ActBlue is on the hunt for some kick-ass individuals to join the team and transform the Democratic Party: a communications genius, a legal mastermind, a blogger's blogger, and entry-level folks ready to learn the new tools of the trade.

If any of these sound like you, please read on. And if any of them sounds like someone you know, please send them this post and point them our way.

Since 2004 ActBlue has sent more than $30 million to over 2,000 Democratic campaigns and committees. We're laying the groundwork for aggressive targets in 2007-08: massive growth of our fundraiser network, increased outreach to thousands of state level campaigns, and raising $100 million for Democratic candidates and committees.

To reach those goals we're seeking comrades-in-arms, so to speak -- super-sharp people who share our political goals, our commitment to rock-solid dependability, our impatience with inefficiency, and our commitment to serving as an honest broker for all Democratic campaigns.

Here are our current openings -- for full descriptions and application info, see http://actblue.com/content/jobs

• Communications & Marketing Directory
• Staff Counsel
• Netroots Coordinator
• Political Associate
• Office Manager

Key qualities we're looking for in applicants for all positions:

• Serious written and oral communication skills
• Serious attention to detail
• Serious willingness to do whatever needs to be done
• Serious commitment to Democratic victory

We are extremely selective in who we hire. You'll be working with a close-knit team in a rather free-wheeling environment that rewards initiative. You'll need to learn quickly and grow comfortable making independent (and correct!) decisions. Political or campaign experience is often helpful, but not a requirement.

All positions are full-time in Boston. Come join us!

Questions? Email jobs@actblue.com.

A HUGE thank-you to the 1159 of you who left ActBlue tips as part of the netroots push, totalling $7300 over the past ten days. That's two out of every three donors who, in addition to supporting these kick-ass candidates, are helping to build strategic infrastructure for the Democratic movement. Two developments we wanted to share with everyone:

1. Help extend the netroots reach by becoming a top-notch fundraiser yourself! Please join ActBlue on Thursday, Sept. 14, 7pm Pacific Time (10pm Eastern) for our next rapid-fire Fundraising 101 conference call -- e-mail rsvp7@actblue.com for call-in information.
   
   
2. In the past year, we've started to meet some people in DC who really get what we're trying to do -- the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC). The DLCC is focused on precisely the things we've all been talking about for so long: creating lasting infrastructure, building Democratic strength at the most local levels, and identifying points of leverage in the strategic landscape. These are folks the blogosphere should get to know -- read below the fold to learn more.

In 30 days we'll be sending copies of An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore's phenomenal new book (and companion to his phenomenal movie) to everyone who uses ActBlue to raise at least $600 from at least 6 donors by September 6th.  (Just in case being part of the tidal wave of Democratic victory isn't motivation enough!)

Learn how to get started.

To help you reach this goal, we'll be hosting conference calls this week and next to share strategies for effective and fun fundraising, and to answer any questions about ActBlue that you may have.

The calls (approximately 30 minutes) will take place at

• 10pm EDT (7pm PDT) on Thursday, August 10th
• 7:30pm EDT (4:30pm PDT) on Tuesday, August 15th

For call-in information, please RSVP to rsvp (at) actblue (dot) com at least 12 hours before the call you'd like to join, and please specify whether you'd like to join the Thursday call or the Tuesday call.

Hope to talk to you soon — now get going!

(I've posted answers to some frequently asked questions below.)

I'm proud to announce that you can now use ActBlue to support Democratic candidates for state office in Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Texas! Special thanks to Annatopia and the TexRoots who pulled in the remaining funds we needed for Texas.

(For those who missed it, last month we activated Active Blue in Indiana, Iowa, Maine, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.)  

So now what?

1. Fundraise for state candidates!  Just visit the directories (IN | IA | ME | OR | PA | SD | TX | WI), choose a candidate, and click "start fundraising".


2. Spread the word by alerting your contacts in these states that we're now up and running.  You can also help by contributing to Texas candidates — a check in the mail is a great way to let campaigns know how they can use ActBlue.  


3. Help us expand to more states — Please contribute here and start fundraising here, and see the extended text for details.

Last week Chris Bowers ran this poll to decide where ActBlue should go next, and the results are in! We're now focusing our fire on Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Florida, and Montana. (We had originally planned on just going with four states, but with a statistical tie between Texas and Montana for the #4 spot we're including them both.)

Check out the the full background, but in brief, when we've activated ActBlue in these states:

• Every Democratic candidate for every state legislative and executive office can immediately accept contributions online.
• Every supporter can immediately fundraise online for the Democratic candidates and party committees of their choice.

There's just one catch: we need the resources to do it. The most challenging part of bringing this huge strategic advantage to Democrats at the state level is the legal side — the staff time and lawyers, Lawyers, LAWYERS, required to do this right are going to cost on average $10,000 per state, at least for the first set of states we take on.

So we're asking: can you help make it happen?

This isn't like supporting a single candidate: funds invested now will be returned many times over to candidates in crucial races across the country. So this is about leverage. This is about building a lasting piece of infrastructure for online politics, and bringing lasting strategic advantage to Democrats where it matters most.

Please support these states today.

A quick update on our work at ActBlue, and a request for your strategic insights --

Up until now we've only been legally set up to fundraise for candidates for U.S. House and Senate — but that's about to change in a big way. One of our biggest 2005-06 projects is to expand our fundraising capacity to candidates for state offices across the country. When we've activated ActBlue in a state:

• Every Democratic candidate for every state legislative and executive office can immediately accept contributions online.
• Every supporter can immediately fundraise online for the Democratic candidates and party committees of their choice.

We're shooting for all 50 states by the end of the 2005-06 cycle, and we've just taken our first step by launching in Virginia; now you can fundraise for (and contribute to) Tim Kaine, Leslie Byrne, and Creigh Deeds (Democratic candidates for Gov, Lt. Gov, and AG respectively), and any of the Democratic candidates for the Virginia State House.

The question now: where next? To be clear, we want to do all of the states, but navigating fifty states' worth of campaign finance laws is a big job — so this question is about priorities.

Please comment on this thread to let us know where we should focus first. What's strategically important? Where are the races that matter most? And see below the fold for more about how we're going to do it...

Just because Clermont is the last county to report doesn't mean that we should only focus on election irregularities there.  

Look everywhere.