Alan Grayson--Why His Moneybomb, Why Now

by: Paul Rosenberg

Mon Nov 02, 2009 at 12:00

At a time when progressives have grown increasingly frustrated with timidity and lack of vision coming from elected Democrats in Washington, Congressmember Alan Grayson has emerged as a rare example of someone who actually represents us--not just with his vote, not just with his voice, but with his actions.  It's one thing to tell the truth about the Republican health care plan--"Don't get sick.... If you do get sick America, the Republican health care plan is this: 'die quickly.'"  That's rare enough by itself--virtually unheard of. But Grayson not only refused to back down when Republicans threw their predictable hissy fit in response, he barreled ahead and went right into a discussion of the recent Harvard study finding that 45,000 Americans die each year from lack of insurance.  In short, he showed himself to be the real deal.  TODAY he's asking us to back him by contributing to his moneybomb. At Open Left we're re-running the interview with him from Saturday so you can hear him tell you why in his own words. Congressmember Alan Grayson: I have to start by thanking you for giving me the person [Matt Stoller] who is the best Congressional aid of all. OL: [Laughs.] So I can't rail at you for stealing from us. AG: You can if you want, but it's not going to do any good.   OL: I know. AG: And I'm going to keep him. OL: I know. There are some battles you just don't want to fight.  Let's start right off.  You're having a moneybomb on November 2.  Most basic questions: Why are you doing it?  And why now?

Doing it to show that it's possible for progressive to raise money without having to cater to lobbyists and people who want favors.

We're trying to invent an entirely new model to finance a campaign.

My campaign next year is going to cost $2 million. There's no getting around it. I don't set the media rates around Orlando, somebody else does that. And the result of that is that we have to show that money can be raised for progressive causes in the old fashioned way, which is $20 here, $50 there, $100 here, rather than asking big shots for favors.

I want a campaign that's a campaign by the people and for the people. And this money bomb will show whether or not it's possible.

I think we've already shown a lot of success, I mean we've already raised a quarter million dollars, and the money bomb is still three days away. But what we need to do is to show that we can do it the same way the right does it.  The right has had multi-million dollar money bombs for Ron Paul, and we need to show that we can do it that way ourselves. Otherwise people on the left in Congress will feel that they have to keep making deals with lobbyists just for the sake of financing their own campaigns.

Alan Grayson--Why His Moneybomb, Why Now

by: Paul Rosenberg

Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 12:30

At a time when progressives have grown increasingly frustrated with timidity and lack of vision coming from elected Democrats in Washington, Congressmember Alan Grayson has emerged as a rare example of someone who actually represents us--not just with his vote, not just with his voice, but with his actions.  It's one thing to tell the truth about the Republican health care plan--"Don't get sick.... If you do get sick America, the Republican health care plan is this: 'die quickly.'"  That's rare enough by itself--virtually unheard of. But Grayson not only refused to back down when Republicans threw their predictable hissy fit in response, he barreled ahead and went right into a discussion of the recent Harvard study finding that 45,000 Americans die each year from lack of insurance.  In short, he showed himself to be the real deal.  This Monday he's asking us to back him by contributing to his moneybomb. And Open Left wanted to have him tell you why in his own words.

Congressmember Alan Grayson: I have to start by thanking you for giving me the person [Matt Stoller] who is the best Congressional aid of all.

OL: [Laughs.] So I can't rail at you for stealing from us.

AG: You can if you want, but it's not going to do any good.  

OL: I know.

AG: And I'm going to keep him.

OL: I know. There are some battles you just don't want to fight.  Let's start right off.  You're having a moneybomb on November 2.  Most basic questions: Why are you doing it?  And why now?

Doing it to show that it's possible for progressive to raise money without having to cater to lobbyists and people who want favors.

We're trying to invent an entirely new model to finance a campaign.

My campaign next year is going to cost $2 million. There's no getting around it. I don't set the media rates around Orlando, somebody else does that. And the result of that is that we have to show that money can be raised for progressive causes in the old fashioned way, which is $20 here, $50 there, $100 here, rather than asking big shots for favors.

I want a campaign that's a campaign by the people and for the people. And this money bomb will show whether or not it's possible.

I think we've already shown a lot of success, I mean we've already raised a quarter million dollars, and the money bomb is still three days away. But what we need to do is to show that we can do it the same way the right does it.  The right has had multi-million dollar money bombs for Ron Paul, and we need to show that we can do it that way ourselves. Otherwise people on the left in Congress will feel that they have to keep making deals with lobbyists just for the sake of financing their own campaigns.