The traditional strategy for taking back the House of Representatives is only half a strategy, conceding far too many seats to Tom DeLay and his radical Republican allies. Every election, we lose more and more seats not because we can't win but because we aren't competing. In dozens of districts around the country, viable Democratic candidates continue to be left behind by the national party, without sufficient resources, giving Republicans easy victories.
The reason most often cited for not competing in more districts is limited resources. But 21st Century political tools like Internet organizing and fundraising can change the rules of the game and revolutionize an underdog candidate's ability to recruit volunteers and raise money.
We can't win if we don't compete. And with a majority of Americans believing that Republicans are steering America down the wrong track, the time to start fighting is now.
If we start competing today, we can win more seats each election and take back the House from Tom Delay and radical Republicans. The more Democratic candidates we stand behind, the more Democratic seats we will win. We will also strengthen the Democratic voting base in each district.
Paul Hackett's House race in Ohio proved that even districts we haven't won in 40 years are vulnerable with the right candidate and the resources to put up a real fight. Democrats can't afford to continue supporting only a handful of districts. The power of the Internet to create buzz around a campaign and raise money for a candidate means we don't have to limit the playing field to a small number of districts. From this day forward, we will leave no district behind!
To help left behind districts begin succeeding, Leave No District Behind provides financial support early in a campaign so a candidate taking a leap of faith by running for Congress has what he/she needs to get their campaign off the ground. We continue that support throughout the campaign by raising money for candidates and encouraging others to give directly to their campaigns on sites like www.ActBlue.org.
Leave No District Behind's mission is to rewrite the political playbook for taking back the House: By focusing resources on only a handful of races, we've lost seats in every recent election. We can't win if we don't compete; the more districts we compete in, the more districts we will win in the long run. If we invest in building a Democratic base in more districts now, we can gradually make them more competitive and winnable over time. This forces Republicans to spread their money more broadly and prevents them from saturating a few districts with lots of resources.
Leave No District Behind PAC's goal is to take back the House of Representatives from Tom Delay and radical Republicans who are steering America down a dangerous track. Victory will take more than one election. For decades, we've been ignoring hundreds of districts across the country, ceding more ground to Republicans every election because we aren't even fighting. But if we start investing in more district races today, we'll win more races each election and have a Democratic House of Representatives. From here on out, we will leave no district behind!
There are three things you can do to help fight in every district:
- Invest in Leave No District Behind
- Let your friends know about the growing movement to fight in every district, in every state.
- Add your ideas in the comments on how we can help provide the necessary resources to all Democrats courageous enough to run for congress.
We can take back the House if we decide to fight Republicans in every district. We can't continue to cede ground to the Republicans by focusing all of our resources on a small number of districts. Paul Hackett's race in Ohio proved that even districts we haven't won in 40 years are vulnerable if we have the right candidate and a campaign with the resources it needs to put up a real fight.
The grassroots are changing the rules of the political game and "business as usual" politics won't cut it any more. Together we can take back the House from Tom DeLay and the radical Republicans. From now on, we will leave no district behind!