Since a few folks have asked and the consensus seems to be that it did serve a positive function in the 2006 election, I'm very happy to report that we will be resurrecting the Election Race Diary Rescue for the 2008 election season. With any luck (and a lot of scrambling), we're hoping for the first one to go up Sunday night (Eastern).
For those who may not be aware, the purpose of this (hopefully) daily diary will be (much like SusanG's Diary Rescue) to comb through all diaries posted over a 24-hour period and list those who fit the criteria. Unlike Susan's, however, our purpose is to take the fine work put together by Daily Kos diarists that focuses on House, Senate, or local races - those diaries which, by themselves, may not be "rec list worthy" but serve a vital function in getting more candidates more exposure.
Please follow me for more...
First, I want to say a quick thank you to Land of Enchantment for posting this diary earlier today, and for the gentle email nudges. Oh, and for also joining the crew, too.
In short, this is not about us. It is about raising the profile of candidates and the dKos diarists who take the time to write about them, to try to give them every opportunity that this platform can provide to improve their chances to win or retain office.
Our system is set up so that our Diary Miners look through every single diary posted at Daily Kos over a 24 hour period - we take all of those that fit the profile and compile it into a daily rescue, which Markos and company have graciously Front Paged. As such, we not only want to highlight others' work, but also to encourage those who may feel it's not worth the time to do a diary, only to see it scroll into oblivion.
If you are doing a diary on a candidate or race, please be aware of the standard Daily Kos formatting. For House races, please start your title with the two-digit state abbreviation followed by the district number (example: NC-08: Kissell Rocks Again!). For Senate races, just use state-Sen (example: OK-Sen: Inhofe is Still a Moron). If you're doing a local race, try to use some iteration of this format. This immensely helps the people sifting through hundreds of diaries to more easily identify appropriate ones and minimizes the chances that we'll miss you (our Miners are almost perfect, but, alas, human after all).
Volunteers
I am amazed to say that in just a few hours, most of the crew who worked together so incredibly last time has already committed to return. With that said, this project has always been about the opportunity to contribute and it's my aim to keep that door open for all who would like to be a part of it. If you have the time to spare and are interested, please email me (see my profile) and we'll get in touch with you.
History
The series started on August 22, 2006 with this diary. It provides more background as to how it came about, but the whole thing was generated by my own frustration at having my few diary attempts disappear in such a hurry (and I still can't believe that we can't get rid of The Odious Peter King), and I saw so many others suffering the same fate.
In spite of the first diary being rescued by SusanG's Rangers, it was a lot of work and still wasn't getting much notice. Or so I thought. Until Markos front-paged it and offered to do so through the election. Shortly thereafter, I put out a call for volunteers. My own role actually reduced to little beyond the name on the final diary as these incredible people dug in and did work that was directly recognized by more than a few candidates themselves.
I'll take the liberty of saying that the experience was a rewarding one for all of us, and perhaps my favorite diary was the final one where so many of my friends shared their thoughts with a humility that barely, if at all, acknowledged their part in what we accomplished. If you're thinking of joining us and you're not sure, I'd strongly encourage you to take a look.
In all, the 2006 Election Race Diary Rescue ran for 77 out of 78 days (I missed the fifth day when I was still working alone), and we have to hold some kind of record for consecutive days on the front page for a group of non-front pagers.
But enough self-indulgence. We got a bit of a late jump this time (mea culpa), but we're excited and ready to roll. Now it's your turn. Write about your candidates. Post those action diaries. Let's do everything we can to give our new President a majority he can really work with so our kids have a brighter future to look forward to.
Since I like things coming full circle, let's begin where we ended:
I'm the last one out, guess I'll have to shut off the lights...
... until '08.
It's '08. And the lights are back on.
Peace all,
- Steve (aka sidinny)