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View Full Version : Thoughts and Stats on Strangebedfellows and the August 8 Moneybomb




Tangoland
08-11-2008, 03:58 PM
Posted today at www.breakthematrix.com By Rick Williams

http://breakthematrix.com/node/17983

Some thoughts and stats about the AccountabilityNowPAC moneybomb on August 8 and our Strangebedfellows alliance:

(a) 2365 moneybomb donors and $156,371 total raised

We view this as a very solid showing on donors and collections. Our "issue--oriented" PAC moneybomb didn't generate the high level of emotional momentum that we saw on the Ron Paul campaign bombs, but that was to be expected. Also, AccountabilityNowPAC is a new organization still in early formation and not having an existing track record of achievement to point to. On balance, a solid first step for what we are confident will become a long lasting Strangebedfellows alliance.

(b) 9265 page views at the website on August 8; 5938 website visits from 4833 unique visitors representing 49 countries (US, Canada, Germany, UK and Brazil top five countries, in order)

www.AccountabilityNowPAC.com generated high level traffic all day on Friday, and we were the number one rated site for "Act Blue" (money processing vendor) during the entire moneybomb event. Traffic to the website came from 402 sources, and we're pleased to point out that BreakTheMatrix ranked number 5 in source of visits. Most of the traffic and donations came from the "left" as opposed to the "right" but this was no surprise since Glenn Greenwald of www.Salon.com has been the primary intellectual blogger who has brought the corruption of the FISA reauthorization process to public attention. Glenn's extraordinary and courageous writing from a left perspective about the warrantless surveillance and retroactive telecom immunity issues in FISA was truly the driving force behind the success of the moneybomb.

(c) Total website visits over a one month period 40,406; unique visitors 31,462

These site visit statistics are surely the most significant metric when we talk about the success of the Strangebedfellows alliance thus far. For a brand new website with no history, this level of traffic reflects a highly encouraging expression of interest. The Strangebedfellows concept of a transpartisan right--left alliance on issues of common interest such as FISA, the surveillance state, and the "war on terror" is something that we haven't seen before in American politics. Our Strangebedfellows partner Jane Hamsher of www.firedoglake.com speaks of the alliance as a fundamental realignment where grassroots people from different starting points come together against a corrupt Republican--Democrat leadership class that is operating in unison to the detriment of our country. Glenn Greenwald said on Kurt Wallace's television show Friday that the very concepts of "left" and "right" are outmoded and largely meaningless in addressing the problems we see in Washington DC and our political class generally. We agree-- Strangebedfellows represents a new kind of coalition politics the we perceive is exactly what's needed in the process of breaking the matrix. The high level of website traffic at www.AccountabilityNowPAC.com over the last month bears that out, and provides a strong metric for encouragement about the future of this transpartisan alliance.

(d) Responding to feedback

Most viewers/chatters involved in our August 8 moneybomb coverage on BTM TV were quite encouraged by the success of the effort, but there have been a few naysayers on other forums. Some critics suggest that a left--right coalition is not viable; others say that our leftist partners will have too much control; still others criticize that Obama will not be held to account by the PAC. Responding briefly, we at BreakTheMatrix believe that these sorts of criticisms are fundamentally misguided. First, of course, we perceive that coalition building is the very essence of the process of creating a strong political community that will bring real change to our existing DC culture and leadership class. An isolated and marginalized group has no power-- we saw that phenomenon with Ron Paul in the Republican presidential primaries, and we see it in politics over and over again. Second, we at BreakTheMatrix are not concerned at all that our leftist partners are stepping up in some key leadership roles for the benefit of the coalition. Indeed, this is as it should be. As mentioned above, Glenn Greenwald was the one whe came forward first to expose the corruption of the FISA reauthorization process in a public way. Many on the left responded to Glenn's writing and the sellout activity by the Democratic congressional leaders. This Democrat sellout did not affect the Ron Paul community in as visceral a manner as it did the civil liberties left, so it is not surprising that the left played a lead role in the early organization and funding of the PAC. There's plenty of time for the Strangebedfellows to address a variety of issues and candidates-- not everything needs to happen at once-- and we applaud the energy and commitment shown by civil liberties progressives who are standing up to their own Democratic leaders in much the same manner that Ron Paul stood tall against the Republican establishment during the presidential primary season. Finally, where Obama is concerned, we perceive that an attack directed at the presidential level would not be a good use of funds and effort. McCain is as bad as Obama on FISA and the war issues, and at least in our view the correct strategy for Strangebedfellows and the PAC is to bring political power to bear where it can do the most good-- i.e., in Congressional races where an anti--freedom candidate is being opposed by a freedom candidate. This, in our view, is the way to go, and we see endless opportunities for meaningful success down the road. As we say so often at BreakTheMatrix-- one step at a time.

Jeremy
08-11-2008, 04:08 PM
That PAC only supports Dems doesn't it?... you screwed the Ron Paul Republicans!

ItsTime
08-11-2008, 04:09 PM
That PAC only supports Dems doesn't it?... you screwed the Ron Paul Republicans!

They dont care! And now they have said so...

Alawn
08-11-2008, 04:23 PM
So we are supposed to be happy and should encourage Ron Paul republicans to raise money to get as many democrats into office while getting as many republicans out of office and not work to help a single Ron Paul republican?

Rhys
08-11-2008, 04:28 PM
this is lame.

what's more lame is they're spending so much money and time on a single symptom issue. Ron Paul Revolution knows the problems and the cures... and here's bedfellows harping on one issue out of our thousands.... ignoring the single issue which must be addressed...

This is sooooooo establishment.