One thing that folks who took a close look at the links in
a challenge to the netroots may have noticed is that one blog popped up with informative articles about vulnerable GOP Congressional incumbents time after time. That result was no accident.
Now, that blog is Down with Tyranny. Down with Tyranny is a blogspot group blog based in Southern California led by a blogger who goes by the handle Down with Tyranny (his co-blogger is keninny). In real life, Down with Tyranny's name is Howie Klein and, as many of you well know, he's also been running an excellent series about progressive candidates on firedoglake that goes under the header Blue America and features a powerful ACTBlue page.
This essay will explain not simply why Howie is a netroots hero, but also what we in the netroots can learn from how he blogs...
When Howie writes about a race,
he gets involved.
Take this August 11th entry on Democratic candidate John Hall's efforts to unseat GOP Congresswoman Sue Kelly in New York's 19th Congressional district (NY-19). Howie brings us into the race by introducing us to a local blogger...Helen...who recently attended a candidate meeting in the district. He's got a picture of Helen with John Hall right there. Typical of Howie, the piece is chock full of links:
to a previous piece on John Hall's campaign
to an ACTBlue page where you can contribute
to a previous piece about Helen and (NY-19)
and a link to an organization called Do More than Vote
That's a lot of useful links. Those links significantly strengthen Howie's case. Further, Howie's blog post also explicity mentions concrete reasons to support John Hall and oppose Sue Kelly:
John Hall is anti-war
John Hall supports Murtha's withdrawal plan
John Hall is for universal health care and reproductive rights
John Hall is an environmentalist
John Hall was just endorsed by the Teacher's Union
Sue Kelly supports Bush's Iraq war across the board
Sue Kelly supported the GOP bankruptcy bill
Sue Kelly tabled the Abramoff investigation
Sue Kelly has accepted tons of PAC money from corporate interests.
If you needed reasons to get excited about the race in NY-19, Howie and Helen gave them to you. If you had questions about specifics, you got them. If you wanted more links...specifically links that showed you how to get involved or give money...those links were there. Typical for Howie, this blog post answers the who, what, where, when and why so thoroughly...and so effortlessly...that, in my view, Howie Klein is a role model for what it means to be an effective blogger.
Howie gets local. Howie gets specific. And in the process, he makes sure that politics is not a chore. Even the use of that picture gets you involved. When you read one of Howie's blog posts, he's given you the tools and motivation to do something.
In my view, that's why he's a netroots hero. (For more examples of Howie in action try these links here and here.)
Now, let me step back from that encomium and apply it for a second. I mean Howie's well-known. He's on firedoglake. He's a former record producer who uses music to support his cause. He's tireless. How does his example relate to the vast majority of us in the netroots?
Well, it does.
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Constructive criticism
Allow me to offer some constructive criticism for one second. We in the netroots are often just way too generic. We talk about DC Dems. We talk about the mainstream media. We gripe about the GOP Congress. We rail on the press. (Hell, we rail about each other.) When we do get specific, it's about the latest outrage and not about what we can DO to take out country's political system back.
In all this, so often, we don't answer the questions of who, what, why, when and where. We don't provide the critical information and links. Oftentimes, we are so focused on complaining about the effects of the GOP stranglehold on Congress, the Presidency, our Courts and our Statehouses that we don't write about the specific elections and races where we can win them back.
The time for that kind of generic writing is over. It's election time. There's three months to go. It's time to get specific and local.
When we talk about Congressional races, we need to mention specifics. It's not enough to say. "Let's support Patricia Madrid." Though that's to the well and good. We need to say let's support Democrat Patricia Madrid in NM-01 in her fight to defeat Republican Congresswoman Heather Wilson.
I'm not saying that we need to write like robots, far from it. But, let me be clear, there are some guidelines we can follow to make our writing more effective:
provide useful links
write clear descriptions of the candidate you support or oppose including name and party affilliation
use the formula (MN-01) or (OH-11) to describe Congressional disctricts
include compelling reasons to support your candidate
include compelling reasons to oppose your GOP incumbent
give reasons why you are excited about this race
provide a link to someplace where a reader can volunteer for your candidate
provide a link to someplace where they can donate money
if you can cover local meetings with photos, do so!!
Let me say this, when you provide a link when you criticize a politician, that politician's staffers follow that link back to what you wrote. When I write about a Republican Congressperson on my blog, I see the hits coming from DC and their district the next day. That's what getting specific and local does. People pay attention to specificity in a way that they just don't to generics. Further, people in the districts where we are running against vulnerable GOP incumbents use google and technorati too. The local press loves the low-hanging fruit of already gathered information and links, and as this election season heats up, they will be reading your blog.
Now, I've come out strong for locally-focused blogging. Many of you may be sick of this project already. However, I am going out on a limb with this effort because there's a difference between blogging that's foggy and generic, and blogging that is specific, focused and empowering.
I firmly believe that blogging can make a difference on election day. And I am convinced that there's still ample time for our blogging to make a difference in this election. It is not too late to increase our impact.
Howie Klein's example proves that you can do all this and still be relevant and fun. In my view, he's not the only netroots hero. The second you get local and start attacking a GOP incumbent, you're a netroots hero too.
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Resource list of vulnerable Republicans and worthy Democrats
For those of you interested in picking a local race and writing about it from now till election day here is, once again, a list of races where your input can make a difference broken down by region. The links are to google blog searches of the names of the candidate or incumbent. Google blog search is a potent tool. Use those links for more information and to hook up with local blogs that are taking the fight to the GOP.
Western Region:
Heather Wilson (GOP Incumbent, NM-01, opposed by Democrat Patricia Madrid)
David Reichert (GOP Incumbent, WA-08, opposed by Democrat Darcy Burner)
Jon Porter (GOP Incumbent in NV-03)
Jack Carter (Dem, US Senate, NV)
JD Hayworth (GOP Incumbent, AZ-05)
Ed Perlmutter (Democratic Candidate CO-07 Open Seat)
Elton Gallegly (GOP Incumbent, CA-24)
Debra Bowen (Democratic Candidate for California Secretary of State)
Ted Kulongoski (vulnerable Democratic Governor of Oregon)
Gabrielle Giffords, Patty Weiss and Jeff Latas (Democrats running for the open seat in AZ-08)
Dennis Rehberg (GOP incumbent Montana At Large)
David Dreier (GOP, CA-26, lean GOP district, tough one)
Jim Ryun (GOP, KS-01) or, the longer shot effort by Dem John Doll in KS-02 (h/t Scout Finch).
Midwestern Region:
Mark Kirk (GOP Incumbent in IL-10)
Deborah Pryce (GOP Incumbent in OH-15)
Pat Tiberi (GOP Incumbent OH-12)
Joseph Knollenberg (GOP incumbent MI-09)
Claire McCaskill (Democratic Candidate for US Senate, MO)
Tom Latham (GOP, IA-04)
Amy Klobuchar (Democratic Candidate, US Senate, MN)
Gil Gutknecht (vulnerable GOP incumbent, MN-01)
Chris Chocola (vulnerable GOP incumbent IN-02)
Bruce Braley (Democrat running for the open seat in IA-01)
Paul Ryan (GOP, WI-01, tough one)
Thaddeus McCotter (GOP, MI-11, another tough one)
Steve Chabot (GOP Incumbent in OH-01)
Eastern Region
Curt Weldon (a vulnerable GOP incumbent in PA-07, opposed by Joe Sestak)
Jim Walsh (below-the-radar GOP incumbent in NY-25)
Frank LoBiondo (GOP incumbent in NJ-02 feeling the heat now)
Jim Saxton (GOP, NJ-03)
Paul Hodes (running against GOP incumbent Charlie Bass, NH-02, h/t Miss Laura)
Tim Murphy (GOP, PA-18)
John McHugh (GOP, NY-23)Charles Dent (vulnerable GOP incumbent, Pennsylvania's 15th CD)
Deval Patrick (Dem Candidate, Governor MA, h/t dnta)
Nancy Johnson (vulnerable CT incumbent GOP Congresswoman, CT-05)
John Bonifaz (Dem voting rights champion for MA Secretary of State)
Jeb Bradley (NH-01, another vulnerable notheastern GOP incumbent)
Phil English (under-looked at GOP incumbent in PA-03)
Melissa Hart, (GOP incumbent in PA-04)
Shelley Moore-Capito (the GOP West Virginian Congressperson, deserves our attention)
Southern Region
CW Bill Young (GOP incumbent in Florida-10)
Clay Shaw (GOP, getting a run for his money in FL-22)
Robin Hayes (GOP incumbent, NC-08 v Dem Larry Kissell)
Democrat Jim Webb v. GOP George Allen for US Senate in VA (h/t Delicate Monster)
MZM encrusted Republican Congressman Virgil Goode in VA-05
Charles Taylor (GOP incumbent in NC-11, hot race)
Mike Rogers (little known GOP Congressman in Alabama-03)
Thelma Drake (a GOP incumbent in VA-02 who I really hope gets some attention)
And three longer shots....Erik Fleming, (Dem Candidate for US Senate in MS)
Steve Sinton (Democratic Candidate for Congress, Georgia)
Anne Northup (the incumbent GOP Rep from KY-03, more Conservative than district by a mile)