Yesterday's special election echoed the many times the National Democratic Party Organizations ignored a crucial campaign in Virginia. Every measure we had said we had the superior candidate. Credentials, debate performance, charisma, etc. What we are up against in VA-01 is a gerrymandered district that is one of those strip shaped districts stretching across the State. The fact that we could contest it at all is a tribute to the stature of the candidate. Neither Mark Warner, Jim Webb nor Tim Kaine carried this district. Today's Daily Press Spells it out clearly:
Even though Wittman was the front-runner from the moment he got the nomination, Tuesday's win is a major boost for Virginia Republicans, who have faced a series of election setbacks. Democrats have won the past two gubernatorial elections, captured a U.S. Senate seat in 2006 and took control of the state Senate in November.
Then what happened?
The article goes on to say:
That trend was not lost on the Republican National Committee, which pumped money into Wittman's campaign, allowing the candidate to blanket the district with glossy fliers and television commercials. Forgit, who got little, if any, money from the national party, had a handful of mail pieces, and his only television commercial began running in the past few days.
State Democrats, however, threw their support behind Forgit, an award-winning elementary school teacher who received a Bronze Star for training Iraqi army recruits. Forgit was comfortable running in a GOP stronghold because he had done it before in 2003 when he campaigned for the 96th House of Delegates seat and got 46 percent of the vote.
But recent Democratic momentum and Forgit's resume did little to sway the voters in the 1st District.
Back when momentum was building up behind John Kerry's Presidential bid and we began to think we might have a chance of turning Virginia Blue, all the resources were pulled out and sent elsewhere.
Now we faced the same kind of abandonment again! Here's what Dianne posted on the Raising Kaine Blog:
From today's WaPo on the Republican victory in the 1st Coongressional District special election held yesterday:
"The National Republican Congressional Committee chipped in more than $120,000 for a survey and direct mail opposing Forgit. Wittman also relied on $19,000 from the VA-1 Congressional Committee in the last week of the campaign."
So let me get this straight here. The media and others assumed that this election would go the Republican but the Republican National Congressional Committee and the VA 1st District Republican Committee thought it wise and important enough to ensure that victory by putting in $139,000 to Wittman's campaign. And why would they do this? Because the Republicans were unsure of what the Democratic turnout would be...any other reasoning wouldn't be rational.
So instead of showing fortitude and a will to participate by putting up a fight (when it appeared the Republicans were in the fight), the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee turned its back on Virginia and walked away from the Forgit campaign, giving the Forgit campaign no money.
Dianne :: Why did the DCCC Turn Its Back On and Walk Away from Virginia Democrats?
We, as Virginians, can not be quiet about this. The DCCC who asks for our money and asks for our time didn't even pony up a nickel. If we Virginia Democrats expect to elect Democrats (and we have demonstrated that we will work hard to elect Democrats...and we know that the Democrats are here) then we should rightfully expect the DCCC to help support us by giving us back the money that we have given them to help our candidates.
Our own Mathews County Democrats are expressing the same general sentiments.
I have my own spin to add. Last night as I was coming out of shock from hearing the results I talked to the others there at our post-election gathering and asked a question that was burning in my mind. "How could those voters just ignore Forgit's excellent job of tying his opponent to the disaster caused by the republican party?" I then had an answer to my own question. I realized that the democrats we elected to congress are a big dissapointment. Their failure makes it easy for a republican to see a newcomer like Wittman as a change and a way of not bolting to the other side, especially when the other side has not given any reason to believe they have what the country needs.
So where does that leave us? Here's my assessment. We need to rebuild the democratic party from the grassroots up. The old word for this is "revolution". The top down party too closely mirrors its opposition. It is too closely tied in with the same lobbyists and special interests as the opposition. Now we have to be explaining the failure to stand up against the President in so many ways. The war situation needs no more said about it. I also believe very strongly that if we believe that Bush and Cheney are guilty of the many crimes we accuse them of having committed, we are irresponsible for not holding them responsible for those crimes. The laws of this country mean nothing if no one will take the responsibility for holding everyone to them. We are not going to convince voters that we have anything to offer if we sit by and watch the rape of our country.
Locally, we have proven that we can create a fresh organization that can deliver. We should not have to buck the republican opposition as well as the national democratic establishment. It is time for a change, but it is all too clear that change does not come from being taken in by national organizations that are laden with the same old stuff. We can make change happen if we build from where we are and then have whatever national cooperation be a direct outcome of local activities not a high and mighty empire to which we have to be beholden. I see resources and time and energy going up in smoke if we simply go about business as usual. let's talk about this!