Going forward, winding down

Topics:
  1. Winding Down

    1. FEC report and Campaign Debt
    2. Getting out those thank-you notes
    3. Disconnecting phones
    4. Web page, emails, etc.
  1. Address to State Committee
  2. Are you on Tom Allen's email list?
  3. On the Personal Front

1. Winding Down
  1. FEC report and Campaign Debt

    We're almost done with all the essential data-entry that needs to happen before that critical post-election Federal Elections Commission report, due December 7, can be filed. With adjustments for any post-campaign contributions made to help pay down the campaign debt (hint, hint), and any last-minute expenses (like more postage stamps for those thank-you notes), that report will look something like this:
    • about $120,400 in total revenue over the entire campaign,
    • about $1,100 cash on hand,
    • just over $19,400 in campaign debt.
    That last part breaks down to:
    • $3,315 still on the campaign credit card, mainly for some last-minute TV ad time, as well as routine campaign office expenses like copy paper, stationery, envelopes, toner, etc. That bill is due Dec. 22.
    • $2,950 in unpaid travel vouchers for Jean and David for October and November.
    • $13,150 in loans from Jean to cover unpaid travel vouchers during the 17 months Jean was on the campaign trail pre-primary.

  2. Getting out those thank-you notes
    Now that the dust has almost settled around here, we're in the process of getting out all those thank-you notes, hundreds of them, for the help that came in the last few weeks and months of the campaign. Thank you again, all of you, for your support during the entire campaign, and especially in that last push, when it looked like the entire nation had come around to adopting my campaign platform of ending the war, getting national health care, moving to energy self-sufficiency, and rescuing our Constitution.

  3. Disconnecting phones
    As you might expect, we'll be discontinuing all those VOIP phone numbers we've been using to make it convenient for all of you all over the state and in Washington, DC, to reach our office without a toll call. That will happen during the first week of December, which is coming right up. We'll be keeping the campaign phone number (207-234-4224) for the time being, if you need to reach us. It's a ring-mate number on our home phone number. And speaking of phones, David's cell phone number will be changing soon, we don't have a new number yet. Call the house (207-234-4226) if you need to reach him.

  4. Web page, emails, etc.
    We'll be keeping the web page up for the time being, until we decide what it might/could morph into.
    Thanks again to our two wonderful volunteer webmasters, Alisha Langerman, who carried the ball for most of the campaign, and Dan Ellis, who stepped in this fall to help out Alisha when her college studies took precedent (as well they should).
    Meanwhile, we're still adding to it.
    Check out the Supporters page for several new additions.
    Check out the Blog for recent post-election postings of supporters' emails (and thank you for those wonderful emails).

    Speaking of emails, we've been having trouble lately sending to Yahoo.com email addresses, sometimes just in bulk, other times even single emails. We hear other political sites have had this problem, too. So if you have some political cronies with yahoo.com accounts, feel free to forward this missive.

    In the "etc." department, if you still see a lawn sign of ours up on a public right of way, please do us a favor and stop and take it away. Unless they're in someone's front yard, they're supposed to be gone a week after the election. Thanks.
    Also in the "etc." department, you might like to read what I told the Maine Democratic Party State Committee at its meeting on Nov. 19 (more below).

2. Address to State Committee
I gave a blunt post-election analysis to the MDP State Committee at its meeting Nov. 19 -- what worked (Coordinated Campaign, grassroots activists and organizing, etc.), and what didn't (help from national organizations, confusion about my access to Maine's Clean Election funds, etc.). Total report is posted on the web page. Here are some excerpts:

...Support from the grassroots for my campaign was tremendous. That's what kept me going. So many people, who shared our vision for where we needed to go in this country....Support from the Maine Democratic Party was helpful. Howard Dean's Coordinated Campaign structure worked better than I've ever seen a coordinated campaign work.

...Many people were reasonably assuming that the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee and EMILY’s List were providing money and support, because that is their supposed reason for existing. Both organizations adamantly refused to help. . .

...Compounding the problem for me was Maine's Clean Election Fund. ....People perceived that I was getting Clean Election money, or that I had the opportunity to get Clean Election money but chose not to take it.... People asked me in emails why they were not seeing ads for me, when they were seeing two other women running for statewide office [Pat LaMarche and Barbara Merrill] with ads all over the television, for months.... Maine's Clean Election Fund is only available to candidates running for Governor and State House and State Senate seats in the Maine Legislature. It does not extend to federal candidates, for the U. S. House of Representatives or U. S. Senate.


3. Are you on Tom Allen's email list?
First District Congressman Tom Allen called the other day, and in the course of the conversation wondered how many of my supporters were already on his email list, and, conversely, how many were not but might want to be. (Did I mention Maine's other U.S. Senate seat, now held by Susan Collins, will be on the ballot in two years? Could that be why Tom Allen is interested in our statewide list? Stay tuned.)

Rather than compare email lists directly, we decided to let you be the filter. Please click the appropriate link below, to send us an email and let us know where you stand.

Yes, please forward my name and email address to Tom Allen. I'd like to keep up with what he's doing.
Thanks, I'll sign up myself at TomAllen.org
Thanks, but I'm already on Tom Allen's email list


4. On the Personal Front
Now that the campaign is behind us, David and I are in the position of deciding what to do with the rest of our lives. We're in our late 50's, too young to retire, and can't afford to anyway until Social Security kicks in. We are weighing all our options, and in a lot of ways, we are looking forward to that adventure.

My focus right now is on getting the farm back up and running, from its nearly two-year hiatus while I was out campaigning. I've spent a lot of time on the tractor recently, on every dry day, mowing those fields that should have been mowed in August. We've been pouring over the seed catalogs, I've signed on to one small summertime farmers market so far, and David is nearly done putting the hoophouse frame on the tank foundation that we had poured last year to hold the two 5,000-gallon irrigation tanks. These unseasonably warm days (global warming, anyone?) have been helpful in that regard.

As you may know, David was very supportive of my attempt to change the world through electoral politics, by providing not only the personal and political encouragement I needed to take on such a daunting, all-consuming task, but also by providing the financial support from his full-time job for our day-to-day living expenses. That full-time job ended last Spring, when David's company downsized and he was laid off. At that time we had a decision to make. Would David look for another full-time job, or would he become my full-time unpaid campaign manager? He REALLY wanted to be the full-time campaign manager. So, we made the decision to eat into our limited retirement savings for personal expenses for the rest of the campaign. If I won the election, I would be the breadwinner with my Senate salary and David would be the farmer. If I lost the election, I would again be the farmer, and David would go job-hunting.

That's where we are now. He's checking out some job prospects right now, and we'll see what the future brings.

Thank you all again, for all the support and enthusiasm you all put into this campaign. Knowing you were there, and that you're still out there, by the thousands, knowing that we still share a vision for what American is, what it needs to be and become, is what keeps me from being discouraged -- at least for the moment -- about the fate of the world, the nation, and the state of Maine.

Best wishes for a wonderful Holiday Season, and let's hope and pray for real Peace on Earth in the New Year.

Keep in touch.
Love to you all,
Jean