no longer using blogger

I switched to Word Press in May and my new blog is: http://www.tomllewis.com/

updated blog

Hi there. I don't know why you'd be looking at this, because I've never publicized this web address.

But here you are.

I decided to use WordPress, so you can find me at: tomllewis.com

Hope to see you there.

tom

NY20 - Election Day

Here we are, Election Day.

It's been quite a ride that started on January 27th, when Jim Tedisco asked if I'd be his Finance Chairman. I was surprised by the call, given that I'd never raised money beyond Saratoga County (one of the 10 counties in the 20th CD) and I didn't know if I'd be able to meet his expectations.

Well, the team raised over $1,500,000. So I guess we did pretty good, considering that it was an 8 week campaign. I'll do a more in depth analysis later, when I have more perspective looking back and see things a little clearer. But the short version is this:

Howard Becker, the Finance Director, did an excellent job driving the whole team (Melissa Schwarz, Ali Almour from NRCC, and me). He's been with Jim for over 25 years and was the chief fund raiser for RACC (Republican Assembly Campaign Committee) for the past 3 years, when Jim became the Minority Leader. He got to know most of the State's major Republican supporters and knew who to ask and schedule fund raising events.

My role, besides raising money from Saratoga County (1/3 of the District), or anyone I knew, was to coordinate with Finance Chairs from each County to hold events. I met some great people as well as some who said they'd do x, y and z... and ..... didn't. Of course, that happens with any organization.

The fun part was how the race became National in many respects. A large part of the money raised came from Wash DC - both from PACS and members of Congress. They saw that winning the first 2009 election could be viewed as a referendum on Obama and Pelosi. And that's why over $165,000 was raised on the Internet. We'll never be able to do that again when we're just one of 435 congressional races.

I'll post the breakdown in future posts, but a rough number is: about 80% of the Internet money raised was from outside NY20, and more than 60% from out of the State.

I'll also write about my experiences at CPAC, where I met some very smart people who were all true believers.

As to the race. My gut says it can go either way. I DO expect to win tonight, but my gut hasn't always been right every time.

Jim Tedisco Congressional Race

37 days to go

Sent from my iPhone

NY20

Things are going well with the Jim Tedisco campaign. The money is coming in pretty much as it should. I'm pleased by the over $14,000 that's come in over the Internet, with almost no effort. Mostly $20.00 donations. As we get nearer to election day, it should increase. Our side is much more motivated.

Jim's two TV ads came out very good. I was surprised that Murphy's ad this morning was lame.

goptechsummit

I signed up to a new site: goptechsummit. It's great fun learning how these sites all interconnect.

Patrick Ruffini wrote an excellent article called: Fundraising is Not an Independent Variable.

It really gives a plain answer to my question: "How did Obama raise so much money?"

I posted the following comment.

To the left was a typical Mc Cain fund raiser.


Below was a photo, is a typical Obama fund raiser.

CPAC

Getting psyched about CPAC.

Some of the people I have met through Twitter are going, and we're setting up times & places to meet each other.

People I expect to connect with are: Ali Akbar, Teri Christoph (SGP), Mindy Finn, Leslie Sanchez, David All, Josh Bowling, Tiffany Shorter, Fausta, Adam Piper ... more to come.

Tedisco NY20

Obviously I've postponed learning how to blog until after the NY20 race.

Jim Tedisco asked me to be his Finance Chairman. I said yes, even though I've never organized such a large territory (10 counties). I know we can set up a decent structure, but the time frame and the scope of what's needed are quite large.

We will need to get significant financial support from National, which I expect will happen. The race is very likely to get National attention given the sequence of Obama to Hillary to Caroline to Gillibrand/Patterson.

I was encouraged when Eric Cantor & Newt Gingrich called Jim and said they'd work for his victory.

It'd be fun logging the day's experiences, but the time is better spent working the fund raising organization.

Day 2

I figured out how to add links onto my page, separating them into catagories. Step one.

Now onto a post - step two.

http://rightwingnews.com/

Step three: As soon as I can catch up (probably never) I'll start a #ny20 page for Jim Tedisco's Congressional race. He should get a vote from the 10 County Chairmen this Tuesday and become official. I can't see what can derail it, but it's never over until the votes are cast. Everyone's been there before.

Timing is always a factor (just enjoyed Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers) and I'm lucky to be in a position to be part of this exciting and likely very prominent race.

test post

The is a test, here is a link to a list of Twitter tools.

Here are over 35 Twitter resources for your iPhone, G1, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile device, smartphone, or basic cell phone.

To add an image, click on "image" icon and upload from file. Then set whether you want left, middle, right or on its own line.












this will be the 2nd link, for some twitter tips.