Here's a question for Kossacks- if you could go to a backyard barbeque with a Kossack-backed Congressional candidate or fly to a major city to join thousands of other supporters to cheer on Hillary Clinton, John Edwards or Barack Obama, what would you do?
No really, before that knee-jerk reaction of "I'd support Clinton/Edwards/Obama", what would you do? Would you pay for a plane ticket and buy those $1000 tix to stand in a ballroom with hundreds of other wannabe insiders to wait to get a glimpse and maybe say hi to one of the "Big Three" Democratic Presidential candidates?
That's the very real question that Kossacks need to answer as we go forward this campaign season. For a community that is dedicated to electing Democrats, are we going to try to improve on our results in the 2006 elections? Or are we content to post diary after diary of gossip, speculation and campaign regurgitation?
Because those diaries will keep us from doing anything to keep the Democratic wave going in the next election.
Yesterday I introduced a new diary series that will be posted every Friday morning, a contest that challenges Clinton, Edwards and Obama supporters to actually demonstrate that their candidate motivates more people to support Democrats. I got some praise, but it's not pats on the back that I am looking for.
What we need, and what I am asking for is real support for our Kossack-backed candidates.
So again, here is my challenge for Clinton, Edwards and Obama supporters (C/E/O)- make your pie fights about more than why comments should be TR'd. While you're having your daily debates over who is better for the party, SHOW it by actually supporting the party itself. Help all of our candidates get elected!
Judging will be based on and the following points will be awarded weekly:
Overall money raised: 5 points
Number of overall donors: 5 points
Avg number of donors per candidate: 1 point
Avg donation per candidate: 1 point
Most new donors from previous week: 1 point
Most new donations from previous week: 1 point
Total Pres cand $ higher than other cand combined: -10 points
Each week, I'll be adding up the total scores and announcing which candidate's supporters hold bragging rights for the week.
Here are the new Clinton, Edwards and Obama Kossack ActBlue pages-
Clinton's DailyKos ActBlue page
Edwards' DailyKos ActBlue page
Obama's DailyKos ActBlue page-
And these are the candidates that we are raising funds for:
Tom Allen- ME-Sen- running to unseat the Bush-supporting Susan Collins.
Eric Massa- NY-29, The very definition of a Fighting Dem, Eric has also been a longtime blogger on this board. With the DCCC finally lining up behind him, Eric is going to have change his user name to Congressman Eric Massa in November.
Gilda Reed- LA-01, Gilda is the first chance Southeast Louisiana has had in 30 years to turn Blue. Katrina, polio, and grad school with 7 children in tow have seasoned her into the fighter her people need in Washington.
Jerry Northington- DE-01, DailyKos's beloved possum is working to bring Democracy back to America. When did Liberty become a word only Liberals understand?
Ron Shepston- CA-42, Better known to Kossacks as CanYouBeAngryAndStillDream, Ron and his merry band of Kossacks are fighting to bring honest government to his district and to Washington DC.
Darcy Burner- WA-08, Darcy is back to finish what she started in 2006 and unseat Right-Wing Congressman Dave Reichert.
Barry Welsh- IN-06, Barry is response to any Republican who claims that the GOP is God's Own Party. And this year, Barry will be giving Mike Pence plenty of time off to stroll those Indiana marketplaces in the summertime.
Donna Edwards- MD-04 Proof that this board stands for more than just supporting the Democratic Establishment, Donna has had long-standing support from the DailyKos and other progressive organizations, as she campaigns to take out DC Insider Al Wynn.
Jared Polis- CO-02, Not content for the dog-and-pony show or the glowing reports on Iraq from the White House, longtime Kossack Jared Polis is finding out the truth for himself in order to make an informed opinion on the issue of Iraq. When was the last time our officials stuck out their necks on any issue?
Mark Pera- IL-03, Mark is another great example of the primary process at work. Riding on Daddy's coattails isn't exactly what our Founding Fathers had in mind, but Mark Pera's stand on the issues is.
Dan Seals- IL-10, Dan has hit his stride this campaign, bringing in the endorsements and the fundraising to take out PAC-loving, Arab-fearing incumbent Mark Kirk.
Al Franken- MN-Sen, Seriously, if I have to introduce you to Al Franken....
Dan Maffei- NY-25, A former aide to Sen Moynihan and Congressman Rangel, Dan will make sure that Jim Walsh's support for war-mongering, unitary executives like Rudy Giuliani and George Bush will be his undoing in the next Democratic Congressional wave.
Charlie Brown- CA-04, Another Congressional district in desperate need of cleanup, Charlie is going to make sure that John Doolittle's corruption problems problems get him the boot in 2008.
Harry Taylor- NC-09, As an everyday voter, Harry stood up to President Bush. As the Congressman from North Carolina, Harry will be standing up for all of us.
I know there are so many others, and I apologize for all of those deserving candidates that I didn't include (especially Potus2020 who pointed out last night that John Laesch should have been on this list). But these are candidates that we can get behind, if we haven't already. They need our rec's, our support, and most of all, our money. So while we insult our presidential candidates and each other in the Clinton, Edwards, and Obama threads, let's remember why we are hear and support the candidates that we need at all level's of government to promote the Democratic ideals that we all share.
And here are the links to the Kossack Act Blue pages-
Clinton's Kossack ActBlue page
Edwards' Kossack ActBlue page
Obama's Kossack ActBlue page
Let's make this community about electing Democrats again. And let the Clinton/Edwards/Obama DKos challenge begin!
Update: As I pointed out, there are several candidates who aren't represented here. And I apologize, but there are a few who really need to be mentioned every time we are talking about Kossack-backed candidates:
Crit Luallen for KY State Auditor
Larry LaRocco for Senate in Idaho
Andrew Rice for Senate in Oklahoma
and John Laesch for IL Congress
Please give them your support! :)