Whether you run in elections or organize rallies, if you talk too much about forbidden topics—for example, that Sechin’s three-day salary is larger than the annual budget of the town of Chukhloma—then at a certain point you’ll be doing your talking with your hands twisted behind your back.
This is actually supposed to be a fundraising post, but just as I finished writing it, news came in that Ilya Yashin, the lead candidate on the RPR-PARNAS list, had been detained by officers from the Interior Ministry and the FSB (!) right in the middle of a meeting with voters.
There is no doubt that this was ordered by United Russia, which is furious about Yashin’s performance in the televised debate (video below) and about the voter meetings that he and Andreychenko (number two on the list) are holding—up to five a day—where they bluntly tell the truth.
Here is an interesting report by Novaya Gazeta about these meetings.
I think there’s a real chance that Yashin will now be locked up for 15 days, just to put a stop to these awful, inconvenient meetings for the authorities. But even in that case, we will not stop the campaign.
Now read the actual fundraising post below. Send money, come help campaign.
Here are the current fundraising numbers for the RPR-PARNAS election campaign in Kostroma Region. (Why it matters is explained in detail here.)
For the entire campaign period so far (August 17–24), we have: 507 donations totaling 1,216,135 rubles.
Of those, 21 donations were for 10,000 rubles or more, totaling 534,000 rubles.
The largest donation was 250,000 rubles. Interestingly, it came from someone who doesn’t know me, Yashin, or Volkov personally and has never previously been involved in political activity.
The average donation, including the large ones, is 2,398 rubles. Excluding the large ones, it is 1,403 rubles.
Many thanks to everyone who is contributing.
Only today I read that the average donation to Bernie Sanders’s campaign—he was seeking the Democratic nomination in the U.S. and raising more money than anyone else specifically through small donations—is $31.3
Ours is a similar amount, if you ignore the hellish exchange-rate swings of the past few days.
We consider the current fundraising satisfactory and plan to raise about 5 million rubles in total. In fact, judging by the trend, we will raise it—but we would very much like to raise it now rather than in the final days, when the money can be spent as effectively as possible, without a mad rush.
And we absolutely do have plenty to report on in terms of the work we’re doing:
Three campaign offices: the central one in Kostroma; the eastern one in Sharya (also covering Manturovo, Ponazyrevo, Kologriv, Pyshchug, Vokhma, and Bogovarovo); and the northern one in Galich (covering Sudislavl, Neya, Chukhloma, Soligalich, and Makariev). And today a southern office is opening as well—for Nerekhta and Volgorechensk.
Our candidates hold 3 to 5 meetings a day. In Kostroma, every day we run about 10 street campaign stands and hand out more than 7,000 leaflets a day.
Our candidates are excellent and hardworking. So don’t spare a little time—watch the debate featuring Yashin on the local VGTRK state TV channel.
A lead candidate you’re not the least bit embarrassed to campaign for—quite the opposite.
Unfortunately, these debates are aired at the least watchable possible time, and all the rest of television is completely closed to us, so we continue to focus on meetings, street stands, and leaflets.
All of this requires money, and without your donations there will be no campaign at all. Don’t put it off—chip in right now to the common pot.
We also want to strengthen our field campaigning team. And here too—surprise—we need you: campaigning is incredibly interesting and important work, so take about 15 days off and come join our door-to-door canvassing. We officially cover travel, accommodation, and a stipend. The people you’ll be working with are fun, good, and decent. And explaining to a grandmother in Chukhloma who the Rotenbergs are and that their billions come out of the terrible roads around her—that’s priceless.
As a bonus, you’ll also get a trip to some of the most beautiful yet neglected Russian towns, like Soligalich. When else would you ever get there?
Don’t wait—sign up here.