with them and from within to build and strengthen.  A strong and organized party can do some amazing things.

The next two elections are even more important than what has been started together here the last two years.... From what I have been told by the experts, those local and statewide offices elected in 2007 will have a lot of input into what happens during the next re-districting after the 2010 census and those elected in 2008 even more so....

RK has been the voice of sane solid information which typically has allowed all but the ugly troll style exchanges which EVERYBODY can do without. There are other sites for them to practice their art....

If this is a matter of money, lets do a real fundraiser for just RK.... I gotta believe the campaigns you have helped and those that expect to need you may all be willing to chip in.  I know myself and other participants will be there to at least some degree to help as well.

If this is a matter of issues such as the Byrne exchange if the last couple days, as irritating both ways as it was, it laid on the table something that had to said, rebutted, and buried NOW before it festers further. Personally I support the facts that Larry laid out and I say that as one who has contributed my time as much as most.  Thats not to say that we don't have some more rough edges to blunt and polish before next election season.

The blend of the best technology, the best overall writers/contributors, the friendships, and most of all the general TRUST in this site have proven to be an awesome vehicle against the general BS that has become the norm in politics. As much as I'm sure the A-Team would argue this, generally the topics and perspectives presented here on RK have been balanced.... maybe slanted to the Dems, but none the less always displaying the VALID issues the other side has to express as well.

In my personal opinion, there would be a great loss and massive hole to fill in the "Progressive Moderate Intelligent" dialog especially for Virginia centris subjects and campaigns. Lowell, Josh, Eric and the other initial founders of RK.... THANKYOU for me and especially my family all of whom are tax paying residents of this beautiful state. You Have Certainly Made A Difference and not many people can say that as much as you can.  That is not to take away from the efforts or continuous support by the other activists, but you broke new ground and channeled this new technology with amazing expertise. WE NEED RK !! and it really isn't just an addiction :)

Jim Southworth
Centreville Virginia.....

Plus, focusing on Virginia could provide bloggers with a forum that allows them to write about certain candidates for the House of Delegates or the State Senate. Although these discussions could obviously take place on individual blogs and the Daily Kos, I believe they would receive much more attention on a site such as RK. That obviously would help spread the word about the Democratic candidates in Virginia.

Plus Jim and Tim need our support more than ever right now, especially in the Virginia Assembly!  Let's go 2007!!!

I think the combination of a blog with steaming video is very effective, and that it offers a way to counteract "sound bite" politics.

I think it would be a big mistake to shut the blog down. 

We need to work on making Virginia permanently blue.  The House of Delegate elections are every two years, and we need to get rid of the GOP legislators who do not care about real problems like transportation, education, etc., and instead promote issues of divisiveness.  We need to defeat the truly bad guys like Lingamfelter, Marshall, Cuccinelli, etc.

And there are always other issues that come up -- growth is an ongoing one.  Metrorail expansion is another.

We can bring new ideas to the table.  I have been to several transportation fora (how 'bout that fancy word?) and people in the audience ask -- why can't the Vienna Metro be extended right to Manassas, and beyond, in the I-66 corridor?  I've not yet heard a good response from the transportation gurus.  (I'm just throwing this out as an example -- I have no idea how practical such an extension would be.)

Also, I think this is an intelligent blog -- unlike some others around.  It needs to be maintained.

And with KathyinBlacksburg and kestrel that's quite a few that get rural.  Maybe martha, nell and bubby can come, too.

Virginia State House elections - Get back to work.

Holding those we just elected to their word - Get back to work.

Read what the WaPo said about Jim in the Metro Section today - Get back to work.

Pelosi says Impeachment is "off the table" - Get back to work.

MSM Nattering Noboobs spinning the victory down the drain - Get back to work.

Where better to keep the momentum up and running than here?

Gene E. Magruder

  Like I said, there is not much need for deliberate change.

Its amazing that in the 21st Century, there is still a significant shortage of good newspapers in Virginia, especially in the rural areas. And, the ones that exist are controlled by people who have owned/operated them for decades. Raising Kaine helps fill a vaccuum in Virginia in sharing new ideas, new approaches and progressive ideals.

To me, it seems simple. Focus on the Virginia delegate races in 2007. Adopt Howard Dean's 50 state strategy to every district in Virginia. Use Act Blue as a means to identify and financially support Netroots Virginia delegate candidates. Finally, build on that same approach and the inevitable successes in 2007 to make Virginia go blue in 2008.

In fact, I nominate Raising Kaine's first target - Robert Marshall - the man who drafted Virginia's insidious Marriage Ammendment and for whom the ammendment is named. He has even labelled himself "Virginia's Chief Homophobe". This man represents District 13 - roughly northern Prince William County and southern Loudon County. He was elected about 15 years ago. As we all know, that area has changed dramatically in 15 years. In fact, it is probably the fastest growing region in the country. There is no way that Bob Marshall represents today's values in District 13. Its time for him to go. Raising Kaine can make it happen.

I think there are already blogs that fill the void on a national level.  But there isn't a comparable substitute for what RK has done (and is doing).  The Virginia-centric focus is what makes this blog valuable.

RaisingKaine should stay focused on the 2007 legislative races in Virginia. Part of the power of blogs is the ability to leverage support into key races. I, for example, live in Bob Brink's district in North Arlington, which is uber-safe. But if someone got me turned on to a race elsewhere, I might donate, and I might even drive out on election day 2007 to volunteer. RaisingKaine can serve to steer attention onto possible pickups in those races.

In 2008, however, we have a competitive Senate race (assuming John Warner retires as expected), and a presidential race. We learned a lot about driving turnout in 2006 with Jim Webb -- some of it worked well, some not so well. We need to think about using RaisingKaine to discuss what we can improve heading into 2008, and how to build the synergy between the 'Netroots' and the formal apparatus of the Democratic Party of Virginia.

Despite a desire to be portrayed as independent, Webb plans to become engaged with the state's Democratic Party. He said he plans to start helping Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) with his effort to elect more Democrats to the General Assembly next year.

"I want to do what I can to bring people back into the party," Webb said.

I think that we should continue applying all the experience and skills that we have gained in the last several years, and focusing on the 2007 races seems like a great way to do that.

That said, Lowell is not independently wealthy and frankly, he can't "stay the course" as we've become accustomed to experiencing it.

This is a community blog with a unique culture.  And it is up to us to keep it going by contributing, not just articles and comments, but also with financial contributions.  However small, they add up.

The problem is, Lowell, how do we make a financial contribution to RK so that we can keep this community going?  I don't see an online form anywhere on this site.

I strongly feel that RK should keep it's focus on Virginia based issues, there are many established national sites (especially dkos) that have established market share and, unless you are a Microsoft which can impose itself into an established market, one would simply be wasting capital and effort trying to compete there.

For the progressive movement in Virginia, there are tremendous long term benefits to maintaining this community. Part of the lessons we must learn from the right wing machine is to nurture these types of resources rather than recreating them each election cycle.

The only downside is that you may lose some visitors who aren't interested in local issues.  Maybe you could balance this out by not focusing exclusively on local races, but giving some time to national issues, or Virginia issues that could be national.

Making it solely national would just clog up the tubes that are the internet.

One of the main points we have discussed is that for us in Northern Virginia, we have virtually no idea of what is happening at the state level.  All we ever hear about are the national issues.

We plan on educating ourselves about what happens within the legislature. We want to have a blue Virginia.  Raising Kaine seems like a great resource for helping that goal. I've turned to it daily throughout the Webb campaign, and would hate to see it go away.

The bottom line is that if Democrats in Congress don't change the course in Washington in the next two years, we won't do so well in 2008.  So let's not let that happen.

1. Let's address the state-level elections for next year.
2. Let's look at a comprehensive plan for recruiting Mark Warner to run for Senate in 08.  This is going to require a LOT of work.  I am actively contacting the owners of ActBlue pages that raised $$ for Webb and asking them to break down dollar amount by STATE received for Jim Webb.  I want to fuse the idea of Dean's 50-state strategy, the traditional party infrastructure, and the support of the activist Netroots to build a compelling case.  We should absolutely be focused on this and do it soon.

Imo.

NY - $15 - 1 donor
VA - $35 - 3 donors
NJ - $35.02 - 2 donors (both Kos donors from a diary)

-Nate

I suggest Raising Kaine focus more on races like those for the House and local delegate races. RK tends to focus on the big races and I think it needs to take a broader statewide focus.

Will Reisinger

For example...

RaisingAmerica
RaisingAlaska
RaisingAlabama
Raising...

Perhaps a blog for each state is a bit aggressive - maybe not.  I'd like to be involved with a RaisingFlorida blog.  But definately a national blog would be great. 

The progressive movement is rather new.  I would like to see bloggers define what this movement really is - as bloggers are a better representation of America than the parties themselves are.  Many media outlets are defining us as left-wing radicals when in fact I believe we are more moderate.  Unless I am the one confused about what it means to be a progressive...

Let me start by saying I apologize to all other commentators, I have not read your comments, I'm currently working with some current and former campaign contacts to create a new PAC Next Generation Democrats, details coming soon we hope to file with the FEC within a few days.

But, my instinctive response is to say, keep going at the current trajectory.  Keep growing, and keep focused on Virginia.

There is no greater resource of information for Virginia Progressive/Democratic politics.

Perhaps add some new front pagers each with a specialization, but besides that RK is exactly what I think of when I think of a perfect blog.

Actually, I would like "tags" if soapblox allows it.

The reason is, I knew I could find out everything that was going on in the Webb campaign by coming to this site.

I think we need more regional blogs out there because it creates a strong community to actually affect change within a state/district.

But, there are national issues that affect states, so hopefully ya all will continue to use the cross posting diary technique.

In terms of the last point, I give Lowell a lot of credit for the way in which he has opened the front page up to a wide variety of contributors, unlike many other blogs.  This has helped us create a real team with a lot of people involved and invested -- a real democracy at the grass-roots level.

Absolutely RK should continue, primarily focused on Virginia.  With some real successes under our belts, we do need to think about how to build our community beyond the blog itself -- joining and influencing local Democratic committees, honing and employing a strong e-mail list, to make our voice heard; and becoming financially sustainable, so that Lowell doesn't have to sell pencils on the street.

I too would be delighted to host a party at my house to bring the RK community together to start building a face-to-face community to complement what we've been able to do on-line.

In my many years as a advocate for affordable housing, minimum wage and other social justice issues before Virginia's General Assembly,I think the most frustrating part is watching these legislators lie like crazy and never get challenged.

It would not be easy..what many people do not realize is how fast legislation gets passed in Virginia..the Legislature is a very short session (I believe it is six weeks this year). That means that things move VERY fast unlike Capitol Hill. One particulary egregious new rule last year allowed subcommittees to kill a bill with no recorded vote. Citizens have no idea why a bill was killed or as it is called in Richmond "Passed By Indefinitely (PBI)".

Governor Tim Kaine has been a longtime advocate of more open state government and has been a proponent of televising the General Assembly session. The Republicans always fight against these measure because they want to continue to operate largely in the shadows.

RK could be a very valuable public service to all of us but make no mistake it would be a hard job.

That would be my recommendation for January and February. After the session ends then RK can move on to all of the local elections and hopefully all of us will be more informed about the issues.

Lowell, Josh and all of you..thanks for doing a great job to  help get our new Senator, Jim Webb elected!

Don't stop now.

Looking ahead to VA races in 2007 seems there is plenty of opportunity for RK to keep the fires burning bright. Lets not forget that many national organizations push agendas at the state level..and certain ones have the ear of the house speaker. Just waiting for a VA TABOR bill, immigration bill, or related "conservative" bills to bolster their VA base for 2007.

There were also issues raised during this election cycle that deserve grass-roots follow-up; electronic voting machines vs verifiable voting..etc.

I say...RK keep it VA !

Let me know.

Also, as I said in my previous comment upthread, I recommend adding more front pagers, but with each with specific duties, allowing for a separation of labor.  For example, writer A does Senate 1-10, writer B 11-20, etc... Allowing you (Lowell) to do general analysis and write whatever is on your mind, while still keeping all the bases covered.

-Nate

All responders to this initial post echo my strong sentiments about keeping RK as "the" definitive Virginia blog.

The point that occurs to me however is what are WE willing to do to keep it going? It is my understanding that Lowell quit his job (longsuffering and VERY supportive wife, no doubt) and took on this blog and fight full time.  That means no income.
Except for a couple of posts on this subject, no one has addressed this matter head-on.

Something this great, this complex, this time-consuming, this vital does not run on air. Yes, all posts are an important part. Without the participants, without the debates and comments and "mini-wars" it would quickly curl up and die. Nobody would (forgive me Lowell) want to just read what Lowell thinks and says.....

The mechanics of this thing are beyond me. I admit that. I simply haven't a clue.

So how do we preserve this very necessary outpost of sanity in a country that approached the brink of doom?  It is long road back.  We have taken the first steps, but there is much to do.  We need RK to help us do it.

We have helped to elect a Senator. We ought to be able to figure out how to keep this going without sacrificing Lowell to the poorhouse.

Ideas?

Looks like RK was getting 80,000 visits a month a year ago, and went to ten times that just before the election.
I'm no expert, but that seems to me to be a significant amount. 

For financial starters, I'd like to initiate a "Century Club" of annual minimum $100 contributors to RK and see where that takes us in regard to a potential budget, etc.

To where/whom may I send my check?  Thanks!

Steve McGraw

I think that we all recognize how important RK has now become to Virginia politics.  What RK provides is amazing.  It's an outstanding educational tool. It provides the capability for rapid response in elections. It is a place to share ideas and get support for volunteer activities.  I can think of a diary full of reasons why RK should be supported in whatever ways its visitors are able.

Sign me up as a charter member of the "Century Club." 

Steve McGraw

So I'm in for $50 a month, and if I find someone to match it, I will raise that to $100.

If that sounds too rich for your blood, think of it this way. You don't have to do what I'll do and take it out of my own pocket. Any halfway respectable activist should be able to sweet talk a half-dozen friends into kicking in for a joint contribution, throw a house party or hold a bake sale.

Whatever you do, at whatever level, please do get on board and keep Raising Kaine alive and thriving. This Virginian Democrat Abroad needs the unique connection to his home state politics that only Raising Kaine (not Raw Story, Huffington Post, dailyKos, MyDD, etc., etc.) provides.

John McCreery
Yokohama, Japan

However, in order to be as inclusive as possible, let's leave the minimum at $100 and those who wish to contribute more can do so, thus becoming annual double or triple, etc. Century Club members as the year progresses.

Lowell:  The address, please?

Thanks again, everyone!

Steve McGraw

Raising money for RK as well as worthy candidates and committees would be a logical extension. I would be glad to support you ($), but personally would not want to any of this great content behind a subscriber wall.

Once again, many thanks for much hard work and your leadership.

Tom

But having said that, why don't you put in Google ads, put in a tip jar or the like, and put in a way to subscribe to the site like Daily Kos does (i.e., if you subscribe you can turn off the ads), and see what happens?  Maybe Blogads is not the way to go. 

I'm no expert, but it seems to me that the traffic on the site, while not at Daily Kos levels, should be enough volume to interest advertisers.

So you shouldn't give up on that now.  Perhaps RK could start a series of diaries about newly published books on politics and government (and scandals!) by progressive authors, and that would attract advertising from publishers. I guess if you want to attract advertising on a blog, sometimes you have to talk about stuff that people buy.

The need to make RK self-sustaining would be a reason to add a national component.

Anyway, as someone else said, put the donate button back on -- especially now while everyone is happy about the election.

I've been looking for that section like that on RK and if it is here, it's buried.
  http://www.bartleby....

It should tell the story of the goals, origin, and history of the site, the site's authors, and the site's successes. 

If RK intends to cover legislation coming before the Virginia General Assembly and Senate, it will have to show more objectivity so people understand both sides of the debate on a bill.  To effectively lobby an issue or a bill, you need to know the arguments being made by the other side as well as the rhetoric bolstering your position.

I hope there is a way to keep RK going, even though I tend to get people seeing "red" with many of my postings.

Some topics easily lend themselves to extended objective discussions, even touchy topics such as transportation funding.

It is going to be hard to get people objective on some of the social issues, and there we may just have to disagree.  And kick and scream a little.

Is there any thought to a two (or more) tiered payment system?  We would want the general public to browse and comment and even write a diary now and then, for free.  But maybe paying x dollars gets you the twice a day diary privilege, while x+n dollars gets you unlimited diaries.

Just thinking off the top of my head.

I prefer the no-ads option.  I wouldn't want to see anyone who really can't afford it penalized.  Just saying..

And your diaries themselves are contributions.. just saying.

What I love about this site is the discussion with like-minded people.  Now that we all see how positive and results-oriented it can be, it can't stop. 

Thank you also for making someone from Texas feel at home.

Thanks to the very committed progressive community of Virginia, you have all achieved a great deal with the election of Jim Webb. (I was honored to be able to volunteer a little bit in this effort.)

I hope my state of Texas pays close attention to what the voters of Virginia have accomplished.

However, it's a good idea to have the content publicly available for free. 

If back, in April of this year I had seen a fee based site to get info on the progress of the Webb campaign or Virginia politics, I think I probably would have been skeptical about the site being worth the value (I mean how valuable can blogs be?)

Also, what are the prospects for ad revenue?  I would think the traffic would likely attract advertisers.

What is the cost structure for DailyKos?  That might be a model to follow.

I do like the idea, of paying to be a "subscriber" to which the only benefit is you don't see the ads (not sure if soapblox allows this option technically) and that you get to benefit RK.

Perhaps, "century club" members get a cool little icon next to thier name when they diary or comment.

DailyKos, only has the "no ads" option, not sure of costs though.

I know you've been going full-time and it takes a full-time worker and more to keep such an operation going.  You've done an outstanding job for Virginia and for America.  Without Raising Kaine, the country would not be enjoying a Democratic Senate come January. 

Think about the point of difference between RK, Daily Kos, MyDD, etc.  What niche could RK fill not covered by these other blogs.  There's a lot of positioning questions people rarely talk about, but they're just as valid here as they are when you're selling soap. 

I have some thoughts about this, and I'd like to get them figured out and written down.  I'm know there's a way you can stay in business and still serve your clients--(Virginia voters).  You guys have done a remarkable job.  Frankly, after drafting Jim Webb and pushing him though to the Senate, I feel like Democrats all over the country should be sending you stacks of hundred dollar bills with a thank you note.

Right now, Dems are all sitting back with a big grin, not thinking about what they might do to help the folks who put that grin on their faces.  we'll be in another election cycle.  RK is too close to DC to not be involved.  I'll have more thoughts on this and will be in touch.  Thanks again for all your great work for the country.  This was not just a Virginia election.  The whole country owes you and all the RK faithful, like Kathy Gerber and many more.  I pick out Kathy because she was one of my favorite writers on RK, but there were many others. 

Once again, Virginia, America thanks you.  Throughout our history this country has turned to Virginia.  Once again you have delivered.  Thank you.

Nick 

This site is a heck of a medium. Everyone looks at it, including reporters. It has to keep going in some form, prefereably at the state level with some slant for the national scene.

I enjoyed reading everyone's thoughts during this years campaign(kathyinBlacksburg, teacherKen, PJ,Andrea Chamblee and more) I mostly responded and posted comments, and I am sorry if I offended anyone with my graphic language, but when I get in to something like this and believe strongly, it comes out. What can I say? Hopefully I'll catch you guys down the trail sometime. Best, ME.

And if fundraising really takes off, other possibilities may open up.  How about an RK-supported progressive Virginia conference?

I have found valuable info on this Pennsylvania political site from time to time; I went to it when I wanted to monitor the Santorum race, and passed some items to national blogs

There may be some good ideas in the model they use; they seem to provide many more links to political stories in the Pennsylvania press

BTW, I worked with Bob Casey's brother in DC and the brother was a highly moral guy -- I think the whole family is like that -- I don't agree with Bob Casey on some issues (you can guess) but I don't think he'll be a lightweight as some have suggested -- I think he will bring an ethical voice to the Senate

I guess a question is, what is the most work in keeping this site going?  Is it the writing and all that?  Would it help to have some guest front-pagers, kind of like what Markos does?

I suppose some amount of work is the technical stuff under the hood.  Is this an area where help is needed?

As I recall I was well rested by the time late December rolled around and I began looking at the 2006 Senate race.

So my advice again, take a vacation from politics for a while....see you in December.

All the local elections for Delegates and State Senators are coming up next year.  I think we as a group could really take on some races, especially Bob Marshall, in Prince William County, etc.  Then we're at 2008.  All the work we continue to do now will carry over for the Presidential race.  This blog has been terrific in keeping us informed both on a national level and in Virginia.  I've loved hearing from people in all different areas of Virginia and have met some great people while campaigning for Webb. 

I'm also willing to contribute financially to a Century Club and do what I can to keep it going.  Thanks Lowell for your patience.  Maybe sometime when you have a minute you can help those who are not real computer saavy learn how to blog a little better and in particular download pictures.  What a great week this has been for Virginia!!!!

Mary Lee

Like everyone else, I don't want RK to cease and desist, for all the reasons that previous commenters have mentioned and one which nobody mentioned but which I -- a linguist by training -- think is a good one too. The name -- Raising Kaine -- is wonderful and should not be dumped into the dustbin of history.

Like most, I think RK should remain focused on VA issues; there are plenty of national blogs, of various degrees of shrillness for everyone to pick their favorites, but nothing that concentrates on VA with the same dedication and the same  comprehensive sweep. My local Dem HQ has closed its door for the next 2-years -- they can't afford to keep going in a "fallow season" -- so where am I to get my daily dose of adrenaline and my VA politics education?

I'll happily join the "Century Club" or even a QT (quarter thousand, $250) Club, if it means that RK remains active. I wouldn't mind seeing ads on the site; I've learnt to ignore them all on other (national sites) and if someone thinks it's worth their money to advertise here -- even with anti Dem ads (perhaps, *especially* with anti-Dem ads ) -- they're welcome.

I'd be VIOLENTLY OPPOSED to pay-per-post policy, probably to the extent of removing the site from my Addressbook and never again coming to read. It's an exclusionary policy, based on the pocketbook and, to me, not much different from some of the vote-suppression tactics which disenfranchise the poorer segments of the society of (from? Sorry. Your English prepositions have been giving me headaches for the past 50 yrs )having their say.

It would be a pity if the VADem/RK community were to part ways because of money matters. Since I've started reading RK (about 3-4 months ago), I've learnt a lot about NoVA and, hopefully, some NoVA people have had a chance to re-assess their views of RoVA, too. A good article on the subject, in today's WashPo BTW:
http://www.washingto...

We're still *one* state. And we still share *one* overwhelming "moral value": making this state as good as possible -- that is, "blue" -- for as many as possible, not just for those with deep pockets. I feel as much proprietary pride in having elected Webb as anyone else here, even though my total family "input" was, probably, no more than $500 (I just recently learnt that my son, who lives and votes in CA, also contributed to Webb campaign. But I didn't ask him how much ). I've never contributed to strictly political causes before, and my husband not much; if contributions became mandatory before I could be heard, I'd tell you to take a hike.

So. Stay with us, stay a VA-oriented blog, restore the contribution button to the site (I'm sure things will have changed now, and you're likely to see more traffic on in) , but don't, ever, become a "pay for play" site...

I have never really been aware of how Raising Kaine works, though I have gathered that Lowell has been THE MAN.  If it is his plan to get a real job, there may be some way to divide his responsibilities among a number of people so that Raising Kaine can continue.  I doubt that we could raise enough money from enthusiasts to pay him a salary, so we'll have to figure out something else.  I'd be happy to join that discussion, and to help how I can.

Second, I hope that folks will consider seriously encouraging Mark to NOT run for Senate, but to run for Governor in 2009 instead.  (If he isn't elected Vice President.)  In the Senate, he'll be one of 51 or 52.  As a gubernatorial candidate, he'll be a shoo-in, and then he'll be able to maintain a veto over redistricting in 2011.  I think that this is more in line with his thinking, and if it is, let's not try to talk him out of it.  Although I gather that Brian Moran is running for Governor, and I'd be happy to support him, is there any doubt that Mark would whomp any Republican, whereas Brian would have a tough race?

Third, if that is what happens, who would we want to run against Tom Davis for John Warner's seat?  (Although there is an intriguing possibility that the Jim Gilmore folks would push him for Senate, setting up another fratricidal situation in the Republican Party.)  If not Mark, who?

Lloyd Snook

Anne

RK PAC
P. O. Box 1661
Clintwood, VA  24228

Please join with me as you are able.

Thanks!

Steve McGraw, Charter Member
RK PAC "Century Club"

2) Ask for donations.  Also have fundraisers periodically where you set a goal...like 1,000 donations.  Democratic Underground does this and it seems to work out fine.