Fired up Democrats elected Amanda Murphy to the Florida House last night in special election in formerly Republican-held seat.
If Democratic base groups turn out, we win. If they don't, we lose. Our problem has been that our base groups are the worst performing voters—young voters, single women, people of color. Thus, while those voters may turn out in presidential years, it is extremely difficult to get them to turn out at any other time.
That is, unless Republicans rev them up. Last week, we saw great Democratic turnout in Charlotte-area municipal elections. Last night, it was a special election in Florida:
Democrat Amanda Murphy defeated a well-financed Bill Gunter in what was an increasingly bitter Pasco County House District 36 special election to complete the remaining year of former [GOP] Rep. Mike Fasano’s seat.
That victory, in a marginal Obama district (52-47), came despite a huge financial disparity ($130K for the Dem versus $377K for the Republican, not including outside conservative spending like $75K from Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross). This is exactly the kind of narrow Obama district that Democrats have a hard time winning in non-presidential years, yet the GOP's terroristic hostage-taking has fired up our base, and they're turning out.
In a few weeks, Virginia's entire House of Delegates will be up for election. The GOP's gubernatorial candidate is already dead man walking, so eyes are on the legislature. Obama won 48 of the chamber's 100 seats, yet 18 of those Obama districts are held by Republicans. We've endorsed two Democratic challengers, Kathleen Murphy and Jon Bell, and 200 of you have already chipped in.
DC Republicans plan to relitigate this entire mess all over again early next year—both the budget and the debt limit. They are smarting from today's capitulation and are desperate for a rematch. So the best way to head that off? Deliver some serious electoral pain. The bigger the gains this November, the more gun-shy they'll be when we hit the new deadlines next year.
So let's take advantage of this moment to continue clawing back the GOP's 2010 gains. Republicans are in open Civil War, so they'll be busy primarying the shit out of each other. And you know what they say about a house divided.
So give $3 to both Bell and Murphy, and let's help our Virginia friends deliver the kind of stinging defeat that will make them think twice before taking our nation hostage again.