Real Americans have come to my aid when I needed them most. I never needed to come, with hat in hand, to ask. Help was offered freely and often, even to the point where I felt shame that I couldn't possibly return the level of generosity.
Those words appeared on this site in Stacey Tallitsch's first diary. He went on to eke out just 3% of the votes in Louisiana's 1st congressional district - third place between the Republican incumbent (88%) and another Democrat, David Gereighty (7%), who doesn't seem like all that bad a guy, just based on a visit to his issues page - but I'm not close to the district, or knowledgeable, and I don't really grasp Louisiana's primary-free elections.
The thing is, Stacey has asked for my help - for our help - because he's got $16,000 in campaign debt. This race wasn't on my radar during the election - probably wouldn't have caught my eye, given the district's voting patterns - and didn't receive much attention here. It probably shouldn't have. But I support Dean's 50-state strategy and the principles underlying it. We need to be fighting everywhere, even in the bright red districts. And we need to support the people who take on these hard, nearly hopeless battles - because without our support, they're not likely to step up to the plate a second time. And that means we're not really engaged in a 50-state approach.
When Stacey Tallitsch's home was destroyed by Katrina, his fellow Americans helped him out. Now he's got $16,000 of debt to retire, debt he acquired in an attempt to make this country better. Let's help him out again.
Click the WGYB ActBlue page to contribute.