An e-mail from Colorado Springs:

I’m inspired by the reader in Florida’s email.
In past elections, when we have contributed at all, we have tended to contribute to the party organizations. This election is different. We have contributed (so far) to two conservative organizations (GOPAC and Super PAC), and to over 20 individual candidates. We’ve typically sent $25 to candidates (some more than once), but sent $50 to Nick Popaditch (CA-51) because Jim Geraghty practically begged us to. We’ve already far exceeded our budget of $500, and we’ll continue to contribute to specific races right up to the last minute. Will $25 by itself make a difference? Of course not. But, for example, seeing Van Tran’s latest push for donations creep up and up does my heart good, knowing that I was one of many who did their part.
Why this election? Why when my job is only guaranteed through the end of the year and I may have to be living off savings? And why am I not donating to the Republican Party itself? Because I think this is the make or break election for reversing the slow and steady drift of the U.S. towards Socialism. Truly, we have Obama-Reid-Pelosi to thank for excessive overreach, for without that I’m afraid we’d have continued the Long March without ever generating adequate resistance. However, as Limbaugh, Palin and DeMint all seem to have noticed in the past few days, it is not clear that the establishment Republican ‘leaders’ have gotten the message. The party has not yet earned my trust.
So while I am optimistic about the election results, I am not so optimistic that Congressional Republicans will respond appropriately. It is obvious that most liberals have vastly misunderstood and underestimated the Tea Party movement, but I am sorely afraid that far too many Republican politicians have done so as well.
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P.S. We just sent another $25 to Alan West (FL-22), $50 to Ken Buck (CO-Sen) and $25 Pat Toomey (PA-Sen). We can’t seem to stop ourselves.