You write:

“tk…more…think of the last time the MSM covered an inside-baseball story about a third-party writing a check to a candidate. I can’t think of one instance, can you? ”

I can’t think of the last time a third party publicly presented a check to a candidate.

Obviously you’re not going to get a bunch of MSM buzz if a check is mailed, deposited, logged and its only public mention is a line in the campaign finance reports.

If you want MSM coverage, you make the check a four-foot sweepstakes-type monster, you present it in a public place and with as much fanfare as you can manage (and for a couple hundred dollars you can manage more than you think), and you announce to the press that you’ll be doing so, with some background that saves them work on finding the “angle.”

It’s not the check, or the amount of the check, that’s the news. It’s the public presentation of it with fanfare, and the symmetry between it and bigger checks from major parties to their candidates, and the fact that you’re making it EASY for the MSM to turn it into a story.

Would the MSM coverage be of sufficient quality and quantity to be worth the $5,000 investment (plus probably $2-300 in event costs)? I don’t know … but if you think it would be difficult to get SOME MSM coverage for this kind of thing, you’re high.

You can help in at least three ways:

1. Donate

http://joekennedyforsenate.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=84&Itemid=124

or

Committee to Elect Joe Kennedy to Senate
P.O. Box 368
Needham Heights, MA 02494-0003

2. fundraise

25% commission on any money you can raise by phone, email, web ads, or any other methods. Call me at 415-690-6352 for details. Unfortunately I have very little time for/access to internet right now, it’s a lot easier by phone.

3. Gather ballot access signatures

Currently at $1/signature paid by check on delivery. The price may go up if the fundraising does well, but right now Joe is just trying to recoup the money he borrowed against his house for the bare minimum of signatures. I’m up here getting him signatures now, and we need more petitioners.

Oh yeah….you can also help with publicity by spreading joekennedyforsenate.com as widely as possible.

My assessment has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with competence, or lack of it. The greatest flak in the world would not make a small check from the LNC MSM newsworthy, in my judgment.

The Kennedy campaign itself MAY be newsworthy, more as a curiousity like the Stern or Perot efforts at this point. Of course, JK may be the greatest LP candidate of all time, which would be wonderful!

Even if the voter doesn’t notice that the name is the first part of the URL, ip2geo info can be used to show the voter all her nearby Libertarian candidates, thus reinforcing the whole the slate. This also lets LP candidates avoid spending money on domain names, because DefendsLiberty.com is already paid for and subdomains cost nothing. It also lets candidates re-use materials when they run for the same office again.

Actually, it could be an $18,000 check — special rules for Senate candidates — but an examination of LNC finances suggest $18 is more like it.

The Lawn sign design issue is a challenge. name race and a couple words is all people read. Since Kennedy, much more so than most of the candidates noted above — has an active, effective web site, the URL is probably relatively effective to distribute. A useful question is whether it is worthwhile to append the http://www. on the front.