I got an email today from the DNC urging me to contribute to help print literature and put it in the hands of voters. The email is below the fold, I am sure many of you have received it also or are just getting it.
The email included a graphic showing a doorhanger illuminating the "Democratic Vision" (image to your left, click for full size).
I don't know who thought this up, but it's a great idea! I would just love to go hang these things around my precinct RIGHT NOW.
Last week somebody outlined for me the apparent DCCC and DSCC plan for winning the midterms. I was asking my friend why the Dems weren't lining up behind Feingold's censure resolution and speaking out loudly against the GOP.
"Oh," he said. "Well, the Republicans are imploding right now and they (DCCC + DSCC) want that to continue. We have to allow that happen and not give them something to attack."
"But don't worry," he continued. "They'll go on the offensive like 8 weeks before Election Day when they roll out a major offensive like the Contract for America."
I don't know about you, but I think that's ridiculous.
It's time to start speaking out NOW, not eight weeks before election day! My neighbors are wondering where this party stands - they want to know! I'd love to leave them a doorhanger and answer their questions.
Here's the email from the DNC:
I bet you've never thought that when you open up one of these messages for grassroots Democrats across the country, that among the people also reading them would be Republican and disgraced former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.
What makes us think he's reading? We don't know for sure (if you have Newt's email address, let us know and we'll check the database), but look at what he said in an interview with Time.com this weekend. Asked about the sorry situation of his own party and the prospect for Democratic gains, he suggested that Democrats could make the case against Republican corruption and incompetence with a single slogan: "Had enough?"
Governor Howard Dean has been saying exactly the same thing for months as he's traveled the country. In fact, hundreds of thousands of Americans are sporting "Enough is Enough -- Vote Democratic!" bumper stickers printed by the DNC. "We've all had enough -- enough of Republican incompetence, arrogance and corruption," Governor Dean wrote in November after Democrats swept gubernatorial races and won historic victories up and down the ballot.
But Newt is wrong about one thing -- a slogan isn't enough to win this election. We have to be clear what Democrats stand for and build the organization to turn out the vote. That's why we're putting together the biggest, earliest neighbor-to-neighbor door-knocking event in an election year.
Last week nearly 3,000 people who received the email from Governor Dean stepped forward to fund the April 29th Neighbor-to-Neighbor Organizing Day (Newt wasn't among them). You can join them by making your contribution to help make contact with Americans who really have had enough.
Just $50 can put 233 pieces of literature in the hands potential volunteers and potential voters. Can you make a donation?
http://www.democrats.org/...
We've all had enough of the Republican culture of corruption, enough of Republican incompetence, and enough of cronies in important positions. We've had enough of being told to trust a president who has proven untrustworthy, and enough of being told to "stay the course" in Iraq with a strategy that has cost thousands of lives as Iraq descends into civil war.
We are not alone. Poll after poll shows the overwhelming majority of the American people have had enough of the Bush administration and the Republican Congress that refuses to hold it accountable for anything from bogus claims about Iraq to Katrina to illegal domestic spying.
But to make it happen we need to get to work right now. We can't wait -- it's up to us to mobilize Democrats from today through the April 29th canvass and right up through Election Day. Every bit counts. Make a contribution to the Democratic Party by visiting:
http://www.democrats.org/...
If we all come together, the results in November will make clear that Americans have had enough.
Thank you,
Tom McMahon
Executive Director
Democratic National Committee
This is exactly the kind of leadership I've been looking for. I'm sick of people like Nancy Pelosi sending me email after email, whining for my money and not exhibiting leadership.
Their election strategy sounds pretty silly. As Chris Bowers pointed out recently:
To argue that Democrats are not properly taking advantage of the situation, and that they have not developed a message to appeal to swing voters, ignores both the enormous leads that Democrats have held in generic congressional ballots for nearly a full year, and that these leads have come almost entirely from their strength among swing voters, i.e. independents. The issue at hand is no longer "in the face of Republican collapse, why aren't Democrats doing better?" Democrats are doing better. They have huge leads, and have had them for several months. In contrast to the current conventional wisdom narrative, the actual issue at hand is whether or not Democrats have the electoral and activist recourses to deliver this new potential governing majority to the polls on Election Day. In other words, the issue is not whether or not Democrats can appeal to swing voters, because they have done that. The issue is whether or not the progressive activist base is excited enough o provide Democrats with the resources to win the 2006 election.
Reid, Pelosi & Co. plan to energize the base by waiting 8 weeks before Election Day to launch any kind of significant offensive!?
Well, our organization certainly isn't waiting. We're pouring all our energy into getting out the progressive message.
I'm thanking my lucky stars that their crew isn't running the DNC, because that kind of thinking sorely tests my patience. This Neighbor-to-Neighbor Organizing Day is exactly the kind of thing we need to be doing right now. Kudos to Dr. Dean and the folks at the DNC for being innovative, creative, and providing desperately needed leadership for this party.