End Of Quarter Orange to Blue Push

Today is the final day of the quarter, and as such, this is the last day of our mad Orange to Blue fundraising scramble (well, at least for a while). We've already met the goals of 350 donations to each individual candidate (currently, everybody's over 400 except for Scott Kleeb, and I'm sure we can get there by the end of the day), and of 1,000 total contributions.

We're now shooting for 1,250 contributions, and well on our way. We've even set the lofty goal of 500 contributions for each individual candidates. You've done a remarkable job.

So I just wanted to take this opportunity to remind everyone why we're doing this...what we're hoping to accomplish, on November 4 and after, by supporting these specific candidates.

In Scott Kleeb, we believe that he represents a promising future for the Democratic Party in Nebraska, where it has enjoyed only limited success for decades, and practically none at the presidential level. Kleeb represents the best of the 50-state strategy, the concept that even in districts and states long considered barren for Democrats, progressive voices can be heard and welcomed.

Jim Himes seeks to defeat the last Republican congressman left in the region of New England, Christopher Shays. A Himes victory will be a lasting and unmistakable marker of the GOP's descent into regional-party status. And Himes will be a reliably progressive ally in Congress, not only another Democrat to add to the majority, but one who will liberalize the caucus with his voice and votes. He's also diaried today, thanking the DK community for their support, so check it out...here.

Similarly, Dan Maffei is favored to turn one of the last six Republican seats in the State of New York (out of twenty-nine) a bright shade of blue. By the end of this cycle, Republicans will be limited to four seats at the most, and possibly as few as two, in the entire state. Much of this is thanks to people like Maffei, who ran against an incumbent generally considered unbeatable in 2006, yet lost by such a narrow margin`(51-49) that his opponent Jim Walsh declined to run again. It's truly praiseworthy that Maffei made this race competitive on his own last year, and we're lucky that he's back to finish the job.

This cycle, Bob Lord is doing just what Maffei did last year...except he is running in a far redder district, against one of the most powerful Republicans in Congress, John Shadegg. In addition to being a reliable right-winger across the board (and a particularly corrosive voice on immigration), Shadegg is a former candidate for House Majority Leader and a likely future candidate for U.S. Senate. It is up to Democrat Bob Lord -  and to us -  to slay the dragon, and stop Shadegg in his tracks.

Eric Massa, as many of you know, came heartbreakingly close to defeating Rep. Randy Kuhl in 2006 in a district that gave Bush 56% of the vote in 2004. Massa is back for another shot this year. He's a solid progressive on FISA, Iraq and climate change, despite the red tint of his district. Massa did the netroots proud in 2006, and he is poised to finish the job this year.

Much as Scott Kleeb represents a new era for Democrats in Nebraska, Joe Garcia does the same for South Florida, particularly within the Cuban-American community. Garcia is waging a feisty campaign against incumbent Republican Mario Diaz-Balart, one of the powerful troika of Miami Republicans that have dominated Cuban-American politics in the region. Garcia, along with Raul Martinez in FL-21 and Annette Taddeo in FL-18, represents the strongest Democratic effort in decades to stand up to the Diaz-Balarts' dominance over the Miami Cuban community, and to present them with genuinely progressive alternatives.

Andrew Rice, of course, is running as an unabashed progressive in one of the reddest states in the country, Oklahoma. He is a rising star in the Oklahoma Democratic Party, and hopefully the 34-year-old Rice marks a future for Oklahoma in which the state is not quite so barren for Democrats at the federal level. It would be enough to support Rice based simply on his positions, or having the courage to take on this difficult race without abandoning his principles, but perhaps the best reason to support Rice is this: his opponent, James Inhofe, may well be the single very worst Senator in the country.

Barack Obama needs no introduction.

Even after losing by less than a point in 2006, despite running in a state which gave Bush 69% in 2008, people still underestimate Gary Trauner. Don't make that mistake.

The state of Alaska hasn't sent a Democrat to Washington since Mike Gravel was defeated in the 1980 election. Mark Begich is aiming to be the man who changes that trend. He is, of course, not only running in a historically red state, but against Ted Stevens, once widely called "Senator for Life". Ordinarily, running against a 40-year incumbent like Ted Stevens isn't anyone's idea of a good time. But Begich's devotion to public service has led him to take on a tough race, and he has run such a strong one to this point that he is deadlocked in polling against the long-term incumbent. A Begich victory would be a shocking harbinger of change in the West, and every dollar spent in Alaska goes a long way.

Like Dan Maffei, Dan Seals took on a race (in a Democratic-leaning district) which few thought he could win initially, and made it competitive on his own. Seals gave incumbent Republican Mark Kirk the toughest race he's had since he was first elected, and with Illinois native son Barack Obama on the ballot this year, Kirk's days may well be numbered.

Charlie Brown is a 2006 netroots candidate, and hails from one of the toughest districts for a Democrat in the state of California. The district is, in fact, such a Republican prize that GOP nominee Conservative Icon Tom McClintock traveled all the way from Los Angeles to run here (that's about a 400-mile trek). Brown faced the scandal-ridden John Doolittle in 2006, and his strength as a candidate essentially forced Doolittle out this year. Now he faces off against McClintock, a man considered an extremist right-wing demagogue even by many of his Republican brethren. Brown is running to be a progressive voice even in an R+11 district.

Texas hasn't elected a Democratic Senator since 1988, or a Democratic Governor since 1990. Rick Noriega is running to change that string of failures. Noriega is a solid progressive ally (you can meet him at Netroots Nation), and is taking the Democratic fight to the largest of Republican strongholds (in terms of population). Oh, and his opponent is truly heinous, when he isn't hilarious.

Al Franken has been one of the most prominent and wittiest progressive voices for over a decade, and now has entered politics as a genuine outsider. He is running a serious race against Norm Coleman, and is quoted decent odds of winning by most pollsters.

The netroots has no better friend or greater ally than Darcy Burner, a candidate who came within inches of defeating Republican Dave Reichert in 2006, and is poised to wage an even stronger challenge this year. As a longtime netroots favorite, Darcy needs little introduction, but she is eminently worthy of all the support we can muster.

These are your Orange to Blue candidates, and they're the reason why we're pushing so hard to close this quarter with a bang. We not only want a Democratic Congress next winter, but a Congress you can be proud of, and a Democratic Party which is unafraid to fight across the country, in traditionally hostile areas, and for solidly progressive principles. These are the men and women who will help enact that change.