| As a candidate from the netroots I know how much we are into meta as our method for understanding. Well, this is probably the first campaign meta. But remember this is real and this is what Obama and Hillary and all the other candidates go through at some degree. Enjoy but remember that this is not a staged reality TV show. I am running for Congress to win and we are a campaign that really needs your help. It's not hype and it's not hyperbole.
Next week, Q1 FEC reports come out. I'm going to give you a preview of what they say about my run for Congress. You can see what we've raised on ActBlue and how many supporters we have. This doesn't count a fair number of checks mailed to us outside of ActBlue. Combining them, this isn't bad for a candidate like me, someone who has led many teams but has never held elective office. Super stars like Darcy Burner and Charlie Brown started in this range and look at where they are now.
| WHAT WE NEED | (Details Below) |
| Voter contact | $36,000 |
| E-Campaign | $3,750 |
| Overhead | $19,500 |
| Fundraising Costs | $5,250 |
| Signs | $2,500 |
| GOTV | $1,000 |
| Misc. | $2,250 |
| Total | $70,250 |
Why we need to win the primary - Incumbent Gary Miller
Gary Miller is part of the old political style and culture where politicians used their office to benefit themselves and their friends. His questionable style has been to act as if he's free do what he wants regardless of how it looks and whether it is illegal or not.
From Wikipedia:
2002
Miller sold 165 acres to the city of Monrovia in 2002, making profit of more than $10 million. Normally, he would have had to pay state and federal taxes of up to 31% on that profit.
Instead, Miller told the Internal Revenue Service and the state of California that Monrovia had forced him to sell the property under threat of eminent domain. That allowed him to shelter the profits from capital gains taxes for more than two years before he had to reinvest the money.
The trouble is that the Monrovia city officials said they never threatened him with eminent domain.
2005 and 2006
Miller took an exemption again in 2005 when he sold the 10 lots to the city of Fontana and again in 2006 when he sold a building to Fontana, claiming both were compulsory sales. The lots and building had been purchased in late 2004 with proceeds from the Monrovia sale. Such exemptions give him another two years after each sale to reinvest the funds without paying capital gains taxes.
Again this time city officials said the sale was voluntary.
2005 profits from dealings with business partner and federal transportation bill
As a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Miller pushed for a provision in the 2005 transportation bill that allowed the city of Rialto to close its airport, the first time an act of Congress has ever shuttered an airport. It is a power the Federal Aviation Administration traditionally has had sole authority to exercise. The closing of the airport paved the way for Lewis Operating, a business partner and campaign contributor, to win a multimillion dollar contract from the city to develop the airport land and build a planned community consisting of 2,500 homes, parks and 80 acres of retail space on the former airport and adjacent land.
That's pretty obviously slimy if not illegal.
December 2006 allegations
In December 2006, the Los Angeles Times reported that Miller had used "congressional muscle" for "personal business matters."[7] This included having congressional staff do Miller's personal errands, collecting nearly $25,000 a year in rent from his campaign committee, using the offices of his real estate development firm as his campaign office, and ordering an aide to find a way to get a city business-friendly councilmember on the National Park Board who was involved in a city purchase of Miller's property. And there's more out there. We've been contacted by people on other issues not listed in Wikipedia which we are looking into now. That will be revealed soon.
THE VISION
We started with a vision to help change the national conversation. We started this campaign because we wanted to help change our national character to one dedicated to doing what's best for Americans and America.
Paraphrasing Plato, in a democratic society "the penalty that good people pay for not being interested in politics is to be governed by lesser people".
Lesser people do nothing as millions of Americans go without health care.
Lesser people do nothing as our economy degrades under the weight of corruption and special interests.
Lesser people do nothing as our sons and daughters, our fathers and mothers, lose their lives in the cross fire of a civil war or on the rubble-strewn streets of a decimated Iraq.
Lesser people serve their own interests, and those of their contributors, at the expense of the general public.
We are all tired of being governed by lesser people. It doesn't matter if you're a Democrat or Republican, I'm sure that you are too.
THE BEGINNING
Many but not all of you know our story so bear with me while I take us all back to Jan 2007. A group of us who'd met at YK2006 in Las Vegas got together for dinner at Cantor's for a few beers when Adam "clammyc" Lambert came to LA on a business trip.
This campaign grew out of that gathering, after Dave "dday" Dayen said "Hey Ron -- don't you live in Gary Miler's district"?
Previous diaries in the CA-42 campaign rollout series:
7/15: thereisnospoon's CA-42: A Kossack is running for Congress
7/16: atdnext's CA-42: The Case Against Dirty Gary Miller
7/17: Major Danby's CA-42: I'm managing a netroots U.S. House campaign
7/18: CanYouBeAngryAndStillDream's CA-42: Hi, I'm Ron Shepston and I'm running for Congress
7/19: hekebolos's CA-42: A Netroots campaign-- politics the way it should be.
7/20: dday's CA-42: The Lay of the Land
7/21: OrangeClouds115 CA-42: "I Know His Heart"
7/22: Shockwave's CA-42: Ron Shepston rides into a Republican stronghold
7/24: Major Danby's CA-42: On YearlyKos, anger, and dreams
7/25: thereisnospoon's Get Off the Internet!
7/26: buhdydharma's Help Save This Baby! **
7/28: clammyc's CA-42, 2008 and the netroots: a jumping off point
THE CAMPAIGN
The creation of this site and the many other left-leaning blogs marked the beginning of a movement to make the changes we all know need to be made and in which we are actively participating. My campaign is a logical extension to actively govern while beating Democrat and Republican leaders about the head and shoulders with facts and the reality- based honest assessment of them.
We don't get everything right and making mistakes is all part of every movement. We've made a few and we're still here making some waves and giving people in the very red 42nd a local race to feel good about. We are on the threshold of big things for the country and the world but we need more help and involvement because we are at risk here. I'm sure that we and the country will survive a lose in an +9 Republican district but we don't want to lose. This is a case where winning and losing are definable and we know how to win.
A SHORT STORY
Let me tell you a short story about myself and something significant in understanding how I approach working with people and how I look at the netroots and grassroots support for my race.
Back in 1992 after training nearly two years and a failure after just 10 months I raced in a 508 mile bicycle race,
The Furnace Creek 508.
After a decent start under control I approached a 10-mile hill up Townes Pass leading into Death Valley. The bottom of the hill is at around 190 miles at approximately 9pm. That's early enough so that I was still feeling strong. Halfway up the relentless 9-10% grade I was toasted as we say when we have so little left that even standing is difficult.
On a race like this riders have crews. I had a support vehicle which stayed with me and a car to scout the course ahead. They were manned by family and friends. When I stopped halfway up the hill I leaned over my handle bars for support and said to my friend and crew chief Larry - "what makes me think I can complete another 300 miles when I feel like this now". He didn't respond directly. I asked for a pair of Teva sandals so that I could walk a while. Larry gave them to me with the words - "Just get to the top, eat a little then you can take a rest".
I walked about ½ mile, got back on the bike and rode to the top. When I got there at nearly midnight Larry said "sleep for a little and then you can get back on the bike".
When I did I had new energy and new power. I passed more than a few riders to finish 6th in a field of 28. 19 did not finish.
1992 Furnace Creek 508 Results:
1) Muffy Ritz, 35, Ketchum, ID - 30:54:36
1) Eric House, 30, Palo Alto, CA - 29:54:37
2) Gerald Tessmer, 26, Bramsche, Germany - 34:55:55
3) Rick Adolph, 33, Sunnyvale, CA - 35:23:33
4) Frank Goulard, 40, Beaverton, OR - 35:40:45
5) Ron Shepston, 45, Fountain Valley, CA - 38:49:27
6) Brian Stark, 44, Paso Robles, CA - 40:17:30
7) James Byrnes, 24, Laramie, WY - 41:25:53
8) Barry Martin, 40, San Diego, CA - 43:48:36
THE HARD PART
Our campaign is now heading up the hill and I'm looking for my crew to help me get to the top and then to finish. Just as with my race on a bicycle, this is a race that is not about me but about a team who all have a common goal.
Many of you have already been extremely generous financially and emotionally. For that I'm grateful. We need to take this to the next level.
For my part I'm working from 7:15 am 'til 11-11:30 pm every day. Included in this is about 20 hours a week of call time calling people and directly asking for money.
I'm going to events like the one put on by my friends Dante "hekebolos" Adkins and Netroots Coordinator Dave "dday" Dayen for The Responsible Plan with Darcy Burner and Mary Palent. This event was held at the house of the amazing Rick Jacobs, founder of The Courage Campaign, and Shaun Kadlec.
In May we will be having two fundraisers with Ambassador Joe Wilson. We're hoping to get his wife Valerie Plame, but we don't know if we can pull that off. The venues and exact dates and times will be published once arrangements have been completed.
So, we're busting butt to win the primary. Here's how you can help.
THE ASK
We have done a cash flow projection for the final two months of the campaign. There are 7 weeks 'til the primary on Jun 3rd. The following is a monthly end-of-week cash projection.
This is an opportunity to encourage others who share our vision to join in definable goals right along with the direct campaign staff and candidate. The campaign can't do it alone. We need your help.
| Voter contact | $36,000 |
| Email | $3,000 |
| Robo Calls | $8,500 |
| Mail | $10,000 |
| Radio | $4,500 |
| Predictive Dialer | $10,000 |
| E-Campaign | $3,750 |
| Google Ads | $1,750 |
| Website Update | $2,000 |
| Overhead | $19,500 |
| Erik | $7,000 |
| Theo | $9,000 |
| Office | $1,500 |
| Printing | $2,000 |
| Fundraising Costs | $5,250 |
| Joe Wilson | $2,000 |
| Direct Mail | $1,500 |
| Misc | $2,250 |
| Signs | $2,500 |
| GOTV | $1,000 |
| Misc. | $2,250 |
| Total | $70,250 |
From these elements and cash flow projections we get a weekly cash income needs:
| Week 1 | $13,250 |
| Week 2 | $7,750 |
| Week 3 | $7,750 |
| Week 4 | $24,250 |
| Week 5 | $6,750 |
| Week 6 | $4,750 |
| Week 7 | $5,750 |
Okay, that's it. Are we going to be the source of the change we want to make or are we going to let others decide for us? We stand here with an opportunity that rarely presents itself to those in our position. We can ignore that or we can seize it as a community.
I started as a frustrated citizen, now I'm running for Congress but this campaign is not about me. It's about all of us coming together to make the changes we know need to be made. This is about changing the character of our government to one which cares about America and Americans.
The choice is ours. |
