It's no secret that I've been spending a majority of my time working on Slatecard, a utility to support and enhance Republican activism. I haven't talked about it much in this space, but it's worth digging in.

Since our launch on October 8, with absolutely zero marketing other than earned media, Slatecard has put up some impressive fundraising numbers for Republican candidates and committees:

* $74,884.65
* 457 contributors
* $163.86 average contribution

This past weekend, we urged our small but growing Slatecard community to help us break the $75K mark. And to be perfectly honest, we came up $115.35 short of that goal.

Coming up short of a goal -- especially your first -- is never easy to swallow. Especially when you're watching, waiting, praying, emailing, and hoping that the goal is reached. But such is life. It was important to see what would happen when we took action.

In the end, 101 contributions were made over the weekend from the Slatecard community. That means that quite a few Republicans will be getting a check in the mail when they were least expecting it and from donors who may have never contributed to a campaign before. In short, the community stepped up to the plate and gave the goal a good run for the money (no pun intended).

And that's good news in an off-year when donations aren't exactly walking in the door for Republican candidates and committees. They need all the help they can get.

Importantly, we helped highlight two new candidates who face a Special Election on December 11:

* Bob Latta, Ohio-05 (seat formerly held by the late Paul Gillmor).
* Rob Wittman, Virginia-01 (seat formerly held by the late Jo Ann Davis).

To be sure, both seats are traditionally Republican. But in this environment, who knows what will happen... especially in a Special Election where turnout means everything.

At Slatecard, we're proud of what we're seeing and hearing from the community. And we're proud that seven candidates for Congress have made a decision to use Slatecard as their primary vehicle to process online credit card donations. And there's much more to come.

Stay tuned. The game is about to change.

Promise.