First, thanks you all again for your kind words and encouragement on my last diary (
http://www.dailykos.com/...). We were all thrilled that we made the "recommended" list.
As I'm sure you all were, I've been happy to see the DCCC, DNC and Members stepping up. Here in Pennsylvania, the DCCC just committed over $5 million to Lois Murphy, Joe Sestak and Patrick Murphy's races.
But it also got me thinking about my own race, so an hour ago I faxed the following letter to DCCC Chair Rahm Emanuel:
Hon. Rahm Emanuel
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
430 S. Capitol Street, SE
Washington, DC 20003
By fax: xxx-xxx-xxxx
Dear Representative Emanuel:
I am Lois Herr, Democratic candidate for Congress in Pennsylvania's 16th District, comprising Lancaster County and parts of Berks and Chester counties.
PA-16 is not a district where the DCCC has been paying any attention or spending money. After all, there hasn't been a Democratic member of Congress from here - ever. But there are some things you may not know about our district, and my race.
The district is changing fast. Last year, Democrats swept the mayoralty and all seven seats on the Lancaster city council, for the first time ever. Democratic mayors were elected in towns that have never had one before. A Lancaster County judge candidate got 46% of the vote. People in Pennsylvania are mad at incumbents, and they're ready for change, even in traditional Republican strongholds.
Our polling shows a tighter race than anyone might have expected. Only 39% of voters think Pitts deserves re-election, and our pollster, Celinda Lake, says that Pitts is "on precarious ground." Even better, when the large number of undecided voters learn a little about Pitts and me, ALL of them come to our side.
We have taken steps to get that message out. Our first television ad went on the air Thursday, and we have bought through Election Day. (Unlike the expensive media markets where the DCCC is working, a massive television effort here in Lancaster is pretty cheap: our entire TV buy is $65,000, but that buys literally the same number of ratings points as three-quarters-of-a-million dollars in Philadelphia, for example.) Our consultants are making expenses only on the spots, so every dollar we spend is going on the air.
Our pre-general FEC report this week will show that we have raised over $260,000 to date, with $50K on hand. Small beer, no doubt, compared with your stars, but it's over three times what we raised last time, and every penny of it done the hard way, I assure you. (I have outraised Pitts in individual contributions $223K to $193K for the cycle.)
So it was with all this in mind that I decided to write you directly after reading that the DCCC had just invested over $5,000,000 in three other Pennsylvania Congressional districts just to our East, two of which are contiguous with mine.
I am extremely pleased with the level of resources the Party is pouring into the 6th, 7th and 8th Districts. We have great candidates - I've appeared with all of them at PA campaign events.
All that said, I would be most grateful if the DCCC would make a good-faith investment in this race. A $5,000 PAC contribution - three orders of magnitude smaller than the investment made in the other three PA districts - would help expand our television buys and fund our Election Day efforts.
More to the point, it would show solidarity with the 150 or so of us Democrats fighting at the frontiers to challenge Republicans and make them pay for every foot of ground.
Your consideration is appreciated. Please feel free to contact me on cell at xxx-xxx-xxxx to discuss the matter.
With warm regards,
Lois Herr
We will be sending similar letters to some of the uncontested Dem candidates. I'm sure that the DCCC and those members are being inundated by such requests, but I think it is important that they hear from those of us "on the frontier."
If you would like to see our ad, visit http://loisherr.us. You may find it a little "quiet" compared with a lot of the political ads you see, but this is a quiet district.
One last thing: GOTV, GOTV, GOTV everywhere!