I originally posted this diary on Nov. 8th and it quickly sank in the flurry of afterglow diaries patting ourselves on the back for a job well done. I've tried to determine whether any of the candidates that I supported still have a campaign debt to erase, but many of those candidate's websites are already down and the latest reporting period has yet to close. I would at least like some feedback on whether or not the netroots think that we should create a donation page to help these heros out in a time of need.
Original diary after the jump...
Enjoy the warm feeling of freedom washing over all of us today, for tomorrow the hard work of governing starts. But, before the war profiteering investigations start, we have one unfinished housekeeping task left over from our joyous electoral release, and that is making sure that all of the 'non-winning' candidates (none of them were losers) have no campaign debt before the glorious winners take office.
Whether you believe the glorious outcome was due to Howard Dean's 50-state strategy or Rahm's brilliant candidate choices (pay no attention to the $10 million dollar cost of the Duckworth race), it is incumbent upon the winners and the leadership (and the netroots) to make sure the sacrifices of candidates like Jim Marcinkowski and Dan Seals and Larry Grant are honored, and the warriors made whole, before the next round starts. Not only is this the right thing to do, it's also the smart thing, as it has got to be harder to recruit the next round of warriors if the bodies of the previous round are still lying on the battlefield.
Does anyone have any interest in starting a strong lobbying effort to get Rahm and the rest of the leadership to do this while the iron is hot? The winners will have 2 years to be ready for the next battle, but our fallen warriors need our help now.