The check from Planned Parenthood arrived in the mail. The priority mail postage alone cost $10. Even so, the check was made out to the wrong name. It should have been, “pay to the order of Dreyfus Election Fund.” Instead, it was to “Dreyfus for SC House.” When I ran four years ago, Planned Parenthood donated $300 to my campaign. I didn’t expect that much this time. In fact, I was worried my honest disclosure of how little I expected to spend on my campaign made me think they might not donate any money at all. They sent me a check for $500.
If you watched the moving Democratic Convention Monday night, your first impulse might have been to get out your checkbook and donate to the Democrats, specifically to Kamala Harris for President. But Kamala Harris isn’t the only Democrat who needs money.
As one who has contributed to the Democratic Party and various progressive organizations, every day I get several letters begging for donations in my metal mail box, plus dozens of emails doing the same. But who do you give to? Where can you get the most bang for the buck?
In the past I have given to Amnesty International, The Southern Poverty Law Center, the ACLU, and to Common Cause. I have also sent money to individual candidates, including some I only knew about since they wrote a diary about their campaign here at Daily Kos. To win the Senate, I also gave to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. But one organization I never hesitate to contribute to, is Planned Parenthood, who have been fighting for a woman’s right to choose her own reproductive health care for decades.
Unless they are very rich, little known down-ballot candidates can barely raise enough money to run for office. In 2020, I ran for the SC State House while Jamie Harrison was running against Senator Lindsey Graham. Because people around the country wanted Harrison to win to give the Democrats a majority in the Senate, Harrison was able to receive more money in contributions than he could reasonably spend. I received ads in the mail for his campaign almost every day. He had countless TV ads. I bought a few spots promoting my campaign on a couple of radio stations. I listened to those stations on the radio to see if I could hear one of my ads. I never heard one; but I heard dozens of ads asking people to vote for Harrison.
I thought Jamie Harrison was great. I wrote a glowing article about him at Daily Kos, complete with our picture together. Harrison personally told me he both read and appreciated my article. Later, I was in the room where he promised he would share campaign contributions with down-ballot candidates. I instructed my campaign manager to do everything he could to get some of that surplus money for our campaign. I never got a dime.
I ended up spending so much of my own money on my campaign, I decided I just wasn’t rich enough afford to run again. The more money I received from other people, the more of my own money I spent.
The only reason I ran again this year is that no other Democrat picked up the gauntlet, and I couldn’t stand the idea that a right-wing extremist Republican would walk into office without a Democratic challenger. After all, it only cost me about $300 to register to become a Democratic Candidate. I could afford that.
So I told all my political friends this time I was not asking, nor would I accept, any personal political contributions. I suggested they simply donate to other worthy candidates. I intended to run my campaign on a shoestring. I didn’t pay for a campaign manager. I didn’t set up a campaign web-site asking for contributions. I didn’t rent space on billboards, and time on radio stations. I didn’t print thousands of full-color brochures for every home in my district to be hand delivered, plus pay for a few thousand mailings.
But I did order yard signs saying Democracy Matters to be placed throughout my district. I also attended as many events as feasible to let people know I am running.
I was invited to speak at The Democratic Women of Greenville Country monthly meeting. Four years ago, this group donated $200 to my campaign. I told the president of the organization that in lieu of a contribution, I would be satisfied if I could speak to the group for thirty minutes to lecture about ways to improve the democratic process. I was told that each candidate only had five minutes to talk about their campaign, and it wouldn’t be fair to have more time to talk than any other candidate.
Suddenly my egoism subsided and my greed kicked in. If it was unfair for me to talk more than five minutes, then it would be unfair not to accept the contribution all the other candidates would receive. I agreed to take the money. I wrote a great eight-minute speech, which I practiced to the point of memorization. After speaking for seven minutes, the president of the group walked over and quietly admonished me to “wrap it up.” (I didn’t anticipate extra time for applause.) A few days later, I got a check for $500.
Shortly afterwards I received an email from Planned Parenthood asking me to fill out a questionnaire to see if I was deemed worthy of their endorsement (and a check.)
Planned Parenthood has the right idea. There are many worthy progressive causes. I support a woman’s right to choose, but I also support sensible gun control, and protecting the environment from catastrophic climate change, among other issues.
Four years ago I atteded a progressive environmental group in Greenville and told them I was running for state office. They told me they couldn’t endorse me because they were non-partisan.
“Then how do you expect to change anything?” I asked.
We write letters to all the candidates in office, regardless of political affiliation,” they told me.
“A lot of good that will do,” I replied. “The Republicans deny global warming and climate change even exist.”
I discovered the same pattern existed with political groups asking for money to stop gun violence. They ask candidates to campaign in favor of sensible gun legislation; but they don’t give any money to those who do.
Planned Parenthood, however, puts their money where their mouth is, and where it will do the most good. They contribute directly to those candidates who advocate for women’s right to make their own personal health choices, including the right to have an abortion. By contributing directly to Planned Parenthood you can be assured you will be supporting those candidates, virtually all Democrats, who advocate for a woman’s right to choose. This includes down-ballot candidates who otherwise would have difficulty raising enough money to run an effective campaign. In my humble opinion, by giving to Planned Parenthood you get the most bang for your buck.
The day I deposited their check into my election fund, I was scheduled to be interviewed for a podcast sponsored by Simple Civics of Greenville. I received the questions in advance, and had a total of ten minutes to answer three questions. I wrote down my answers in advance. Once again, I miscalculated the time. Only this time, I had said everything in less than five minutes.
Did receiving money from Planned Parenthood influence my speech? I didn’t think so at first. After all, I didn’t simply agree with them; they already agreed with me. On second thought, I realized I had put reproductive freedom on the front burner. The following is an almost verbatim transcript of the podcast. The narrator’s words are in italics.
Tell us about yourself and why you are running for office.
My name is Stephen Dreyfus and I am running to be a Representative for South Carolina House Seat 20.
I have lived in South Carolina for over sixty years. I lived in Columbia, Spartanburg, Sumter, Hartsville, and Bennettsville. However, I have lived in Greenville longer than all the other places combined. I graduated from the University of South Carolina, and worked as an alcoholism and drug addiction counselor for most of my career. After that I taught Psychology at USC-Upstate and Spartanburg Community College.
I grew up in a mixed marriage. My father was a loyal Republican, and my mother was a liberal Democrat. Both of them were passionate about politics. In fact, my mother ran for House Seat 22 when I was in college. She won, thanks to my father’s firm support.
I believe we can’t have good government without a healthy two-party system. If one party stays in power too long, it becomes too extreme, too corrupt, and no longer cares about the concerns of the people.
Once, the Democratic Party had a monopoly of power in South Carolina. Today, the Republicans have a monopoly of power. This is no longer my father’s Republican Party. If I didn’t run as a Democrat for House Seat 20, the voters would be denied a choice come Election Day. I decided to run because I believe democracy matters.
What do you believe are the biggest issues facing your constituents and what do you about them if elected?
Some people seek office because they want power and prestige. Others, like myself, are deeply concerned about political issues.
First of all, I believe it is an essential freedom for any person to have control over their own body, and the right to make decisions regarding their own health choices. I do not favor the current over-restrictive laws in South Carolina which prevent a woman from getting a safe and legal abortion. Nor do I want doctors and medical professionals to have to choose between providing the best medical care for their patients, and not losing their license because such life-saving medical care is illegal.
Secondly I believe that providing quality education is the key to future prosperity. South Carolina education ranks near the bottom of the barrel. Teachers are so underpaid they are leaving our state to be paid more elsewhere. They have to pay for their student’s school supplies out of their own pockets. Moreover, teachers simply want to teach without so many bureaucratic restrictions they can’t do their jobs. We need to change the way education is funded. When education is supported by property taxes, those who live in wealthy suburbs can get up to three times more tax dollars per student than those who live in poor rural areas.
This is wrong and unfair. Many of my college students could barely write a complete sentence. South Carolina can do better.
Third, we need to protect our environment and do what we can to prevent catastrophic climate change. We need to install charging stations throughout the state so people can buy an electric car if they choose. We need to prevent HOA’s from preventing homeowners from putting solar panels on their roof. We need to make sure government buildings don’t set the thermostats for air-conditioning below 72 degrees. Recently I complained that the Pavilion Recreation Center in Greenville, has the air-conditioning trying to cool an immense gymnasium locked in at 64 degrees. It’s so cold that the automatic heating system kicked in. It is insane to waste energy and waste money only to contribute to global warming.
What would you do the first 30 days after being sworn in?
What I wouldn’t do is attend any “free” dinners sponsored by lobbyists who hope to curry favor and get easy access to legislators. I intend to work for the regular people of South Carolina, not special interest groups and huge corporations.
What I would do is try to establish good relations on both sides of the aisle. If I become elected, I will still most likely be a member of the minority party. So I intend to introduce a non-partisan issue both Democrats and Republicans can easily embrace—keep Daylight Savings Time all year long, so we never have to worry about resetting our clocks and adjusting to it suddenly getting darker one hour earlier. Other than that, I fully intend to serve with as much honesty, integrity, and moral intelligence as I possibly can.