PAC Asks Voters Where To Spend 10K

An anonymous reader submits "Not sure if this is for real or not, but for what it's worth, it seems like a Democratic PAC is letting people vote on where to spend US$10k of its money. Think Oregon is a more important swing state? Pennsylvania? Let' em know at ORvPA.org. What kind of issues does this raise? Think Republicans will try and game the vote? Does it really matter in the grand scheme of things? Is this a good example of trying to harness the wisdom of crowds?"

Comments

Titonka, IA

[TykeClone]

More specifically, they can just go ahead and send it to me.

Inundated

[Anonymous Coward]

Boy, we are sure getting inundated with these "Politics" stories ever since slashdot decided to create a new category. I'm wondering, though, how many Politics stories we're going to see after the election. And how is a story about the Patriot Act going to get classified in the future ("Politics" or "Your Rights Online")?

Heh Heh Heh...

[DesScorp]

Texas. Definitely spend it in Texas. John Kerry has a great chance there. Just a few more dollars...

Re:Heh Heh Heh...

[idiotnot]

The DNC has been spending a ton of money on TV ads in Virginia. No dem has carried VA since Johnson.

I'd vote for Alabama. They need to spend some time explaining Kerry's nuanced positions to the boys down there.

Not a swing state anymore

[Marxist Hacker 42]

But if they wanted to spend it in Oregon, I'd spend it paying 100 unemployed people $100 each to go door to door.

Re:Not a swing state anymore

[bluGill]

Sounds good to me. Spend it on door to door salesmen while all the working folk are busy at their jobs. I like it.

Re:Not a swing state anymore

[Marxist Hacker 42]

And more importantly- turn some unemployed bums into door to door salesmen for a day. It might just give them a new lease on life- and will certainly enable them to live on the streets another week.

Frist Phost

[Anonymous Coward]

Spend the money on booze and whores, because we all know Bush will win anyway!

Send me Gmail invites.

[Anonymous Coward]

Send Gmail invites to j2qybeq02@sneakemail.com. They will be used for a good cause and you will be richly rewarded.

What is this showing up on the front page?

[Anonymous Coward]

My question is, why the hell are all these lame politics stories showing up on the front page when I SPECIFICALLY excluded them in my preferences. Seriously, who cares...

They've already done the best thing...

[doodlelogic]

$10,000 can't buy much in a modern election. By putting up this website, and getting it linked here and probably elsewhere, the PAC will probably get its message across to thousands across the US.

If you're starting from nothing, it's not how much money you've got, or even where you use it, so much as your ideas and ingenuity.

If Howard Dean was running, there'd be a lot more web stunts like this. Don't know if that's a good or a bad thing though!

PA, obviously

[Tumbleweed]

If Kerry doesn't take PA, he's _not_ going to win. He can do without Oregon (though he'll have to take at least one other swing state), but without PA, no chance whatsoever, unless he takes pretty much every other swing state, which I don't see happening. It's fun and scary playing with those online Electoral Vote calculators.

Re:PA, obviously

[antifoidulus]

Heh, as a lifelong PA resident I just want to say that the way PA votes is very strange. First of all, you have 2 urban centers(Pittsburgh and Philly), that outside of a few affluent suburbs always vote liberal. But then you have the huge center of the state which is mostly farmers and laborers who are very conservative(well, socially, maybe not so much economically). PA almost always votes democrat in the presidential race, but both our senators are conservative, including one of the most conservative members of the Senate, Santorum and the moderate Specter who barely beat off a very conservative challenger in the primary. He will probably win re-election this year mainly because Hoeffel doesn't have much money(that is the problem running for Senate in a presidential election, most of the party's money goes elsewhere).
I pick Kerry to win PA mostly because, IIRC, PA has the 2nd highest # of elderly people(behind Florida), and a lot of that group which usually votes in record numbers are very upset with medicare. I wish Kerry was smart enough to capitalize on it though......

Re:PA, obviously

[Anonymous Coward]

As some one that livs in the 'burgh, I can tell you this place will not think and vote for the dumbacrate. My car gets ripped apart every day by the fuckoffs that are dumbacrates. I have been thinking of moving lately to a better place it has a better economy thin pittsburgh, and it is also conservitive (suprise suprise) I say fuck kerry fuck that baby killer. fuck slashdot, the liberal slashdot, fuck them all to hell, fuck the majority of slashdoters fuck them all to hell since they are all fucking dumbacrates

Re:PA, obviously

[zCyl]

Yeah, would that be Pittsburgh, aka, Knowledge City?

Important but OT: GOP against health

[Anonymous Coward]

sorry for the post. Where can one post messages for people who will do something about it?

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There is a concern that a similar amendment will be offered during debate of the Labor-HHS
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President
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The answer is clear

[drivers]

Oregon is already a Strong Kerry (10% ahead) state, and has 7 electoral votes. Pennsylvania is a Weak Kerry (3% ahead) state, with Bush gaining, and a projected tie on election day, and has 21 electoral votes.

Re:The answer is clear

[Anonymous Coward]

Not so sure. Gore only took Oregon by about 5000 votes in 2000. Plus, Oregon has early voting so Bush's good numbers now may help him there in case Kerry gains ground in the last few weeks. Finally, PA may have more electoral votes, but that just means the $10,000 will be spread around thinner there. I might go with OR on this one.

Crowds?

[opposume]

It has been my experience, that when asking anything of crowds, you find that there is rarely any wisdom and alot of following of the wrong people. Tis my humble opinion.

The wisdom of crowds.

[St. Arbirix]

Isn't this what Plato referred to as mob rule?

--Matthew

Re:The wisdom of crowds.

[jazman_777]

The idea that a crowd has wisdom is simply ludicrous. Maybe in a crowd you'll find wise individuals, but there's nothing like a crowd to make a lot of people act stupid together.

Re:The wisdom of crowds.

[St. Arbirix]

Exactly. And the corellary to that:

Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

The answer is obvious

[Anonymous Coward]

A Replublican would tell the Democrats to spend the money in Vermont.

mob rule...

[to be a troll]

Mob mentality seems so strange to me, blown around by the subtlest breeze.

i mean, who out there actually paying attention says "ooh, look at the mud thrown in Bush's face, he looks horrible... and Kerry's standing there all clean... I think Kerry is the way to go.."

is that not how these polls indicate these people think? wasnt it mob mentality that put Jesus on the cross? I am ready for November... I have had enough...

Re:mob rule...

[blackbear]

wasnt it mob mentality that put Jesus on the cross?

Wow, you had the spine to use the name of Jesus in a serious and positive way on slashdot. Just wait until the anti-religious religious zealots get their digital fingers on you. That +1 won't be there for long.

That said; you're right. Our representative democracy has been chipped slowly away for over a century in the interest of attaining that most heinous of things-- The tyranny of mob rule, brought about by direct democracy.

Re:mob rule...

[Snaller]

i mean, who out there actually paying attention says "ooh, look at the mud thrown in Bush's face, he looks horrible... and Kerry's standing there all clean... I think Kerry is the way to go.."

is that not how these polls indicate these people think?

More likely it indicates that people have finally woken up and realise that Bush is a greater threat to world peace that bin landen.

Fytte satan

[Anonymous Coward]

Amerikanere som "diskuterer" politikk. Magen min vrenger seg.

Republikanere og demokrater, samme greia.

Hvordan skal vi holde SUV'ene våre med drivstoff?
Hvordan kan vi tømme verden for rikdommer uten at den skjønner det?
Hvordan kan vi spre de konservative kristne verdiene våre?

"Goldwater Konservativ", "neokonservativ", "paleokonservative". Hva faen fåregår i hodene deres?

You're missing the motivation

[orthogonal]

Not sure if this is for real or not, but for what it's worth, it seems like a Democratic PAC is letting people vote on where to spend US$10k of its money.... Is this a good example of trying to harness the wisdom of crowds?

This has nothing to do with the wisdom of crowds.

It has everything to do with generating publicity for this PAC, and getting the people arguing for one state over another personally invested in the argument, so they'll have a personal, emotional reason to contribute even more money to the PAC.

A somewhat devious but likely workable strategy. As always in politics, follow the money.

And in case you are adverse to evaluating arguments without knowing the biases of the person offering those arguments, I'm all for Kerry, or indeed, Anybody But Bush.

Web stunt or participatory democracy?

[yuppo]

Such efforts may well be able to capitalize upon the wisdom of crowds, but equally as important is that it helps people develop ownership of politics at a fundamental level. The Dean campaign was heavily "owned" by its supporters. It was dominated by the sincere solicitation of input, a high-velocity top-down and bottom-up flow of ideas, decentralized decision-making, and sustained local action. Joe Trippi, http://www.joetrippi.com/, correctly characterizes this dynamic of the campaign as I experienced it from the grassroots level. He frames it as a new, technology-enabled form of participatory democracy. Looking through this (admittedly) idealistic lens, I think having a PAC ask how best to spend the money donated to it could be a micro instance of this greater, transformed mode of political action. If people feel empowered by being sincerely let into the process and become more sustained, everyday participants, it will help fix the system.

Oregonian for Pennsylvania

[peacefinder]

1) Nader did not make the ballot in Oregon, which should strengthen Kerry against Bush quite a bit.

2) Oregon's polls show a trend of Kerry opening a gap, whereas Pennsylvania is trending towards a tie. (Of course, the site maintainer will be the first to say that these projections are not very reliable until October.)

3) Pennsylvania is more populous, which means more electoral votes at stake and more expense to reach the voters.

This Oregonian thinks the money is best spent in Pennsylvania.

Re:Oregonian for Pennsylvania

[peacefinder]

Whoops. Maybe Nader did make the Oregon ballot after all. One more appeal to go, then we'll know for sure.

Anyway, Pennsylvania is still more in need of the funds, IMHO.