Resuming what has become a biannual tradition, we're very happy to report that we will be resurrecting the Election Diary Rescue for the 2010 election season. Our first edition of EDR v3.0 (thanks, Joy!) is currently slated to post next Tuesday night, September 7.
For those who may not be aware, the purpose of this daily compilation will be (much like the nightly Diary Rescue) to comb through all diaries posted over a 24-hour period and list those that fit the criteria. Unlike that compilation, however, our purpose is to take the fine work put together by Daily Kos diarists that focuses on House, Senate, or local election races - those diaries which, by themselves, may not be "rec list worthy" but serve a vital function in getting more candidates more exposure.
Please follow along for more (and be sure to see our HELP NEEDED plea)...
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.
Our system is set up so that our Diary Miners look through every single diary posted at Daily Kos over a 24 hour period - we take all of those that fit the profile and compile them into a daily rescue, which Markos and company have graciously Front Paged. As such, we not only want to highlight others' work, but also to encourage those who may feel it's not worth the time to do a diary, only to see it scroll into oblivion.
So if you have that diary in mind, or just want to get out some more information on a candidate, start getting those ideas together. We've received a great deal of feedback over the past elections on how this diary rescue has become a valued resource for election watchers from coast-to-coast.
If you are doing a diary on a candidate or race, please be aware of the standard Daily Kos formatting. For House races, start your title with the two-letter state abbreviation followed by the district number (example - FL-08: Grayson Kicks More Repub Butt!). For Senate races, just use state-Sen (example - KY-Sen: Rand Paul still orbiting Mars). If you're doing a local race, try to use some variation 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).
Volunteers (HELP NEEDED!!!)
Several of the crew who worked together so incredibly last two elections have committed to return. With that said, we are very much in need of more people to help, and this project has always been about giving anyone wishing to contribute the opportunity to do so. If you have the time to spare and are interested, please email us (see this user profile) or let us know in the comments how to contact you and we'll be in touch.
History
The series started on August 22, 2006 with an idea and this diary posted by sidinny. It provides more background as to how the whole thing was generated by his frustration at having his few diary attempts disappear in such a hurry, and seeing so many others suffering the same fate.
After an early rescue from SusanG, the Mighty Kos himself saw fit to make the feature a regular on the front page and the rest, as they say, is history. And on the subject of history, take a look at some of the following and let your fingers do the clicking as you reminisce about elections past.
Final 2006 diary (with links to all diaries in the series)
Final 2008 diary (with links to all diaries in the series)
In all, the 2006 Election Race Diary Rescue ran for 80 out of 81 days (damned August 26, 2006!!!), followed by a perfect 61 straight in '08. And the crew is back in the saddle and ready to ride again. Now it's your turn. Write about your candidates. Post those action diaries. Let's do everything we can to move into the next phase of true change - electing not just more Democrats, but better Democrats.
The lights are back on (as of next Tuesday).
Peace all,
- The EDR Crew
In Memoriam (courtesy of our own randallt)
As we launch the third edition of ERDR, we pay tribute through thoughts, prayers, service and love as we remember drchelo - Conseulo Murray, MD
BlueJerseyMom
http://www.dailykos.com/...
OBIT
http://www.legacy.com/...
In her words: (from final 2008 rescue)
drchelo -
Oh, my - has the election come and gone already? I'm not ready to give this up yet.
I was so pleased to see the Election Diary Rescue project started up again this year. I participated in the 2006 project and got hooked - on Daily Kos and on politics. The project also introduced me to a wonderful group of people, the same ones who started ERDR all over again.
Although the interest in the downticket races was understandably less important than the Presidential race, these races were important in solidifying Democratic gains made in 2006, and the candidates as good or better. It was a treat to get the opportunity to learn about them through the diaries.
Even though I am ecstatic at Obama's win and the increasing blue-ing of America, I am sorry to see the time for these diaries end. I will miss the work, and I will miss the people. What a terrific bunch of people to work with! ERDR crew - You are the best! 2010 is not too far away.
See you all again then?
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We received many comments thanking the 2008 crew. drchelo helped make this possible with humor, diligence and a spirit that would not speak of defeat. Every day she would send me her "mining treasures" and would accompany the list with a special comment that never failed to make me grin and give me hope.
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· We miss you Doctor