Reddit's TestPAC is campaigning to defeat Lamar Smith, SOPA's daddy | Hacker News Reader

Reddit's TestPAC is campaigning to defeat Lamar Smith, SOPA's daddy

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115 pointsDiabloD321 comments

It would be interesting if the market ends uP developing into a series of PACs around targeted issues. I would definitely donate to a PAC whose sole reason for existence is to punish lawmakers who try pass these anti-Internet laws like SOPA. I would also donate to an anti-corruption PAC.

I actually like the idea of being able to donate to targeted causes a la carte.

This sounds like a good idea until you think about where that money goes. The reason PACs need money is for media buys. I would be much more comfortable with a 10k ad buy to oppose Lamar Smith if the mechanism for turning that money into influence wasn't owned by a handful of companies, all of which give much greater sums to represent the opposing side.

In the end, the problem isn't the PACs as much as it is the fact that the process takes place on private property. It's like two armies showing up for a battle and each having to pay a fee at the door to somebody who was then allowed to spend that take on weapons for the side of their choosing.

Really. Why not use some of that money to buy target ads on facebook? Google ads for whatever your opponent say is important?

Somebody googles 'health care reform romney' -- wouldn't it be a much better use of money to put up an attack ad on Romneys position here than to buy a millionth of a tv add? You can directly target the voters who are worth fighting about (those who haven't decided or who are still on the fence, rather than the rednecks who would never vote for a black guy) and you can measure your performance in those ads.

Remember you don't need to convince everybody, you just need one more vote than the other guy -- and so long as you do that, it doesn't matter if you got that vote by a completely dedicated fan or somebody who was offered a lollipop to vote.

I don't believe most voters use a rational process to pick who they vote for. It seems to me that selling a politician is no different to selling washing powder and that's probably best done through TV. Most voters simply feel compelled to vote and go for the overall feel or 'brand' of the politician.

That's what I feel after observing UK politics recently, especially after the referendum for changing our voting system.

Most voters simply feel compelled to vote and go for the overall feel or 'brand' of the politician.

I agree. Something the Obama campaign understood and mastered. I don't want to make this an overly political discussion, he's made some moves and gestures I disagreed with, has some policies I didn't like but he knew how to run an election and change the conversation. Branding is what did it for him.

Yes. Isn't there research showing that trying to persuade people to change their position just strengthens their opinion?

Of course, but you will never get those people to change their vote. So who gives a shit what they care about?

At first glance the intention of TestPAC isn't too clear, seems a bit grey in the area of what the campaign is all about.

It's great that an Internet community has come together to rally funds to help fight such an opponent such as Lamar, however the message with the billboard (https://imgur.com/a/egngk) and the supporting website isn't too clear. The average Joe if they understand the billboard and visit the website won't make the connections an Internet savvy user might.

I've been following the SOPA/PIPA/CISPA developments closely, but I had no idea about TestPAC and when visiting the website http://www.testpacpleaseignore.org/unseatlamar/ it doesn't link me with the candidate name on the billboard (who if I was a citizen in that state I'd need to vote for).

Unless the intention is just to make people vote for anyone but Lamar?

I think it would be a simpler message if they supported one candidate. But we're all starting from nothing in politics so we've got a lot to learn.

One of the first industries currently being disrupted by the Internet was societal governance. We see it happening more slowly than any other industry because the "Governmental clock" ticks much more slowly than any other industry.

As much I agree with the reddit mob sometime, I do not want the country to be ruled by a reddit mob, never mind any other mob.

No doubt, but doing nothing while mobs are already ruling the country is not much of an option either.

Also it has guns.

Of course if bitcoin and freenet became the way to interact and do financial transactions over the internet then those guns will be all but ineffective at anything.

All the govt would have to do is shut off the internet via the telcos and backbones. They don't need the internet, we do.

No the businesses which contribute to the campaign funds do.

TestPAC? Where does the reddit "test" meme come from anyways? There's also a fairly sizable EVE corporation they run called Dreddit, which is part of an alliance called "Test alliance please ignore". Seems a bit too close for coincidence.

It's the title of the most-upvoted Reddit thread: http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/92dd8/test_post_please...

The only chance for beating Lamar Smith ended on March 2, the primary for that district. Anyone who doesn't know that doesn't have a chance of changing things.

SOPA had plenty of parents. I wonder why Smith was chosen?

The primary for TX-21 is on May 29th.

I agree with you though that this isn't a very thoughtfully chosen race to get involved in.

The largest city in Smith's district is almost 50% over the age of 40, more than half of those over retirement age. As you noted, the district has voted Republican since pretty much the dawn of the modern Republican party. Smith's main primary challenger is a controversial libertarian who wants to legalize drugs and is a beta noir of the Southern Poverty Law Center (there's a trick). And he's barely campaigning.

> the district has voted Republican since pretty much the dawn of the modern Republican party.

What definition of "modern Republican Party" are we using?

According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texass_21st_congressional_distr... , that district, which was created in 1935, didn't elect a Republican until 1979.

Much of the south is that way - it didn't elect republicans until the mid-70s.

Someone should start a 90's era programmer's PAC called "DiskPAC."

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