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The Almighty Buck Democrats Government Politics

PAC Asks Voters Where To Spend 10K 31

An anonymous reader submits "Not sure if this is for real or not, but for what it's worth, it seems like a Democratic PAC is letting people vote on where to spend US$10k of its money. Think Oregon is a more important swing state? Pennsylvania? Let' em know at ORvPA.org. What kind of issues does this raise? Think Republicans will try and game the vote? Does it really matter in the grand scheme of things? Is this a good example of trying to harness the wisdom of crowds?"
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PAC Asks Voters Where To Spend 10K

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  • Titonka, IA (Score:4, Funny)

    by TykeClone ( 668449 ) <TykeClone@gmail.com> on Wednesday September 08, 2004 @02:39PM (#10193413) Homepage Journal
    More specifically, they can just go ahead and send it to me.
  • by DesScorp ( 410532 ) on Wednesday September 08, 2004 @02:44PM (#10193481) Journal
    Texas. Definitely spend it in Texas. John Kerry has a great chance there. Just a few more dollars...

    • The DNC has been spending a ton of money on TV ads in Virginia. No dem has carried VA since Johnson.

      I'd vote for Alabama. They need to spend some time explaining Kerry's nuanced positions to the boys down there.
  • But if they wanted to spend it in Oregon, I'd spend it paying 100 unemployed people $100 each to go door to door.
  • by doodlelogic ( 773522 ) on Wednesday September 08, 2004 @02:50PM (#10193565)
    $10,000 can't buy much in a modern election. By putting up this website, and getting it linked here and probably elsewhere, the PAC will probably get its message across to thousands across the US.

    If you're starting from nothing, it's not how much money you've got, or even where you use it, so much as your ideas and ingenuity.

    If Howard Dean was running, there'd be a lot more web stunts like this. Don't know if that's a good or a bad thing though!
    • Such efforts may well be able to capitalize upon the wisdom of crowds, but equally as important is that it helps people develop ownership of politics at a fundamental level. The Dean campaign was heavily "owned" by its supporters. It was dominated by the sincere solicitation of input, a high-velocity top-down and bottom-up flow of ideas, decentralized decision-making, and sustained local action. Joe Trippi, http://www.joetrippi.com/ [joetrippi.com], correctly characterizes this dynamic of the campaign as I experienced it f

  • PA, obviously (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Tumbleweed ( 3706 ) * on Wednesday September 08, 2004 @02:53PM (#10193595)
    If Kerry doesn't take PA, he's _not_ going to win. He can do without Oregon (though he'll have to take at least one other swing state), but without PA, no chance whatsoever, unless he takes pretty much every other swing state, which I don't see happening. It's fun and scary playing with those online Electoral Vote calculators.
    • Heh, as a lifelong PA resident I just want to say that the way PA votes is very strange. First of all, you have 2 urban centers(Pittsburgh and Philly), that outside of a few affluent suburbs always vote liberal. But then you have the huge center of the state which is mostly farmers and laborers who are very conservative(well, socially, maybe not so much economically). PA almost always votes democrat in the presidential race, but both our senators are conservative, including one of the most conservative m
  • The answer is clear (Score:3, Informative)

    by drivers ( 45076 ) on Wednesday September 08, 2004 @02:57PM (#10193648)
    Oregon [electoral-vote.com] is already a Strong Kerry (10% ahead) state, and has 7 electoral votes. Pennsylvania [electoral-vote.com] is a Weak Kerry (3% ahead) state, with Bush gaining, and a projected tie on election day, and has 21 electoral votes.
  • Isn't this what Plato referred to as mob rule?

    --Matthew
  • mob rule... (Score:2, Interesting)

    Mob mentality seems so strange to me, blown around by the subtlest breeze.

    i mean, who out there actually paying attention says "ooh, look at the mud thrown in Bush's face, he looks horrible... and Kerry's standing there all clean... I think Kerry is the way to go.."

    is that not how these polls indicate these people think? wasnt it mob mentality that put Jesus on the cross? I am ready for November... I have had enough...
    • wasnt it mob mentality that put Jesus on the cross?

      Wow, you had the spine to use the name of Jesus in a serious and positive way on slashdot. Just wait until the anti-religious religious zealots get their digital fingers on you. That +1 won't be there for long.

      That said; you're right. Our representative democracy has been chipped slowly away for over a century in the interest of attaining that most heinous of things-- The tyranny of mob rule, brought about by direct democracy.

    • i mean, who out there actually paying attention says "ooh, look at the mud thrown in Bush's face, he looks horrible... and Kerry's standing there all clean... I think Kerry is the way to go.."

      is that not how these polls indicate these people think?


      More likely it indicates that people have finally woken up and realise that Bush is a greater threat to world peace that bin landen.
  • Not sure if this is for real or not, but for what it's worth, it seems like a Democratic PAC is letting people vote on where to spend US$10k of its money.... Is this a good example of trying to harness the wisdom of crowds?

    This has nothing to do with the wisdom of crowds.

    It has everything to do with generating publicity for this PAC, and getting the people arguing for one state over another personally invested in the argument, so they'll have a personal, emotional reason to contribute even more money to
  • by peacefinder ( 469349 ) * <alan.dewittNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Wednesday September 08, 2004 @04:17PM (#10194663) Journal
    1) Nader did not make the ballot in Oregon, which should strengthen Kerry against Bush quite a bit.

    2) Oregon's polls [electoral-vote.com] show a trend of Kerry opening a gap, whereas Pennsylvania [electoral-vote.com] is trending towards a tie. (Of course, the site maintainer will be the first to say that these projections are not very reliable until October.)

    3) Pennsylvania is more populous, which means more electoral votes at stake and more expense to reach the voters.

    This Oregonian thinks the money is best spent in Pennsylvania.

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