I hear through the grapevine that Netroots favorite son Eric Massa is polling well these days. People like him, think he is electable, and respond to his message. When you look at the numbers, though, Massa is in trouble and he is going to need our help.
To date, Massa has raised more than $86,000 through Act Blue--fully a third of his money. His campaign is being made possible by the netroots, which have adopted him because of his record and his blog-engagement strategy.
Massa blogs over at
MyDDand
Kosabout once a week and generally receives healthy traffic (at least 20-30 comments per post) and rightly deserves the support he gets. I think it's high time that the netroots take an even greater ownership of this campaign to ensure that Massa has what he needs to a) take his message to DC and b) boot his opponent, Randy Kuhl, from office.
Here's what Massa is facing:
Massa has raised $254,924 to date, with $121,212 on hand (unspent). He's being trounced by Kuhl who has raised three times as much ($766,238) and has almost that much more on hand ($440,018). Kuhl came into Congress in 2005 having defeated his Democratic opponent 51% to 41%, after winning the fundraising race by 40%. The district is 29% Democrat, 44% Republican, and 25% Other, making 2006 the year to get a Democrat in there, if we're ever going to do it. This is the year that being a vet, being anti-Bush, and, hell, being a Democrat are advantages.
So here we are in April and Kuhl is laying the fundraising groundwork for a repeat performance. It's time to ask ourselves why, in 2006, a Democrat of Massa's caliber isn't awash in cash. Why, when every seat matters, aren't the Democrats launching a full scale attack against Kuhl, a former State Chair of the American Legislative Exchange Council (check out PLANfor details)? Why is Massa facing a summer of fundraising instead of spending? How can he field polls, paid canvassers, radio and tv ads, or direct mail pieces with only $121K on hand?
Something has to be done.
Sure, Kos could launch a small donation campaign to add a few grand to the campaign's coffers, but I think this is a perfect opportunity for a more targeted push. I'd love to see an organization like MoveOn launch a campaign to double Massa's cash in a month, or raise enough money to produce and air a month of tv ads. I want to see our Democratic rockstars lining up to host fundraisers for this guy. If Kuhl's last opponent, Barend, lost having raised 60% as much, what's going to happen to Massa who has only a third?
I would also argue that too much money is going to unchallenged or safe Democrats. Nancy Pelosi has raised almost $1 million to date and while I'm sure she is spreading the wealth, I wonder where and how much. I also wonder where other safe Democrats are funneling their money? To other incumbents or to races where victory is not assured. There is a lot of money in politics and I think more of it should be going to candidates like Eric Massa.
I get my tiny paycheck on Monday at which point I'll be tossing a few dollars to my favorite campaigns: Massa, Lamont, Tester, and Grandlund. It's all I can do myself. I'd double my donation if I knew it was part of a real effort to get this man elected.
Cross-posted at
Emboldened