In the midst of a national campaign where we're fighting tooth and nail against the most extreme batch of candidates the Republicans have come up with since, well, ever, a new campaign is focusing on the structural fight for the next decade: congressional redistricting. David Goldstein (Goldy at HorsesAss.org) is helping to coordinate the effort, and introduces it to his readers:
The project I’m working on is Progressive Kick’s $125,000 Win Big by Thinking Small matching contribution program, in which, through Oct. 10, we will match dollar-for-dollar all contributions made through our ActBlue page to select legislative candidates in six states: NC, MI, OH, OR, PA and WI. That’s a $125,000 to raise an additional $125,000… a quarter of a million dollars total to spend in local races....
The criteria for being included in the Win Big by Thinking Small program were simple: you must be a truly progressive candidate in a close but winnable race, in a state where congressional redistricting is at stake....
[A] relatively small investment in electing progressive legislators now, could produce exponential returns over the coming decade:
“The average winner of a competitive House race in 2008 spent $2 million, while a noncompetitive seat can be defended for far less than half that amount. Moving, say, 20 districts from competitive to out-of-reach could save a party $100 million or more over the course of a decade.”
— GOP strategist, Karl Rove
Don’t trust Karl Rove? Read the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee’s dissertation on “The Economic$ of Redi$tricting,” and The New York Times on “How to Tilt an Election Through Redistricting.”
Republicans haven't just figured this out, they've been actively pursuing it. And in fact, focusing at the state and local effort is how the far Right built their bench to have so many radicals running for federal and statewide offices now. Take for instance, Oregon, which used to have one of the most moderate, hell, progressive, Republican parties in the nation. But it's not Tom McCall's or Mark Hatfield's Oregon GOP any more. Just look at this one example:
Loren Parks has dumped $375,000 into Oregon Senate Republican races—that’s more money than the Oregon Senate Republican caucus has raised from all of their other donors... combined. Loren Parks is a bizarre right wing millionaire who spends his time as a sexual hypnotherapist and brags about sleeping with women after he's hypnotized them. And he doesn't even live in Oregon!
Drawing the line to protect the legislatures, and in turn Democratic congressional seats, in those six key blue and purple states is a good start at both bench building and fortifying what we've got.