OurRevolution.com – What is it and Where is it Going?

20160803_2000A OurRevolution - What is it and Where is it Going Home Page.jpg OurRevolution – What is it and Where is it Going?

(August 3, 2016 20:00) — There has been a lot of talk out there as to where the frieght train of Bernie Sanders supporters will be applying their progressive energy to since Sanders now endorses Hillary Clinton.

One such place in cyberspace is OurRevolution.com.

Bernie Sanders talked about the direction he will go since endorsing Hillary Clinton in an interview last month with USA Today indicating that he plans “to launch educational and political organizations within the next few weeks to keep his progressive movement alive.”

USA Today reports:

The Sanders Institute will focus on elevating issues and ideas—through media and documentaries—that Sanders said the “corporate media” fails to focus on, including the disappearing middle class, “massive” income inequality, horrific levels of poverty and problems affecting seniors and children.

As OurRevolution.com takes hold, many facebook and twitter comments have expressed concerns about contributing money to the site because they feel funds may find their way into the DNC.

As evidence, concerned Bernie Sanders supporters point to the fact that the OurRevolution.com website contribution facilitator is the same used during Bernie Sanders’ campaign, ActBlue.com.

20160803_2000C OurRevolution - What is it and Where is it Going Privacy Policy.jpgIn any case, the site is very sparse and has limited links which include: 1) Contribute to the Revolution; and 2) a “Privacy Policy” page; and 3) a link which asks for the visitors’ email address and zip code so they can “Join the Fight.”

A quick look at the contributions page reveals the now famous average contribution amount button of $27.

In the “Contribution Rules” section of the contribution page, it indicates, “ActBlue Civics is a registered charitable organization formed to democratize social welfare giving.

20160803_2000B OurRevolution - What is it and Where is it Going Contribute.jpg Though the OurRevolution.com website does not explicitly indicate that any of its contributions will go to the DNC, given the recent state of affairs between the Sanders campaign and the DNC, in light of the email revelations released by WikiLeaks indicating the DNC engaged in a concerted effort to marginalize his campaign, it is not reasonable to expect any donations to OurRevolution will find its way back to the DNC.

None the less, the new “Sanders Institute” by way of OurRevolution.com is currently in development with many eyes watching what is does and where it goes to next.

Related:
Our Revolution: What’s Next on Bernie Sanders’ Horizon, by Deirdre Fulton, CommonDreams.org, July 15, 2016

Bernie Sanders Lucky 27

20160229_1505 BernieSanders - We have a deadline at midnight tonight (ActBlue).jpg Bernie Sanders’ Lucky 27
by Daryl Parsons

(Feb. 29, 2016 14:45 ET) — Not sure if anyone has noticed, but the magic number “27” has made its way into Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign, and thus into American history. It started off as a statistical number read off during campaign rallies to illustrate how Sanders’ campaign took donations from regular working class people in America averaging a humble “$27 Bucks.” It is now a stable number during his campaign rallies.

The Luck 27 doesn’t only appear in crusty book-keeping accountings of donations. It has appeared in other ways as well. For instance, when Sanders mentions how long he and his wife have been married. The answer, 27-years. Any cosmic correlation going on here?

The symbolism peppered throughout the Sanders campaign pops up in other ways.

Another numerical coincidence was during the very first primary election in Iowa when Sanders lost to Hillary Clinton within 1% of her 49.9 to 49.6 victory. There, the magic number was 1%.

Historically, the 1% designation has been used to refer to how “99%” of the population in American have been subject to the economic and political system imbalance. That is, the majority of the wealth is focused in the top 1% of the population. This leaves the rest of the population, or 99%, having to fend for themselves while fighting over the scraps of society that are left to scrap over.

The 99%/1% symbolism made its debut during Sanders’ first campaign election results in Iowa where he lost within 1%. Quite symbolic given that Sanders’ issue based campaign has advocated against the economic and social inequality existing in America, or for 99% of the population.

His opponent Hillary Clinton, in contrast, won the Iowa election within the 1% range. That is, she benefits from only a %1 margin, the margin which the wealthy class of citizens in American exist over the rest of the population. Clinton has been viewed, and given how she has taken Wall Street money for her campaign, as an establishment candidate beholden to Wall Street money.

It will be interesting to see what other magic numbers appear for Sanders throughout the rest of his campaign.

For now, it looks like the Lucky 27 number will be sticking around for a while.

Already, ActBlue, the Sanders’ campaign online donation service provider, has included a special $27 button in the optional amounts to click-on when making a donation on the site. This makes it easier and fun for people to join the symbolic $27 donation revolution.

One thing is also certain. The ability of Sanders to summon his Lucky 27 donors has been unflinching.

Just this month for February 2016, Sanders campaign reported having received $36 Million in donations.

Contributing to this amount is the surge of donations Sanders received after his win in New Hampshire which crippled ActBlue’s website to a slow crawl. Nonetheless, the Sanders campaign reported receiving $5 Million within 24-hours after his New Hampshire win.

The Lucky 27 is also a routine ad-lib by Sanders supporters during rallies. During the campaign, Sanders would engage his supporters with the question, , “. . and do you know what the average donation was?” The supporters then in cadence sound-off with, “Twenty-seven dollars!”

Related Story

Bernie Sanders Collects $36 Million in February as Fund-Raising Successes Continue
by By Nicholas Confessore, The New York Times

(Feb. 29, 2016 10:11 AM ET) — Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont raised more than $36 million in February and was hoping to hit the $40 million mark by the end of the day on Monday, his campaign announced.

Read more.

Bernie Sanders’ campaign raises $5.2M in the 18 hours

20160210_1630 Bernie Sanders’ campaign raises $5.2M in the 18 hours.jpg Bernie Sanders’ campaign says it raised $5.2 million in the 18 hours after NH primary
By Nik DeCosta-Klipa Boston.com

(Feb. 10, 2016) — In his victory speech Tuesday night, Bernie Sanders asked supporters across the country to donate to his presidential campaign.

“I’m going to hold a fundraiser right here, right now, across America,” he said before a nationally televised crowd in Concord, New Hampshire. “My request is please go to BernieSanders.com and contribute.”

And contribute, they did.

Full Article

Fundraising site struggles after Bernie Sanders’ New Hampshire win

20160209_0053 Fundraising site struggles after Bernie win.jpgFundraising site struggles after Bernie Sanders’ New Hampshire win By Tom LoBianco, CNN
(Feb. 10, 2016 12:53 AM ET) — Washington (CNN)In the midst of his New Hampshire victory speech, Bernie Sanders held an impromptu, one-minute fundraiser and apparently jammed up one of the pillars of Democratic online fundraising, ActBlue.

“I’m not going to New York City to host a fundraiser on Wall Street. Instead I’m going to hold a fundraiser right here, right now, across America. My request is please go to BernieSanders.com and contribute,” Sanders said Tuesday night, as his speech was carried live.

Full story.

Donation Downer: Bernie Sanders 2016 ActBlue.com’s Make it Weekly Gimmick Ruined the Giving Spirit

20160123_1930 Bernie Sanders 2016 Weekly Donation Let Down Image 01.jpgYou would think that a simple act of donating $27 to the Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign would be a simple and painless process. In my case, it wasn’t.

Feeling uplifted and motivated, I chose to donate the historical amount of $27 to the Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign. You see, $27 is the reported average donation amount of the historic 2.5 million donations received by Sanders according to a Jan. 2, 2016 news article.

In any case, the positive uplifting bells and whistles did not occur. Instead, my experience was completely destroyed by ActBlue.com’s payment checkout system.

You see, ActBlue.com is the donation processor for Sanders and as part of their electronic online donation collection process they pepper the check out process with a “make it weekly” gimmick that hustles the donor to make their contribution weekly. Well is that so.

Therefore, if your not careful, you’ll click it in obscurity, and turn your simple one time donation into a weekly deduction.

20160123_1930 Bernie Sanders 2016 Weekly Donation Let Down Image 02.jpg ActBlue.com even makes an attempt to ask for a “tip” during the checkout process.

If you did not intend this, and accidentally clicked the “make it weekly” button, which isn’t hard to do, you may not notice it until 30-days later when the monthly credit card statement comes in the mail.

Though my $27 may appear to be an insignificant amount, what if it was $100?

Getting his weekly for three more weeks, especially if its charging a debit card, is not small potatoes. Then, the reimbursement process takes another wave of time and effort to be made whole again.

Needless to say, my donation experience was a complete let down.

You see, at the very end of the check out process, after working your way through ActBlue.com’s hustle for a weekly contribution, the donor is presented with a strange final check out screen that reads in a large green button “Make it weekly.” Then next to that, a smaller gray button that reads “skip for now.”

Well, after having thought I clicked the skip for now button, it wasn’t absolutely clear that I would not be reoccurringly charged weekly the amount I only intended to be a one time donation.

Especially when feeling uncertain given the ambiguous final screen which prompted to sign up for some kind of subscription. After that screen, a screen indicating the donated amount (without any clarification about any weekly ongoing charges) appeared which presented itself as a receipt. You would think they would have included a “declined the weekly” itemized line on the receipt for the added benefit to the donor. Nope!

Needless to say, I was worried and did not feel confident that my credit card will not be charged any further than the one time donation I thought I was contributing.

Accordingly, I spent another hour navigating ActBlue.com’s website until I reached their “contact” form where I proceeded to type a scathing message explaining to them about my negative experience, to include advising them they were not authorized to charge my credit card for any additional charges other than my designated, one time donation of $27.

Interesting enough, the online contact form had a drop down menu for the subject line to the effect allowing to select an option to change the weekly donation amount. This told me this wasn’t the first time ActBlue.com has had problems with their “make it weekly” gimmick.

So, in a nut shell. I advised ActBlue.com their “make it weekly” trickery ruined my experience to donate to the Sanders campaign. And most likely, will discourage me, on principle, from making any further donations to his campaign. Unless I do so by mail.

Really?

When all is said and done, I am absent of the feelings one would have after having contributed to a worthy cause. Instead, I am combatively, and anxiously waiting for ActBlue.com to affirmatively acknowledge my notice to them they were not authorized to charge my credit card any further.

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