As the summer moves on and the General Election approaches, candidates are hunkering down in their districts. If they do not get themselves before the voters so that they and their views are known, then they will have a difficult time come fall. And all politics is local, right? Well, not quite. There is a tragic irony here because many of our Fighting Dem Vets are in districts that are economically challenged, rural areas where they must run grassroots efforts in today's media-driven campaigns. So the conundrum is that candidates must spend most of their time in their districts, yet they need money and support from afar to wage their campaigns.
Fighting Dem Strategic Weapons Series.
Last week we saw how Ted Ankrum (TX-10) used a common and inexpensive method--the post card--to increase local name recognition and get knowledge of his candidacy out to people who do not read the papers so that he could sweep the primary runoff. In the next couple of weeks we will look into the campaigns of Carl Sheeler for Senate in Rhode Island and Rick Penberthy for the House in Florida CD 6.
This week, however, we will look at how Commander Eric Massa has struggled with this conundrum and how he has dealt with it in the past and continues to struggle with it in the present.
Building the Democratic Party from the Ground up: Local and National, Grassroots and Netroots
Eric's campaign has been run on the premise that since Fighting Dem candidates, vets and non-vets alike, are in a struggle to remove the stranglehold that Republicans have on districts that by all rights should vote for the party that best represents them, they must use every means available and grasp every tool there is to build their candidacy. Local politics in this mid-year election cannot be distinguished from state and national politics. There must be no divide between local and national, grassroots and netroots. And the mid-term election is about more than just getting elected; it is building the foundation for all future elections as well. Even in areas where we might lose, our efforts will pay off as we continue to build the Dem Party in the run-up to the `08 election. And the 50-state project is to get Dems elected at all levels, from the ground up. We will take back the towns, counties, the districts, the states, Congress and the White House.
The Commander and the General - Massa and Clark at a recent fundraiser
Eric, a netroots endorsed candidate, posted an important diary on this issue entitled Fighting Dems, National Security, Netroots and Party Unity. In his call for unity, Eric warned:
A Dem Party that is factionalized -- grassroots versus organized leadership, Beltway versus outsiders, political pros versus upcoming novices, vets versus non-vets, liberal versus moderate, red state versus blue state, northeast versus heartland, ideological purity versus political expediency, or any other divisiveness that we are so prone to promulgate -- is a party that is preparing for election suicide. If recent polls are any indication, we have a great opportunity this fall. We cannot afford to squander that opportunity by getting bogged down in internecine warfare. We have to recognize that the face of the real opponent is George Bush and his henchmen.
Eric was the first Fighting Dem candidate to enter the race this election cycle. He tried to enter in 2004, but could not register as a Democrat, under New York law, until the day after the November election. He even tried the alternative route of getting permission from the State Democratic Party, but was turned down. So the day after the election Eric began his campaign to build the Democratic Party from the ground up. His approach to the Democratic chair in one county is enshrined in the superb speech by Lisa Feinberg-Duckett, Chairman of the Allegany County Democratic Committee, who tells of how Eric approached and convinced her to support him. You can see the video here:
We Are America - But Washington Doesn't Hear Our Voice.
In his "local" ground war, Eric, like many other Fighting Dems, locked up support for his candidacy, including not just an unprecedented unanimous endorsement by all 8 Democratic County Committees, but by labor unions and other organizations. He did such a superb job of building support that he fended off three attempts by the DCCC to field candidates who they felt were more financially able to wage an effective campaign. The DCCC strategy was not to undermine quality local activists, but to focus on two criteria: fund-raising ability and electability - and sometimes the former to the detriment of the later. For example, in the final effort to raise a primary challenge against Eric, party leaders pushed a wealthy executive in Eric Massa's district (NY-29) who promised to fund a great deal of his own campaign. This attempt was a miscalculation because the union where this effort was announced had already committed to Eric and the attempt initiated a huge outcry to the DCCC that ended in the DCCC giving full support to Eric. And last week, on July 6th, as reported today in Eric's Weekly Kos Diary, Congressman Rahm Emanuel, Chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign, stood shoulder to shoulder with Eric in announcing a call for raising the minimum wage. Eric Massa's strategy of building the Democratic Party from the ground up in a year and a half of hard, grinding campaigning has finally paid off.
Eric, in keeping with his strategy, holds no grudges against any party leaders, and, to the contrary, is working closely with them at the state and national level. Eric won because he had done his ground work and he convinced them of the viability of his candidacy. He refused to allow a divide between the local, state and national levels and is now a vital part of the state Democratic campaign to sweep New York for the Democrats. There are still many Fighting Dems out in the cold without support from national Democratic institutions and Eric continues to fight for leveling the playing field in donations from DCCC/DSCC and the various PACs. He believes that, rather than spending large amounts on targeted districts, smaller donations across the board to quality candidates would be a better strategy. Despite this, however, he has integrated his campaign into the state and national efforts.
Another aspect of building the party from the ground up is to get Dems elected to every position from city to country to state and nation. Eric was boots on the ground putting up yard signs and helping to elect two Dem mayors in 2005. The mayor elected in Corning, NY, was the first Dem to hold the mayor's office in nearly half a century. This is building the Democratic Party from the ground up in the sense of the 50-state strategy.
In this year of opportunity many GOP icons could fall and we really do have to loosen the focus on a few races and level the playing field. The wins that would result may surprise the strategists and even in losing they will not be sacrificial lambs but will help to build the new Dem Party "from the ground up." This means developing a solid base from which to launch new campaigns in the next election and the next until we win. Dean's 50-state strategy is much more flexible, realistic and potentially fruitful than that of the DCCC and DSCC. For the national Dem institutions, committees and PACs to sift through these groups to find the candidates they wish to support and the reasons for doing so. This widens the playing field, levels the fund giving, and helps the whole process make a great deal more sense.
Here in Eric's own words, from a letter he wrote, showing Eric's focus and strategy relative to these matters:
You may have heard news of an interesting turn of events this week in our campaign. If you haven't, let me assure you that it is good news that has positioned us well for the coming months as we focus our efforts solidly on defeating Randy Kuhl.
On Tuesday, David Nachbar, a Rochester-area executive who was considering a bid for the Democratic nomination in the 29th District, announced that he will not run. "I am stepping aside really in the best interest of the party and party unity," Nachbar told the Associated Press yesterday.
Mr. Nachbar subsequently offered his support for my campaign and, as a result, we are on the verge of unifying the party in the 29th District. Congressman Rahm Emanuel, the Chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee also offered his full support during a Tuesday phone call and has pledged to reach out to other national party leaders on my campaign's behalf.
Eric (right) with Rahm Emanuel (center)
Many factors contributed to this fortunate result, including the endorsements of the county Democratic committees and the unwavering support of local labor leaders. My campaign owes a debt of gratitude to those of you who have traveled this long road with us to date and we look forward to more successes in the coming months.
We look forward to working with Congressman Emanuel, Mr. Nachbar and other party leaders to defeat Randy Kuhl and help put a Democratic majority back in the House.
You can read newspaper reports on this event here:
Southern Tier candidate for Congress bows out amid complaints.
In a Kos diary by Mike Pridmore, one of the authors of this piece today, Mike wrote of another potential divide: the grassroots and the netroots, and how Eric will not allow such a barrier in his campaign. You can read it in its entirety here: Eric Mass on All politics henceforth are national, not local. Some snippets:
We've all heard the old saw "All politics are local." But Republican pollster David Winston has recently argued that in an Internet age of Web blogs, talk radio and cable news, all politics henceforth are national, not local. You don't have to look far to find evidence that the 2006 midterms are shaping up to turn on national issues rather than local ones.
Netroots endorsed candidate and Fighting Dem Eric Massa is using the internet to help nationalize midterm elections in NY-29. Michael Winship, a Writers Guild of America Award winner and former writer with Bill Moyers, recently wrote about Eric in a piece that was published on Buzzflash Candidate Massa: Midterm Elections' Delicate National/Local Balance:
"[Massa] has made the Internet a campaign tool, become a weekly blogger on such sites as Daily Kos, TPMCafe and My DD... Massa's counting on voters' discontent with the state of the nation overriding both their concern about more local issues and the body politics' inclination to vote for the incumbent. ...Massa insists that not he but Rep. Kuhl "has decided to make this a national referendum about George Bush by supergluing himself to the president... Now if you want to run on George Bush's coattails, I think you just signed up to be the navigator on the Titanic because I happen to disagree with the direction the president is taking this country.
Winship also explains that Eric is not ignoring local issues but is rather putting them in a national context.
Mike continues:
Eric also recently wrote an op-ed for the Messenger Post Newspapers in upstate New York. Here are some applicable snippets: "By early this month, the percentage of Americans describing our nation as on the wrong track reached a high of 73 percent, with six in 10 self-described conservatives saying America is headed in the wrong direction. Even more astounding, "fewer voters today than in 2004 describe themselves as Republicans or Republican-leaning," the Associated Press reported.
Americans nationwide blame the White House and Congress for problems such as out-of-control deficits, high gas prices and illegal immigration. Here in upstate New York the story is no different, although we are far more likely to blame the GOP-led Congress for these problems. In the 29th Congressional District, Congress has a breathtakingly low 17 percent job approval, according to a Cooper & Secrest Associates poll....As we approach this important election in November, I ask you to ask yourselves not only 'Am I better off than I was four years ago?' but 'Will my children and grandchildren be better off than me 10 years or 20 years from now?' It is our collective responsibility to make sure they are."
The 2006 midterms are shaping up to focus on national issues. Using the internet as a political tool, it is much easier to draw national attention to local races and to get one's message out to a national audience. Eric Massa gets that.
In addition to all this, Eric has a blog team that works independently of the Massa campaign to help organize the Fighting Dems (both vets and non-vets) around National Issues. Fighting-Dems.com, a central part of that effort, is published by Noel Schutz, who also serves as captain of the Massa blog team.
And, for the record, Eric has not done badly in fundraising. Recently he has outraised Kuhl and this is largely a netroots driven campaign since NY-29 is a rural, poor district. The netroots stand behind the grassroots, and Eric's campaign relies on both.
And how effective has Eric's campaign been? Here is a piece from Roll Call: New Democratic Poll Spells Trouble for Kuhl
A new poll prepared for retired Navy commander Eric Massa shows the Democrat within striking distance of freshman Rep. Randy Kuhl (R) in the reliably Republican 29th district.
In the poll of 503 likely general election voters, conducted April 18 and 19 by Cooper & Secrest Associates Inc., Kuhl was preferred by 43 percent of the respondents, and Massa was the choice of 40 percent -- despite the fact that Massa was not well known to most voters. The poll, which had an error margin of 4.4 percent, seems to confirm that the Democratic blowout many political professionals are predicting for the Empire State could come to pass.
The 29th district was the highest-performing Congressional district in the state for President Bush in 2004, giving him 56 percent of the vote. But in the Cooper & Secrest poll, Bush's job approval rating in the Southern Tier district was just 31 percent positive and 69 percent negative.
By the same token, only 17 percent of the poll respondents had a positive impression of Congress, while 81 percent had a negative impression.
Kuhl had his own problems, according to the survey -- some of which may be the residuals of a nasty 2004 campaign. Although an accomplished, veteran state legislator, Kuhl took just 51 percent of the vote in his initial run for Congress after explosive details from his divorce case were made public.
In the poll, 33 percent of the voters had a positive view of Kuhl's job performance, while 50 percent had a negative opinion.
"Add yet another incumbent to the growing list that national GOP groups will be asked to bail out," pollster Alan Secrest wrote in his polling memo.
-- Josh Kurtz
The Roll Call link is subscription only, but I don't see what the harm is in sending to all of you - the people who are making Massa's victory possible on a national level. Obviously, this poll is great news. Cooper and Secrest is considered to be one of the most accurate national polling firms in the country, from both parties and independently alike. I know of many candidates (and Democratic Representatives right now) who can vouch for their ability. So while it is a partisan poll, it should NOT be given a "large grain of salt".
But the fight is far from over. Kuhl is flip-flopping to raise votes by supporting measures he has long blocked and he still has a treasure chest left over from the 2004 cycle. Eric still needs the netroots to support the grassroots and the national to impact on the local. Most of all he needs not huge donations, but has called for $20.00 donations (well, more if you can) from thousands instead to offset the Republican mean machine.
You can help with your contribution.