The fundraising goal is set. You can donate on the left nav. Tonight at midnight is the cutoff for June fundraising, so anyone that can chip in before midnight helps shape the narrative that comes out in a few weeks when the totals are released. Let’s put Obama over the top. The Feedburner widget shows that we have between 100 and 140 subscribers to the feed. Assuming each person kicked in $50 between now and October, we can easily hit that $5000 goal. I’m not expecting anyone to max out or go crazy here — I’d just love it if everyone chipped in a little bit. This is about number of donors as much as it is about number of dollars.

I’ve emailed a lot of you individually over the last few weeks, but in case I missed you, here’s another appeal to everyone reading.

This is, easily, the most important election in your adult lifetime, whether you’re 21 or 91. Our country is facing unique challenges that require honest, well-considered policy solutions. The absolute last thing we need right now is ideologically driven, partisan policies like those that have dominated over the last 7 years.

I’ve also made no bones about the fact that I believe that George W. Bush is the worst President in U.S. history. 9/11, Katrina, $4 gas, the U.S. Attorney Scandal, federal hiring practices, uncontrolled spending, and a near doubling of the national debt… his list of failures is long and deep. John McCain promises more of the same. For every position where he disagreed with the current administration when he ran in 2004, he has flip-flopped to be in line with the Bush administration policies. Torture, taxes, FISA, the war — it’s impossible to find a significant policy difference with the current administration.

All of this would be good enough reason to vote for Barack Obama. Thankfully for my sanity, we have a candidate in Barack Obama that I’m proud to vote for. No, he’s not perfect — his moves on FISA recently and the statement today about Clark fall short of my ideals, for example. Perfection, on the other hand, isn’t a requirement for the job.

What I am looking for is someone who considers the actual issues before formulating policy. On that front, Obama’s candidacy offers real hope of doing better than any of our recent Presidents. He also seems to understand the importance of transparency and open government. That issue has been a big part of his work in the Senate and a big part of his policy plan for a prospective Obama administration. He also has shown some sound policy judgment so far, balancing idealism with a pragmatic sense of what will and won’t actually pass Congress.

So, unlike 2004, where I was more voting against Bush than voting for Kerry, this year I’m voting, happily, for Barack Obama.

Voting isn’t enough, though. Obama’s campaign is doing something I have always wanted campaigns to do: compete in all 50 states and get lots of people to help fund the campaign. I’m especially encouraged by the large number of donors that have come out and donated to the Democratic campaigns. I want that number to be bigger. So, I’m asking if you can all donate to the Obama campaign via the ActBlue button in the left nav (or right here)

If anyone has any questions, feel free to shoot me a note.