Our Country Deserves Better PAC formed a few months ago when it appeared John McCain's campaign was being too passive and also too "soft" in response to Obama.
The participants (see here: Who We Are - HERE - I'm Joe btw) had worked together on various past projects such as pro-troop group Move America Forward, recall of Gray Davis in California, trips to Iraq to support the troops, fight against illegal immigration (Hold Their Feet to the Fire, support of the San Diego Minutemen, etc...)
We formed to both motivate the base to vote for McCain (he certainly wasn't MY CHOICE for nominee, but when it came down to Obama winning the nomination it was clear that this was someone we could not entrust the governance to the United States to... not during this time in history). We also wanted to appeal to conservative Democrats and Hillary Clinton Democrats - focusing attention on the issues of Obama's horrible positions on national security matters, his ignorance and arrogance. We also recognized that Hillary Clinton supporters noted that Obama was all about HIM... and they hated that in the primary, and some of them not only want their party (the Democrat party) back (it's now run by Obama associates and allies obviously - which is typical for a party's nominee) but they also are responsive to the "country first" message.
Since we are a PAC we can only get contributions up to $5,000 per person... so we can't have someone give us a big chunk of money like how most 527s and 501c4's operate. Thus, we're never going to be able to say "this ad will have $3.5 million behind it" and get too much national press attention - they love Obama, and they will not report on opposition efforts unless they cannot ignore it.
So we are doing targeted TV ad campaigns (see the TV ads here: Our TV Ads and other videos - HERE ). in swing states (beginning in Michigan, Colorado, Nevada) and backing this up with a national tour with these roughly 35 rallies - we know we can get local press when we come into town.
So that is what we are doing and what donations go towards.
One final note to correct you on: an "ad" does not mean something is paid for or not. It means that it "advertises" something. In corporate arena that is a product, service or company. In political arena that means a candidate, cause or initiative.
This is a web ad against Obama and for McCain/Palin.
Our TV ads are all :30's and :60's as this is the amount of time most frequently sold. You can certainly by :10 second ads and :15 second ads, but you pay a much higher price per second for the ad.
You can hate our strategy if you want (I don't know that you do, but if you do that's fine). Disagree with our messaging. Say our tour and rallies are stupid if you like.
But please do not call us liars or frauds, when we've done nothing but work very hard, day-after-day, for very long hours.
Our singer accompanying these events is Lloyd Marcus who also produced these videos. He did this because this is his passion:
So you ARE doing TV ads? Well, congratulations, Joe. If you had said that in the first place instead, you wouldn’t’ve inspired the cynicism in the first place.
There’s nothing wrong with a little web-based fundraising, especially if it helps provide people with some ammunition on the home front. But as an organization, be open about it and let people know what you intend to do with the money they contribute. Personally, if McCain refuses to fight a given battle that might tell us a little of who he is as a leader, and maybe you can just let McCain be McCain, but I certainly respect doing what you can for a guy you believe in.
But there’s nothing to make skepticism turn into full-blown cynicism like failing to address the substance of the skepticism and attacking the skeptic. I didn’t misread your post; you called it an ad, and you never made that it was a web-only ad. I had reason for the skepticism, and you went after my reading comprehension skills. Maybe you can learn a thing or two from McCain.
Cool! Thanks for the links to the Lloyd Marcus ads, and thanks again for your efforts in countering the propaganda of the UnAmerican Democrat Party.
(just ignore their guttersnipes!)