Update [2005-8-4 18:0:33 by Armando]: From the diaries by Armando. Title edited for style.
Hey folks, this is Jesse Lee, online editor for the DCCC, but I'm handing the controls over to John Lapp, our Executive Director. John posted this yesterday at MyDD and provoked a rather lively discussion to say the least. His account is still finalizing here, so when you see my name pop up, that will be him.
I first want to thank Jerome Armstrong and Markos Moulitsas Zuniga for taking the time to come by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. I truly enjoyed the opportunity to hear their views and discuss our vision for the 2006 cycle.
Let me reiterate here, as stated in our meeting and on MyDD.com, I will keep my commitment. On our website, by the end of the year, we will list every single Congressional District and those candidates who have the courage to file for Congress. And we will do our best to update it on a timely basis when new candidates have filed, with the latest contact information so that the grassroots and netroots can get involved.
For those of you who don't know me, I have worked in Democratic politics for over ten years. After serving as Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack's Deputy Chief of Staff, I managed Vilsack's successful 2002 re-election campaign. Before moving to Iowa, I worked in congressional politics, managing the open-seat congressional race for Kentucky Congressman Ken Lucas (a 32- year Republican seat), thereafter serving as Lucas' chief of staff. Lucas' seat was one of those that would normally have been overlooked by the DCCC, but we ran a disciplined campaign, raised the necessary resources, and aggressively engaged our opponent, squeaking out an upset with the Committee's eventual support. So I know what it's like to desperately want and need the Committee's support and live in fear of not getting it. In 2000, I directed the successful effort to take back New York's Second Congressional District (held for eight years by former Congressman Rick Lazio, when he ran against Sen. Clinton), electing Steve Israel to Congress. Subsequently, I served as Israel's chief of staff. Before coming to the DCCC, I worked at the media firm Murphy Putnam Shorr. In 2003, I served as the Iowa State Director for Dick Gephardt's presidential campaign. Dick Gephardt is one of the most decent people I have ever worked for in politics. Despite a valiant effort and an impressive field operation, we came up short. I find that you often learn more from the defeats than you do the victories. I came away more resolved than ever to fight for what we believe in - that's what makes us Democrats.
I have never worked at the DCCC before. So I take more of a campaign operative's approach to campaigns - rather than an institutional one.
I'd like to take this opportunity to share my view of the DCCC, netroots, grassroots, and progressive movements. For those who don't know, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) serves as the official national Democratic campaign committee charged with recruiting, assisting, funding, and electing Democrats to the U. S. House of Representatives. We provide services ranging from designing and helping execute field operations, to polling, creating radio and television commercials, fundraising, communications, and management consulting. The DCCC is a committee organized to empower candidates - help them run successful campaigns and help candidates fight back against unfair attacks from their opponents and the National Republican Congressional Committee. Help Democrats be the best campaigns they can be. It is NOT about recruiting national candidates with a Washington message.
But we're just one committee. One organization. There's a lot we can do. But so much more we can't. That's why movements like MyDD, DailyKos, and others are so important. We would love to fund every single race. And when we say we want to expand the playing field we mean it - and we are. At this time in the 2004 campaign cycle, there were four candidates filed in competitive districts. This cycle we are well over thirty - not to mention the countless other candidates waging spirited underdog fights across the country.
We would love to fully-fund every prospect, every candidate, and fully contest every race in a meaningful way, but we do offer all candidates advice, training, and general consulting on message, fundraising, research, and organization. Unfortunately, just as with any organization or enterprise, resources are not infinite. That is why MyDD, the DailyKos, and the larger blogosphere are so important. You are critical in the effort to expand the playing field well above and beyond the 30 or 40 districts typically in play. I would be lying if I said we had the resources to compete in all 200+ Republican districts. It simply isn't possible. So I offer MyDD.com, DailyKos, and other progressive movements a direct challenge - help all Democrats. Get involved. Work hard. Donate money. Persuade. Motivate. Change minds.
Netrooters, blogs, and the progressive movement have the flexibility to pick and choose where they support, defend, and fight back. And they can activate progressive Democrats at a moment's notice in a unique way - above and beyond what we can do. To view the DailyKos, MyDD.com, and other progressive, activist movements as simply Internet-based ATM machines is to insult them and underestimates their power to inform, activate, persuade, and mobilize. They are fully-loaded message machines. Let me be clear - I value not only your financial support to our candidates, but also the larger role you provide in the Democratic activist community.
Periodically, I send out a Battleground Brief to DCCC online subscribers. In the brief, I feature candidates that have the best chance of succeeding in takeover opportunities. We would be remiss in our mission at the DCCC if we didn't do so. We also feature upstart candidates putting forth valiant efforts in underdog campaigns. But we certainly do not have the monopoly on good ideas.
For instance, were it not for a strong grassroots and netroots movement, Melissa Bean would not be in Congress. Thank you for your support in that effort and many other victories and near victories. Campaigns matter. The Democratic Party matters. And the progressive blogosphere matters. There is too much at stake. We must work together where we can. Agree to disagree where we can't. But at the end of the day we are family working together in a common cause.
I want to take a moment to discuss the recent special election in Ohio's Second Congressional District and the thoughts behind our strategy. Here are the facts:
"Democrats nominated Iraq War veteran Paul Hackett. But the August 2nd general election in this heavily Republican district was expected to be a mere formality." -- The Almanac of American Politics, 2006.
Important Facts about the District:
- "The most Republican major metropolitan area in the nation over the longest time span has been Cincinnati" --The Almanac of American Politics, 2006.
- President Bush beat Senator Kerry here, 64% to 36%. --The Almanac of American Politics, 2006.
- In the 1998-2004 elections, former Congressman Rob Portman received over 70% of the vote. --The Almanac of American Politics, 2006.
- Out of the 18 districts Ohio districts, OH-02 is one of the three most Republican districts in Ohio, where Bush won overwhelmingly. -- The Almanac of American Politics, 2006.
- In the 2005 primaries, 45,000 Republicans voted compared to just 13,800 Democrats. -- CNN Morning Grind, August 2, 2005.
- Yet ... the NRCC spent over half a million dollars to hold this rock-solid Republican -- FEC Reports.
In nearly the biggest political upset in recent history, Democrat Paul Hackett came within just a few thousand votes of defeating Republican Jean Schmidt in Ohio's Second Congressional District. This is considered by many to be an early sign of widespread discontent with the Republican Congress around the country.
As DCCC Chair Rahm Emanuel said, "This election is a shockwave of voter discontent that will be felt all across the country. Tonight we have seen rock solid Republicans say that they have had enough of a Congress that is in the grips of the special interests, roiled by ethics investigations and doing nothing to help solve the pressing challenges facing the middle class. Every Republican in Congress should consider himself put on notice."
We at the DCCC bucked the conventional wisdom and stood by Paul Hackett.
In an overwhelmingly Republican District, the Republicans were in the fight of their lives. The NRCC dumped over a half million dollars into this race - one that just went for Bush 64%, only nine short months ago. The combination of Governor Taft's fiscal mismanagement and ethical problems - not to mention the ethics problems facing Jean Schmidt had the Republicans pulling the fire alarm, emptying out their coffers, and spending over a half million dollars. The National Republican Congressional Committee was so worried about defections from the base that they even took the extraordinary step of contacting every Republican household with robocalls from President Bush. We stood by a guy who stood by his country in battle. All along, we knew this had to be one of the districts where everything had to go right. Because of what we were picking up on the ground, there were trends making it more competitive than the usual partisan generics ... people angry about the problems Ohioans are facing - Governor Taft, and even Schmidt herself. And it speaks to the anti-incumbent, anti-establishment, anti-Republican climate all across the country. Everyone talks about the Democrats losing because of exurbs, and fast growing areas. That is one the principal talking points about the 2004 election. This district includes all of Clermont and most of Warren, which are two of the fastest growing exurbs in Ohio. If Democrats can gain, even minimally in the exurbs, they will be able to score major gains in 2006. Take a look at Paul Hackett - how much he outperformed Sen. John Kerry in these suburban and exurban counties:
Adams County
Kerry: 36 percent
Hackett: 52 percent
Brown County
Kerry: 36 percent
Hackett: 56 percent
Clermont County
Kerry: 29 percent
Hackett: 42 percent
Pike County
Kerry: 48 percent
Hackett: 63 percent
We are proud of what Paul Hackett accomplished ... what we all accomplished. We knew if this race simply became weeks and weeks of Spy vs. Spy/NRCC vs. DCCC, it would become a Republican smear campaign of national liberal vs. Bush conservative, and we would lose that fight. This needed to be a local race about local issues - pitting a principled Iraq War veteran against an ethically-challenged typical politician. So we tracked, worked under the radar, and planned for a last-minute television and mail campaign. That it was this close, in such a Republican District, should have Republicans worried - from coast to coast - particularly Ohio Congressman Bob Ney who is facing the possibility of an ethics investigation of his own. The Republicans should have been able to put this away - without spending a dime. That they had to spend over $500,000 in one week - speaks volumes. That it was this close, in such a Republican District, should have Republicans worried - from coast to coast.
And we are targeting other historically rock-solid Republican districts currently occupied by the likes of GOP Leader Tom DeLay and Congressman Bob Ney. Allegations of ethical improprieties ... pay-to-play ... casinos ... and outright intimidation has left these members and many other Republicans much more vulnerable than they should be. And we have good candidates who have filed against them or are on the verge of filing to run for Congress. The only way to get more Melissa Beans in Congress is to take on the conventional wisdom and expand the playing field - challenging more incumbents and competing in more open seats.
After ten years of Republican control of Congress, House Republican Leader Tom DeLay and his allies in Congress are determined to undo all that we have accomplished. The GOP wants to eliminate Social Security; privatize Medicare; dramatically scale back needed investments in education; ignore our national energy challenges; and open up our air and water systems to industry pollution and consumption for profit. And internationally, President Bush and the Republican leadership would have the United States "go it alone" in dangerous conflicts around the globe ignoring the small interconnected planet on which we all live. We cannot let Tom DeLay and the Republican Congress continue to derail and intimidate in their quest to overrule our American priorities. Their abuse of power is shocking. Their open contempt for what we believe in is astounding. We can stop them. But only with your help.
With only 15 seats to go, the DCCC is prepared for a very competitive 2006 election cycle. The failed economic policies and misplaced priorities of President George W. Bush and House Republican Leader Tom DeLay have improved the political climate for Democrats and created an opportunity to achieve significant Democratic gains.
We are counting on you to help us. The DCCC is supported by the contributions of individuals and other groups from throughout the country who are committed to returning the People's House to the people of this country. I welcome your comments. And hope we have the opportunity to meet in person and online often during this campaign cycle. And most importantly - work together.
Please be sure to visit us at dccc.org often. Blog. Criticize us when we're wrong. Maybe throw us an occasional compliment if we're right. If you haven't been there yet, please visit dccc.org and our blog at blog.dccc.org. And I will be sure to continue to visit MyDD.com, DailyKos.com, and other political blogs often as well.
Thanks.
