So we had our very first blograiser last night. It was much like our original idea, which was a blogger meetup (like last fall) + candidate + contributions to said candidate. 15 people showed up, not counting myself, Deb, and hotflash. Deb Lavender got checks totalling $190 at the event, plus whatever was donated on ActBlue (which is still an option, whether you’ve contributed already or not.) A couple of people promised more contributions at the event, so we’ll update with a total if they follow through. As an added bonus, Deb got to hand off cards and donor envelopes to a few Kirkwood residents who happened to be playing washers near us.

It was good to see Archpundit, Maryb2004, hotflash, duckhunter, ashriver and Rea Kleeman from this blog, and American Phoenix from Daily Kos. It was also nice to meet some of you lurkers. And Joan Landmann stopped by later on to chat, which was highly entertaining. We talked politics, sports, movies, and God knows what else till 11:00 over beers, burgers, pita bread and hummus. (I highly recommend the hummus next time you’re at the Royale – yum!)

We’ll be doing this again in the next few months, but we always hope to make things bigger and better. Suggestions are welcome. If you’re interested in doing a blograiser in another part of the state, I’ll be happy to do whatever I can to help out.

Just a reminder – our blograiser for Deb Lavender is tonight! Please join us in helping a great candidate take back another seat in the Missouri House. Every person who contributes tonight means less time for her on the phones to donors and more time knocking doors and attending town hall meetings.

Date: Wednesday, May 21st

Place: The Royale at 3132 S. Kingshighway in St. Louis

Time: 7:00pm until ???

We’ll be at the Royale from 7pm to whenever, and some goodies will be provided. If you know someone who can’t make it in person, please ask them to consider a $10.01 contribution at Deb’s ActBlue page: http://www.actblue.com/page/de…

I know you’re probably looking for someplace to put your activist energy as a long presidential primary winds down, and better yet, get behind one Democrat fighting an extremist Republican.

If you’re in the St. Louis area, you’re in luck. We are pleased to announce the first official blograiser in Missouri, on behalf of Deb Lavender, Democratic candidate for the 94th District of the Missouri House. Deb is a fantastic candidate running against an awful opponent, so picking her ahead of so many other good local candidates wasn’t as hard a choice as we thought it might be. Deb is a Kirkwood physical therapist and small business owner who is running for health care and education reform and to protect our environment. She’s also dogged campaigner who’s not afraid to make a speech in a crowded bar, put in call time, and knock door after door in her district. Her opponent, Rick Stream, is a far-right Republican who voted for such measures as abstinence-only education in schools and to hurt MOHELA’s ability to provide low-interest loans to college students. Best of all, he’s beatable. Deb whipped him in fundraising last quarter and is nearly even in cash on hand. And recently as 2006, Democrats held the seat. It’s going to take some effort, but it’s within reach.

So, here’s how a blograiser works. It’s essentially a combination meetup, fundraiser, and liveblog. We will meet at the Royale at 7:00pm on May 21st, just like about 30 of us did last fall. This time, we’ll pitch in some cash on behalf of Deb, and some of us will give online updates on our respective blogs. You can either bring your checkbook to the Royale, or you can contribute online at Deb’s ActBlue page. The suggested minimum contribution is $10, and if you contribute online ahead of time, please print out your confirmation page and bring it to the blograiser.

Date: Wednesday, May 21st

Place: The Royale at 3132 S. Kingshighway in St. Louis

Time: 7:00pm until ???

And in case you’re on Facebook, here’s the Facebook event page.

Remember, the action in Jefferson City is arguably a lot more important to us in Missouri than what goes on in Washington, D.C. Winning this seat back for the Democrats is a necessary step to bringing responsible governance back to the statehouse. So let’s support Deb!

Awhile back, I made a suggestion on this blog about holding a fundraiser for a candidate. We had just held a successful informal meeting for those who blog in St. Louis, a face-to-face meeting of people who normally talk only online, most about politics. About 30 people showed up, all of them partisan Democrats, and we all mingled and chatted for hours with people we had mostly never met in “real” life. All in all, a smashing success.

Bloggers in California have already taken this “bloggers meetup” to the next level. Once every quarter, they do the exact same thing we did in early October, except they ask attendees to give a little bit of cash toward electing a pre-selected candidate. In our case, if we had asked everyone to pitch in $10 or more, we would have raised at least $300. It’s not Sinquefield money, but it’s not an amount any candidate would turn down, either, and not bad work for hanging out at a bar on Tuesday night. Plus, it doesn’t have to be confined to one bar in one city – other people in other parts of the state can do the same thing at the same time to raise money and have a good time doing it.

So let’s do this. In early February, we’ll have another bloggers meetup, and this time we’ll ask attendees for a voluntary contribution. The big question is: who will be the recipient for the collected money? The criteria basically boils down to a good Democrat who faces a close race in November, and preferably a challenging an incumbent Republican. We had thought about Chris Kelly, who will be fighting to represent the 24th District in Missouri’s House. We could also think of a few people in the St. Louis area who would love some support. But what do you think? Anyone have any suggestions from KC? How about outside the STL-Columbia-KC axis?

Digby and DDay at a Calitics blograiser

  What’s a blograiser, you might ask? A couple of weeks ago, we held a bloggers meetup, with around 30 attendees who stayed for over 3 hours to talk politics and drink beer and generally have a fantastic time. I’ve been wondering – what if we could get a similar turnout, and get each of the attendees to fork over $10 or $20 to contribute to a progressive candidate? Right there, we would have raised $300-$600 AND had a good time doing it. We could double the fun and hold one in Kansas City, too. Or triple it by adding Columbia, or quadruple by also doing Springf… maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. We would also put up a link at the top of the blog for readers who couldn’t make it to the meetup to make a contribution, if they so desired. That right there is what we call a blograiser, a combined online/offline fundraiser for a candidate or cause.

We’ll be putting one together in St. Louis, at the very least, in the next several weeks. We’ve got some ideas for locations to hold the meetup, and we have some candidates in mind we’d like to raise money for, but if you have any ideas of your own, please let us know in the comments section. And KC, Columbia, etc. don’t be shy about getting in on the game!