Today I was sifting through the results of the 2002-midterm elections, and I counted no less than 40 House seats where the Democrats didn't even bother to put up a candidate. In all likelihood, in each of those districts, even if there were a Democrat, s/he would have been crushed. However, not even bothering to run in 9% of all districts is pathetic, especially when the Libertarian or Green party candidate received an average of 15,000 votes (around 10%) in the districts where Democrats were absent. Any Democrat, as long as s/he is on the ballot, probably would have received 20-25%.
So, I began to wonder if the blogosphere and the netroots could step up and fight for Democrats and progressive values in areas where the DNC fears to tread. It probably wouldn't be that difficult to get on the ballot in each of these districts, and it might even be possible to raise one or two thousand dollars for each of the forty candidates. The money could be used for a website, a post office box, a phone line, campaign signs, leaflets, purchase of a voter list, and a bank account in order to run a skeleton campaign. Even though victory is probably impossible, the campaigns could be used as mechanisms to identity potential activists, persuade at least a few voters, remind every Democrat in the country that not everyone has given up on the area where they live, and to identity potential Democratic activists. Maybe we could even expand it into a Meetup called "No Democrat Left Behind," and run candidates in state legislature, county and local elections that state and national parties have abandoned.
Every person in this country who wants to vote for a Democrat should be able to do so. Further, Democrats should be willing to seek out supporters and volunteers in every area of the country. Still further, Democrats should be willing and unafraid to spread their message (whatever it may actually be) to every corner of the country. It would take a lot of effort, but it's the kind of project the blogosphere would find easier to organize than would the existing party structure.
Here are the forty abandoned House seats:
Alabama 4
Alabama 6
Florida 4
Florida 10
Florida 12
Florida 14
Florida 16
Florida 21
Georgia 10
Kansas 1
Kentucky 6
Louisiana 1
Louisiana 3
Louisiana 6
Nebraska 1
Nebraska 3
New York 23
New York 24
North Carolina 3
North Carolina 6
Ohio 18
Oklahoma 3
Pennsylvania 3
Pennsylvania 5
Pennsylvania 10
Pennsylvania 16
Pennsylvania 19
South Carolina 1
South Carolina 2
Tennessee 1
Texas 7
Texas 8
Texas 12
Texas 19
Virginia 1
Virginia 2
Virginia 4
Virginia 6
Virginia 11
Wisconsin 6
Does anyone live in any of these districts? Is there anyone out there would actually want to make a go at Congress in one of these districts if the blogosphere could raise $2,000 for your campaign? Is this idea just nuts?