Proposal to MAYDAY.US Facebook Group
I believe
MAYDAY.US wants to publicize as much as possible its message and its plan.
Many of those who have worked on this cause (from before MAYDAY.US was formed, as well as after) know what a hard slog towards the goal it has been and what a hard slog it will continue to be.
As a PAC, MAYDAY.US has raised funds and is and will be expending funds under the "independent expenditure" rule, which prohibits making expenditures in "coordination" with candidates or "agents" of candidates. (Note: I don't know what exactly will make an individual an "agent" of a candidate.)
MAYDAY.US wants or should want as much publication as possible of its message and its plan by supporters of MAYDAY and others.
It should be noted that 11 CFR §100.155 has provisions about uncompensated Internet activity by individuals not being an expenditure, and that seems to open up significant possibilities for publicizing MAYDAY's message and its plan. (If an Internet activity is not an"expenditure," it would seem that the Internet activity by itself will not constitute a "prohibited coordination" with any candidate or an agent of any candidate.)
Whether supporters of MAYDAY, without spending money, can add much of significance in publicizing MAYDAY's message and its plan depends on how many supporters are putting in time and effort. I have been putting in time and effort to do that, and I wish to encourage others to do the same.
My tweeting history can be found at this link on twitter:
https://twitter.com/RobShattuckAL06/with_replies. It is in reverse chronological order. I don't know whether you need to be a follower of mine to see it. I don't know how complete the tweeting history is you can see.
After Jim Rubens and Staci Appel were announced, I first did tweeting into New Hampshire. I used the following tweet message
#nhpolitics Support MAYDAY.US. Vote for Jim Rubens in the NH Republican Senate primary on September 9th.https://mayday.us/
My recollection is that I used the follower list of the NHGOP, which follower list is here
https://twitter.com/NHGOP/followers. There are over 4000 followers. I guess that I sent about two hundred tweets, working through the list in order and using a little selectivity as to followers I sent a tweet to.
During the first full week in August I tweeted a couple hundred tweets into the Iowa 3rd Congressional district. The tweets gave a link to this:
To voters in Iowa 3rd Congressional district. I used the follower list for Staci Appel, which follower list is here:
https://twitter.com/AppelforIowa/followers. I did not get completely through the follower list, but almost. My tweets generated about a hundred page views of the link, plus some retweets and favorites from my tweets.
After the three additional candidates were announced by MAYDAY, I created an omnibus entry for my tweets to link to. The omnibus entry is
To voters in NH, IA03, NC03, NH01, and AZ07.
I started with NC03 and followers of Walter Jones. I estimate that I sent about a hundred tweets with a link to the foregoing blog entry, and there have been 54 page views of the foregoing link, some presumably coming from retweets of my tweet.
If other supporters of MAYDAY.US will join with me in doing tweeting and, if we coordinate what we are doing, I think we can be much more effective in publicizing MAYDAY's message and its plan.
There should be numerous follower lists which can be found for tweeting into the districts (or states) MAYDAY is focusing on.
As to tweet messages others want to send, the tweet messages I have used can start the thinking of others.
I don't think MAYDAY supporters should consider themselves limited by the Congressional races MAYDAY is focusing on. I think supporters can and should look for other districts and other candidates where they would like to direct tweeting as will help publicize MAYDAY's message and plan.
To get other supporters to join in and help requires communicating to them and soliciting their help.
The MAYDAY.US Facebook Group, with its nearly 5000 members, offers a great means to communicate to other MAYDAY supporters and solicit their help.
I am willing to post on the MAYDAY.US Facebook Group the text of this "Proposal" (with such modifications as MAYDAY.US desires).
Alternatively the moderators themselves may make such a posting along the lines of the above, with or without identification of me, as they deem fit.
For this proposal to work requires, I think, some blog or website where supporters who join in can communicate with one another and report what they have done or are doing.
Such blog or website could be the MAYDAY.US Facebook Group website, but, if that is the case, MAYDAY must address whether allowing supporters to communicate with one another via the group website is the making of an expenditure by MAYDAY (even though the supporters are not making an expenditure) and whether MAYDAY must monitor what gets posted here as to whether it is prohibited coordination with candidates or their agents.
Update 8/22
Good morning, Aaron.
There is more I would like to say or pass on to you before deciding what I am going to do here.
All the discussion MAYDAY supporters are having with one another on the group page is beneficial and should go on.
To advance the goal of MAYDAY, however, also needs as much interfacing with and getting the message out to voters who are not "on the team." On this, I would urge the moderators to put a post on the website saying the same about the importance of interfacing with and getting the message out as widely as possible to voters,, putting out ideas for doing that, and soliciting comments, suggestions, and ideas from supporters who are especially interested in that component of the group's activities on or via the website.
Next, on the matter of how hard it is to get people to do things, I have been trying to "lead by example." I think you can see that from the way I have done tweeting myself and reported the same in my blogs, including the results from the tweeting, with the idea of others saying, "Ok, he's doing that. That's not hard. I can do that too." I will not say my trying to "lead by example" has produced any results yet, but I wish to continue trying to "lead by example".
Next, my personal experience is that "throwing my hat in the ring" had immense benefit of allowing me to receive attention to, and have an audience for, things I was saying. When I was not successful in the June 3rd primary election, I said to myself, "I have put in four months of hard work, which has given me a little soapbox in the AL 6th Congressional district to stand on and speak from. Why should I have give that up and throw that away? No, I can continue on my little soapbox, continue as a write in campaign, and continue with 'my hat in the ring"." I have done so and am continuing to speak in the AL 6th Congressional district in a way which continues to get some attention and have some audience.
While it is late in the 2014 election cycle, I have urged other MAYDAY supporters to "throw their hat in the ring" and become a write in candidate in their district. I know that will have minuscule impact, but it is greater than zero, and my view is to do whatever can help, if even only a little.
Finally, I think my primary run in AL06 and my continued write in effort gives me helpful "cred" outside of the AL 6th Congressional district, and so I am endeavoring to utilize that "cred" in how I am tweeting into districts outside of my district and outside of Alabama.
Aaron, I will let you know what I decide about how I am going to continue with my tweeting idea. In the meantime, it should be clear that I am fine with the Facebook group, and the moderators, running with the idea, however they might see fit (which may be not at all), and with or with out me.
Further Update 8/22
Aaron, Matt Moore's posting causes me to want to comment again on the matter of candidate postings.
Members of the group are making numerous comments about specific candidates and relative to the strength and quality of their reform commitment. Members are urging that campaigns be contacted to press for more attention by the campaign to reform.
Then a candidate who evidences an interest in reform wants to come to the website and tell the group about him or herself and his or her commitment to reform. This could get members interested in finding out more about the candidate, ask questions, and decide whether they would like to help the candidate.
But the moderation policy cuts that off from happening. I think you have said that is not because of legalities. If it is sheer discretion of the moderators to allow or not allow candidates to come to the website to introduce themselves to group and possibly get interest and support from members of the group, it seems shortsighted to cut that off from happening. (Of course, if it is a question of legalities, that is another matter.)
If the concern of the moderators is that allowing candidates to post would result in the website getting overwhelmed by candidates, a separate webpage could be set up for candidates who want to introduce themselves to members, and members could be told to go there if they want to learn about candidates and dialogue with them and evaluate the commitment of candidates to reform.
Those are my thoughts.
Update 8/23
See
The MAYDAY.US Facebook Group
