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Although it is pretty self-explanatory, I really should explain how this all came about, and what I am hoping to accomplish. I am just an ordinary individual who would hate to see Trump back in the White House. This project started as a way for me to vent a little, but now I would really like to do more. I have some ideas about how to go about this, but I am unable to do it alone.

Like a lot of people, I am frustrated by all those MAGA types who think Trump can do no wrong.  There are a lot of minds we will never change, but then, we don't have to.  The electorate is so closely divided that reaching only a relatively small number of people in a very limited number of places could have a big impact. I believe that is difficult, but do-able. Tipping points can be very hard to recognize until after the fact, but when things tip, they can tip quickly (remember the "Dean Scream")? We just have to figure out a way to give things a little shove.

Here I draw inspiration from the story of Andrew Tobias. He is a highly entertaining personal-finance guru and author who found himself living and working in Russia around the 1980s. He was really bothered by all the people he saw smoking, and wanted to do something about it. He realized that with the collapse of the ruble, the price of TV advertising had fallen through the floor, and he and a few buddies were able to buy prime time commercial spots, paying out of their own pockets. They flooded the airwaves with anti-smoking public service announcements, and probably saved a lot of lives. 

That would be nice, but prohibitive. I’m thinking old school: print media. Originally, my idea was just a lot of letters to the editor, but there’s no guarantee they would be published. There are, however, lots of local newspapers, and while there advertising rates have not fallen to the floor, they are still relatively affordable. For a few hundred dollars, I was able to buy three ads, one in New Hampshire and two in Iowa, choosing those places for obvious reasons. I reprinted them in the archives above. 

In my mind, it was worth it to spend that money just to get some of those feelings off my chest. Will it do anything to change the election? Unfortunately, not too likely. However, would it help to plaster Iowa and New Hampshire with similar ads? Perhaps.  Even though it would be a long-shot to change the course of the election, you never know - maybe it would help reach that tipping point. Even if it didn’t change the course of the primaries, it might plant a seed that would become important in the general election, especially if we could carry out a similar campaign in all the swing states. 

Unfortunately, I’ve pretty much reached the financial limits for my little vanity project. If it is to continue, I need some help. Otherwise, this will be a very short-lived experiment.

It is pretty simple. Donate using our secure server by using the Donate button on the home page. Minimum donation is $1. Once there is enough money in the account, I will buy a print ad. I may try to match donations at some level, but I cannot  make any promises. I will reprint all ads in the Archive section.

I welcome help writing the ads; I am sure there are people who are much better writers than I am!  I also am open to suggestions on where to place the ads.

By the way, I hate those fundraising emails flooding my inbox; I will only contact you if you explicitly ask me to. 

All of that may well be true. My answer would be, first, the two are not mutually exclusive; it is possible to donate to more than one place. Second, I am really worried about this election, and I have to try. We are still a year out, and I feel there is more that can be done. This kind of effort is more satisfying to me than just sending in a donation.

Just as an aside, my wife and I went to the Iowa State Fair in 2019, specifically to hear the candidates at the Speaker's Corner.   That is about 5 months before the Iowa caucuses, so pretty much all the candidates try to show up. We unfortunately missed Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg, but we saw Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Cory Booker, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and more.  And I mean, we got real up close and personal - for someone from California, where we never get to see candidates the flesh (unless you are a tech billionaire), it was pretty great. If you ever get the chance to go, I would recommend it, first for the fair itself, a real slice of Americana (lots of great fried food on a stick!), and second, for the grassroots democracy in action, which I found quite inspirational. I am not sure why this is connected at all to what I am trying to do here, but somehow it makes sense in my mind!