Countdown 47 breathing through a straw underwater

As long as a body has oxygen all hope isn’t lost. In politics that oxygen includes donations. To date mine have been very modest. The kid sending out the Stauber emails is probably a tech whiz using the same canned BS that every other Trump bump Republican congressman is using. The ones I’ve looked out must tire out regular viewers with their breathless inanities. All the GOP Congressman have to share a percentage of their take with Trump or risk a public shaming.

I am constantly referring to my campaign donation buttons. This one:




It is only a string of HTML language when I embed it in posts like this one. It appears as the paypal button online. I often forget to add it missing the moment a donor might be feeling motivated by something I’ve written. If I haven’t written a post called I don’t need millions to win but I a couple tens of thousands I should have. I refuse for personal reasons to dip into my resources much beyond the $15,000 I was paid to be a substitute teacher during and a little beyond Covid. I spent a little over $10000 two years ago and by spending $7,000 to publish a book in my business Welty Press which was resurrected from a book I published 30 years ago for a 1992 campaign for Congress I’ve avoided having to consider that part of my political spending at Welty for Congress.

I haven’t raised or spent the tiny $10,000 amount which requires me to fill out finance reports. I can’t afford an attorney or an accountant to do that work so I’m in no hurry to reach the limit except that I am about to spend a little more on a run of 10,000 flyers that are very similar to the 5,000 I printed out for the 2022 campaign. I had about 3000 of them left to pass out door to door. I still have almost a week’s worth to pass out along with my bookmark. In about five days I’ll be reduced to the bookmark which was fine for Grandma’s Marathon and will be fine for County Fairs but I need the larger flyer to really explain my campaign to those who have yet to stumble into my Weltyforcongress.com site or this blog.

The ten thousand plus a dribble more I spent two years ago have given me 200 large lawnsigns which are a bear to put up the existing website weltyforcongress.com and Spotify talks as well as the left over leaflets. But soon I’ll need gas money as I begin cruising around the third of Minnesota that is the Eighth Congressional District. I’ve borrowed my daughter’s car with a middle seat that doesn’t want to lie flat to make room for my lawnsigns in which I expect to save money by sleeping in it overnight at the many far points of the compass from Duluth. The District extends roughly 250 miles further West, East and South from my house with about 750,000 residents. I’ll have my work cut out for me. I’ll take a cooler to save money for sandwiches. My 73 year old bones won’t like the sleeping bag very much but I do have inflatable cushions. Who knows? If I do become viral I might be able to afford motel rooms.

I have a powerful sense that has been growing over the last presidential terms that a candidate like me could catch the fancy of jaded voters before they are completely willing to sacrifice our Democracy. I’ve had cordial conversations with Trumpies door to door despite my self intro about being 45’s worst nightmare this summer. If I get to Congress I’ll keep walking that tightrope. Biggest agreeable pain in the butt.

I woke up today with a $50 donation after having received $100 by mail and $50 at the door yesterday. Its a precious trickle. Here’s how a contributor online sees their donation:

I’ve got several things to write but its a gorgeous day and Proctor needs some more Welty signs. I’m off. Hear it – Eeeeeeeeeeeerehhhhhhh? That’s me breathing through a straw.

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