Can You Spare a Twenty?

UPDATED AT BOTTOM

I had thought Jeremy Kalin had wisely abandoned his diary at far left hate site DailyKos after he was elected to office, but suddenly he has reappeared.

Why, you might ask? Well, just a month after the local GOP announced a very successful Reagan Day Dinner fund raiser, in which the party claimed "Chisago County GOP coffers were well replenished for the upcoming campaign," Kalin's latest post at the world famous hate site is a request for money.

Request? Let's be honest, he's begging:

But, that's not why I am writing today. Instead, I am making a shameless ask for help. Yes, that kind of help. Campaign cash.

Moolah.
Dough.
Greenbacks.
Dinero.
Ching. Ching.

Then there's this:

I need to raise five-figures worth of campaign funds to end the year looking strong, and to pay some outstanding bills for legislative reports, surveys, some more lawn signs, and a few other campaign expenses.

Please, if you can, give up $10, $20, or even all the way up to the legal limit of $100. Whatever you can give, it'll help me big time.

If you want to see what I might be up against next year... well, just check these guys out. They're a blast. Wrong. Not True. But still, a blast.

As is often the case, Kalin likes to assert that others are being dishonest or ideological without providing any evidence of said accusation. In this case he doesn't even bother to highlight what is "not true," so there is no way to address what he calls lies.

It also looks like Kalin has campaign debt. I wonder how far in the hole he is, and how much of that "five figures" will be dedicated to playing catch up. On that note, here is Kalin's campaign contribution information. Interestingly enough, it appears the vast majority of his contributions came from outside Chisago County.

55155 (St Paul, MN) $6,122
*55056 (North Branch, MN) $688
55103 (St Paul, MN) $650
*55074 (Shafer, MN) $600
55419 (Minneapolis, MN) $550
55402 (Minneapolis, MN) $500
55075 (South St Paul, MN) $500
55130 (St Paul, MN) $500
55109 (Maplewood, MN) $500
55615 (Tofte, MN) $500
55427 (Golden Valley, MN) $500
55403 (Minneapolis, MN) $400
*55092 (Wyoming, MN) $350
55405 (Minneapolis, MN) $331
55104 (St Paul, MN) $300

*Inside legislative district

Here's a more specific breakdown.

One final note: Kalin eeked out a victory in 2006 in what he said was "previously thought of as a solidly GOP district." In 2004, he was beaten easily by Republican incumbent Pete Nelson. But Nelson was the Invisible Man in 2006, and ran a lackluster campaign at best. Bush won the county by three points, but Kalin was able to take advantage of a low energy Republican field, and the perception of a do-nothing state legislature. Since the election, Kalin and the Democratic majority have done little other than try to raise taxes and demonize the governor and Mn/DOT.

Now, with the local GOP apparently re-energized and with a war chest, the governor's approval rating high and the legislature's in the tank, Kalin knows it's going to take more than photo ops to win again. It's going to take cash and lots of it. Thus the naked appeal to the Kos Kids for their lunch money.

UPDATE: A Nelson campaign worker e-mails, taking some exception the above characterization of the 2006 Nelson campaign:

...he worked harder in the last election than he did in the previous two combined. Overall there was just not the energy among people for the election, but that did not translate to Pete. I was involved with his campaign to some extent and he had energy. That energy was just not picked up by fellow Republicans.

I'm perfectly willing to concede that as I wasn't there. The perception of the campaign from a press point of view was that Nelson, and Senator Sean Nienow as well, just weren't as visible as they had been in the past. Certainly there were mitigating factors, such as low Republican energy in general, that may have contributed to a lack of visibility by supporters so important to driving a campaign. I think the world of Nelson and there is no doubt that the state legislature, and his constituents in this district, are worse off because of his absence.

It was not my intention to criticize the Nelson campaign, but simply to point out that Kalin, due to circumstances, had a much easier ride in '06 than in '04. In any case, if Nelson or any of his fellow supporters takes offense at my earlier statement about a "lackluster campaign," I apologize.

UPDATE: Writings from Dutchland