Here is a draft of the letter I sent a while ago to Jane Mitakides campaign. Like a fool, I didn't save the final, but I had this one stored in a folder because I had to stop for a bit and come back to it.
I'm glad Kos wrote the response that he did after the remarks. His remarks showed class I thought. Just wanted to make that point.
Dear Mitakides campaign,
I wanted to write to you and voice my disappointment to the pending removal of your advertisement on the dailykos website. I believe all it does is furthur feed the beast, and will do nothing to help your campaign, but may do much to hinder it.
Your campaign was the only one advertised that did not pull out immediately. As such, if you read the message boards, you stood to benefit from an escalated fundraising effort as a reward for not caving in to right wing complaints. Obviously now, that effort will not be taking place. Who does that hurt? You. Who does it help? Your opponents.
I wonder how you expect to win the Congressional race if you spend the entire time simply trying not to tick too many people off? It really does look that way, it looks like a wimpy way out. I figured 2002 would've taught Democrats not to be wimps. If being scared about being linked to the comments is seriously not the reason you're leaving, then you guys need a better statement than "concerned about the confusion."
You guys, and Democrats everywhere, have got to stop treating voters as if they are stupid. Trying to win the votes of people who aren't going to vote for you, no matter what, is a losing strategy, especially when you couple it with ticking off supporters. In fairness, I do not know how many Kos viewers live in your district. I do know that you stood to gain a decent amount of donations had you not backed out. Pretty silly move.
This should not be a partisan issue. I too do not agree with those comments. I'm willing to bet most voters are not stupid enough to think that you agree with them simply because you advertise on the website. That website gets thousands of hits every day. You can't possibly be expected to agree with everything that is said. People that do expect that of you aren't voting for you an They were wrong. But to cut and run b/c you're scared of the "confusion" on the matter is pathetic. Make clear your distaste of the comments. You can do that without pulling your advertisement.
It is your right to pull the ads. No one is questioning that. I question the decision to do so. If your opponent knows you advertised on Kos, then they'll hit you with it anyways. If they are smart, they'll run ads tying you to Kos anyways. If they aren't smart, or if they don't know about it, then there's no harm in staying for you, but there is harm in leaving. If you are going to be tied to Kos anyways, then stay. What's the harm? If it's not made a campaign issue, then clearly your fear of "confusion" is without merit, again reason for you not to leave.
What Kos said was wrong. However, there are ways to condemn comments, to avoid "confusion" about your position, without looking like wimps. There are many ways to do that. I sincerely hope that you guys reconsider this decision. The only one it hurts is you. You now lose donations and gain no votes.
I say this as a concerned Democrat who has followed your campaign and sincerely hopes for your victory this Nov. I am a progressive and wish to see the Republican agenda beaten solidly. However, the ones that can do that are Democrats who stand solidly for something, Democrats who are tough. What won't do it are Democrats who run simply because they "MIGHT" be linked to something they disagree with. I think you are set to lose a lot more than you will gain.
I sincerely wish you the best of luck. I hope that you take my concerns and thoughts and consider them. Take care, good luck.