It started on a dark day in history. A day when 86 Democratic House members voted to give George Bush Carte Blanche for Carnage. A Blank Check to Blow Up Iraq. Free Reign to Further Fubar. Money for Killin and his Checks (and Balances )for Free.
James Risser kicked it off with '86' the 86 in 08 By simply listing the names of those who voted to continue to pay for the Occupation of Iraq.
Then in an incredible display of hard work ....and patriotism, plf515 sat down and went through each and every one of the names assigned its proper district and then did an analysis that was simply remarkable, the result wasRock the House! part 1: I've got a little list. Anyone who believes in the small d democratic process owes theses two diarists a debt of thanks.
For what plf515 produced was a guide to the democratic process, a road map to the future of progressivism. Why?
In some ways American politics is easy. You are either a Democrat, a Republican.....or...sorry to say, pretty much not in the process. There IS no third party in America that counts. There are those like the Greens that effect elections, there was Ross Perot. And while these phenomena have their moment of effectiveness, a moment is all it ever is.
So, simplicity. If you are a Republican you vote against Democrats. If you are Democrat, you vote against Republicans. But what this has produced over the years is a form of a one party system. A sliding scale that actually equates more to political ideology than any true hard and fast positions that can be said to be PURELY Democratic or Republican PARTY ideologies.
Abortion is the closest we come, perhaps. One of the big markers on the sliding scale. But then there is Harry Reid and Bob Casey. The Dems used to....or tried to be.....or most accurately we WISH they were, The Antiwar Party. That vote proved that they are not.
Obviously we would like them to be. We here at Dkos are antiwar. A pro Iraqi Occupation poster wouldn't last long here if they openly stated their views. They would be called.....a Republican.... and shunned off the board. We WISH all Dems were anti-Occupation. It is the one issue that truly unites everyone here. Besides of course, ridiculing The. Worst. President. Ever.
BUT>>>>>>>>
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We ARE here to elect Dems. It IS the only strategy that makes sense. While each Dem may not be WHERE on the sliding scale of Ideology we would like them to be....they are still on the end...or at least below the mid point....of the sliding scale.
Well except for Nelson, D Fla. And that Bozo from Conecticut. And....and....and...
And that brings us to the list.
For while our PRIMARY (haha) mission is to elect Dems, our secondary mission is to elect better Dems
And that is where plf515's list comes in. Go look at it. I'll wait here.
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Ok, good to have you back.
His list, his analysis, is not a knee jerk reaction, it is careful and reasonable analysis. It is not an anti-Dem hit list, it is a road map to how we can elect better Dems.
THIS is the starting point to electing better Democrats without risking electing Republicans in the process.
It is a list of Democrats who voted to pay for and extend the occupation. None of us involved in this project are saying if they voted for the war.....that we should AUTOMATICALLY primary their asses. Due to the analysis, which can will and has been refined, we can see which Dems are capable of being replaced by better Dems without risking losing the Seats.
So we have a preliminary analysis. Now what?
So what's next?
Primaries.
We are in the Kossakian debate process of determining which seats can be SAFELY primaried (please continue this process in the comments.) Once we have determined which seats ARE truly safe to run a primary challenger in, We need to get organized to (along with working to unseat Repulicans...of course/duh) get to work to support the GOOD Democratic primary challengers to those who voted pro-occupation.
Of course there is one thing we need in order to do that....I'll get to that in a moment.
This site is about getting better Dems elected. Kossaks have a huge and impressive knowledge and skill set relating on electoral politics. Kossaks have a huge and impressive knowledge and skill set on fundraising. Kossaks have a huge and impressive knowledge and skill set on campaigning. Kossaks are GREAT at promoting worthy candidates. Kossaks are GREAT at donating to worthy candidates. KOSSAKS CAN GET FOLKS ELECTED! At this point, that is a given!
The question that faces us now is, how good are Kossaks at FINDING candidates.
The bigger, more intriguing, funner and potentially HUGE question is.....
How good are Kossaks at BEING CANDIDATES???
In the first discussions of what to do with this information Kossak areucrazy volunteered to research the potential primary challengers...to set up an ActBlue page for the likely primary candidates in the SAFE districts. This is where we ran into a roadblock in the road map.
Who ARE the primary candidates? areyoucrazy's preliminary search was unfortunately, pretty fruitless. Perhaps they are out there and we didn't find them....but perhaps.....they are not out there!
Yet!
Which leads us to the question posed in the title of this diary.....Who wants to be a Congressmember?
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If you live in one of the high priority districts...if you can MOVE to one of the high priority districts.
WE NEED YOU!
Image by Kossak Common Sense Mom! (thanks Mom!)
WE NEED CANDIDATES!!!
Obviously, if you are here you have a deep interest in politics.....Have YOU ever considered running for Congress?
As we can see from the fine example that nearly ALL Republican Congressmembers, you don to even have to be very bright! (though of course we would prefer it!)
Think about it, obviously it is not something to take lightly. But consider this....
If you become a Kosdidate (naw that doesn't work) If you are a Kos Kandidate (better, but still....) you will have a ready made support system, some of the finest political minds anywhere, folks who will help with fundraising, platforms, publicity, and EVERY other aspect needed to run a successful campaign!
This IS the grassroots, the net roots in action......this is democracy in action. Citizen candidates!!!
Think it over, even if you DON'T win, you will have achieved a VERY important function. Moving the party towards a more progressive posture. The Pro-Occupation candidate you run against will be forced to move to the LEFT to try to steal (heeheehee) YOUR BASE away from you!. Every progressive primary challenge FORCES the Democratic Party leftward. More on this complex concept in a later Rock the House diary.
I know it seems ambitious and daring but hey! That's who we are, that's what we do!
If you DON'T want to BE a candidate in one of the safe Primary districts......please help find one! If you know someone you think would be a good progressive candidate....talk to them! Let them now what kind of support is waiting for them here, if they choose to run.
If you live in a high priority or mid priority district....and don't want to run, you can help out by writing (thanks ciygirl!) a diary (thanks Mehitabel9!) about your (thanks cmanaster!) District (thanks Skulnick!). Or just commenting in this diary. ALL information is vital to the effort. The more we know about the district the better.
Or find your own way tohelp out in the effort, (thanks pickandshovel!) Which is also about RETAINING and supporting Dems in districts that are vulnerable to Invasion By The Evil Empire possible Republican pickups.
But however you can contribute....please do, this IS netroots democracy!
Ok Kossaks! Let's get out there and RRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrOCK those Houses!!!