(You'll be seeing this nightly on the front page. Give a big shout out to sidinny and his incredible volunteers as they comb through the diaries and organize for us this election season. SusanG)
For more information on this series, please see our reintroduction diary from yesterday.
***Write that diary!***
One of the downsides of the immense upswing of diary traffic of late is that it can be difficult to get even a good diary noticed. Those relating to specific candidates for a House, Senate or Local race in particular fall by the wayside, as they may connect with only a limited audience and thus receive few recommends.
That's why, in the 2006 Election cycle, Markos was kind enough to front page a modest effort to raise the profile of those races by "rescuing" them daily. Through the Election Race Diary Roundup, we were able to help keep so many diaries on those races in view and, perhaps, help just a little in what turned out to be several very close races.
While Brownsox' outstanding daily roundup highlights many of those races, it is you - the Daily Kos community - who can be on the ground to provide the insight and information to help grow our majorities at every level. The Election Race Diary Rescue is back, and now we need you to write those diaries.
First installment and more, below............
This Rescue Diary covers the period from 12:00 Noon, Saturday, 9/6 to 12:00 Noon, Sunday, 9/7
Incredible thanks to volunteers suejazz, Land of Enchantment, Nightprowlkitty, ukben, welso, drchelo, and the entire crew.
Today's Menu Includes:
20 Diaries Overall
- 11 On House races
- With 9 covering individual Districts in 8 states
- 1 On Senate races
- Representing 1 different states
- 2 On Various election races
- Encompassing Governor, Secretary of State, Local, and more
- 6 General election-related diaries
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To quote from yesterday's "reintroduction" diary:
In short, this is not about us. It is about raising the profile of candidates and the dKos diarists who take the time to write about them, to try to give them every opportunity that this platform can provide to improve their chances to win or retain office.
Before we get to the stars of our show (the diaries), a few things you should know:
Diary Titles - If you are doing a diary on a candidate or race, please be aware of the standard Daily Kos formatting. For House races, please start your title with the two-letter state abbreviation followed by the district number (example: NC-08: Kissell Rocks Again!). For Senate races, just use state-Sen (example: OK-Sen: Inhofe is Still a Moron). If you're doing a local race, try to use some version of this format. This immensely helps the people sifting through hundreds of diaries to more easily identify appropriate ones and minimizes the chances that we'll miss you (our Miners are almost perfect, but, alas, human after all).
"President-Diary-Free" Zone - We all know who's at the top of the ticket and how important that is. But the Presidential election is getting ample play in all venues and to try to rescue those diaries as well would be overwhelming. At this point, our aim is to raise the profile of other races that stand to, hopefully, give our new President a better working majority.
"Sarah-Palin-Diary-Free" Zone - Unless it relates directly to one of the appropriate Alaska elections, or directly to another one somehow, we'll be ignoring all SP diaries out of hand.
Volunteers - I am amazed to say that in just a few hours, most of the crew who worked together so incredibly last time has already committed to return. With that said, this project has always been about the opportunity to contribute and it's my aim to keep that door open for all who would like to be a part of it. If you have the time to spare and are interested, please email me (see my profile) and we'll get in touch with you.
Oh and in case you're wondering...
"Days to Change?" Change what? - Whatever you want and are willing to work for - change your district, your state, the country, the world.
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This is an attempt to compile a fairly comprehensive listing of election-related diaries that have recently been posted. Most of them are House or Senate races but there are also some local ones, as well as the occasional 'general info' diary.
For all the introductory stuff and previous diaries in the 2006 series, please see:
Election Race Roundup (11/11 - Final 2006 Edition)
(12:00 Noon, Saturday, 9/6 to 12:00 Noon, Sunday, 9/7): (20 diaries)
(Alphabetical, starting from A)
House (11)
(CA-04) Charlie Brown, General Wes Clark, and the Promises Kept by Charlie Brown for Congress - Candidate posts a diary summarizing events in the district of retiring, corrupt, Abramoff-connected John Doolittle (R).
(CA-46) Shameless Begging for my Candidate - the Anti-Palin by joesha - Asks for support for promising Dem Debbie Cook - challenging Dana Rohrabacher (R) in Orange County - in the current Blue America contest.
(CA-46) Beat Rohrabacher - Win Jackson Brown Tix in LA Oct 5th by Debbie Cook for Congress - Unfortunately, the contest deadline has passed. But the video link to her NN appearance still works in this candidate diary.
(CT-Var) Close to 2,000 show at CT kickoff event. My son is psyched by Actuary4Change - An on-the-ground report of rally featuring speeches from several House candidates.
(DE-AL) There is something about Jerry by kavips - The diarist supports dKos's own Jerry Northington, aka "possum" who is looking to defeat Mike Castle (R).
(GA-01) John Lewis (D. GA) helps net 400 new volunteers at Pensacola Obama/Biden HQ by Literacy – Rep John Lewis (D) delivers a speech at the Obama/Biden local campaign offices to inspire further community organizing.
(GA-03) Why Does Lynn Westmoreland Still Have a Job? by jthomascronin - Rakes the racist Repub Congressman over the coals for his "uppity" remarks.
(KY-01) Heather Ryan Comes Out Firing Again at St. John's Picnic by Rdemocrat – The diarist reports and transcribes Heather Ryan's (D) speech delivered at an annual bipartisan picnic describing the incumbent Ed Whitfield (R) as "Exxon Eddie".
(NM-01) New Mexico Heinrich Ad (Featuring my Adorable Son! by liberaltruthsayer - New Mexico CD3 will turn blue soon, thanks to the diarist's son in an ad for Dem Martin Heinreich who is running against Darren White (R).
(WV-02) Dining with the Democrats by Carnacki - Reviews a regional 2008 Jackson Jefferson dinner in WV, with special emphasis on Dem candidate Anne Barth, who is challenging Shelley Moore Capito (R).
(UT-03) Congressman Honda Lashes Out at 'Tent-City' Republican by Alex 2012 – Rep Mike Honda of CA-15 has condemned Jason Chaffetz's (R) recent comments about rounding up immigrants for tent cities. Support Bennion Spencer (D) in his attempt to take the open seat in a heavily Republican district.
Senate (1)
(OK-Sen) Taking a Chance on Rice by gypsyschef - Diarist relates personal friendship with Dem candidate Andrew Rice who is challenging the dreadful Inhofe (R) and why.
Various (2)
(NM-Var)Come to New Mexico & Volunteer! by Land of Enchantment - New Mexico is on the forefront of strategic Democratic races, with excellent candidates, Tom Udall (D) against Steven Pearce (R, NM 02) in the Senate race, Steven Heinrich (D, NM-01) and Ben Lujan (D, NM-02). NM-03 seems like a safe seat.
(OH-Var) 7 Congressional Races in Ohio in which Democratic Challengers Might Take Republicans by RandomNonViolence - Summary of several competitive Buckeye State House Races that Dems may grab.
General (6)
Struggling to Write a Letter to the Editor? Help is Here! by StrangeAnimals - A helpful guide to getting the word out via the art of the LTE.
CA Twelve Ballot Propositions - Nov. 4th by goodacre – Brief descriptions and links to the full proposition are provided in this diary.
Colorado Elections Director Abruptly Resigns by Brubs – A report concerning the investigations and recent resignation of Holly Lowder, one of the top election officials.
600,000 Ohio voters subject to GOP caging. . . by middlegroundguy – The diarist warns of the threat of caging in Ohio in the coming election.
There’s a Democratic Sec of State in Ohio now (fixed copyright) by JBLIII - Responding to the recommended diary "600,000 Ohio voters subject to GOP caging ...", the diarist identifies a recent action by SOS Jennifer Brunner to protect voters’ rights.
"You’re Freaks:" rally day at the fairgrounds by rhubarb - Tales and pictures from the Barron County, Wisconsin, Democratic Party’s biennial rally, including speeches from local officials.