Nathan Rudy and the Blue 7th
I've had a link to Nathan Rudy's Blue 7th blog up for a month now. The reason for that is that I'm convinced that local blogs opposing vulnerable GOP representatives, in this case New Jersey Congressman Mike Ferguson, are the most important netroots trend for 2006. A lot of us online want to fundamentally change politics in this county. Taking back the House in 2006 is how we do just that. This is where online activism for 2006 should start, with local opposition blogs in the 80-100 vulnerable GOP districts.
Blogs like Nathan Rudy's do three things:
They provide local voters with the information they need to learn how wrong their GOP representative is.
They provide local voters a way to sign up and pledge to fight to kick the GOP representative our of office
They show quality local candidates that there's a pool of fired up Democrats ready to unseat the GOP incumbant
This is where on-line and off-line activism meet. And the 2006 elections are very much a "live issue." This is where and when it all gets started. We need many, many more blogs like Nathan Rudy's Blue 7th.
Yesterday I talked about unseating Richard Pombo in CA's 11th district. Readers pointed out that Jerry McNerney, an environmentalist who gave Pombo a run for his money last time around...and Steve Filson, who has apparently been embraced by the DCCC "just like that"...are both running against Pombo. My question is: is this the anti-Pombo "blog"?
Blogs like Nathan Rudy's do three things:
This is where on-line and off-line activism meet. And the 2006 elections are very much a "live issue." This is where and when it all gets started. We need many, many more blogs like Nathan Rudy's Blue 7th.
Yesterday I talked about unseating Richard Pombo in CA's 11th district. Readers pointed out that Jerry McNerney, an environmentalist who gave Pombo a run for his money last time around...and Steve Filson, who has apparently been embraced by the DCCC "just like that"...are both running against Pombo. My question is: is this the anti-Pombo "blog"?
Comments
(Btw, what is a "social moderate" in relation to Filson/McNerney?...and why is the DCCC doing an early Filson boost?...Is it as simple as the "veteran" angle...a kind of Hackett effect? You tell me, I need to learn more about Filson and McNerney.)
Second, I distrust Filson because, as far as I can tell, his rise to prominence had everything to do with the fact that his daughter worked for Ellen Tauscher. In fact, Tauscher took Steve Filson to meet the DCCC in Washington before the people in the Contra Costa County Democratic Central Committee even knew who he was or that he was running for office. I object that there wasn't even a cursory attempt to build grassroots level support for him (or at least awareness of his candidacy) before Tauscher tried to anoint him, in DC, as the Democratic challenger to Pombo. I hope it is not symbolic of the type of campaign he will run, but won't hold my breath.
Just to further muddy the waters, my sources have Elaine Shaw ready to jump into the race.
Then there would be three Bay Area Democrats (an energy consultant, a pilot, and an attorney) running in a district where the bulk of the population resides in the Cental Valley and holds a pretty deep-seated resentment towards "those Bay Area folks who think they're better than we are."
In terms of money, only McNerney and Shaw have reported anything to the FEC as of June 1, although Shaw's reports show zero contributions and a couple thousand dollars in outstanding debt. It may be that she has to file statements with the FEC until she retires her debt from the 2002 campaign, but I really have no idea. The next filing deadline is 9/30, so we'll get a much better idea of what's happening after that.
To be honest, I know very little about any of the other candidates, although I have checked out the website of Scott Chacon. I can see on Chacon's website that he has raised only $125 (it's been $125 since I've been checking, which has been a number of months). His new website is buggy, and the buttons seem set to work on his computer rather than the web (e.g. the button for "blog" is set to "http:///articles", not "http://www.http://www.chaconforcongress.com/articles", with the latter address being correct). He seems to want to run a completely open-source campaign, which is interesting. That said, my admittedly biased sources lead me to believe that he's a credible candidate.
I firmly believe that we (Dems, progressives, the left, whatever we are) should be able to take between three and seven seats from the GOP in California alone.
The war, Katrina, and the economy are excellent tipping points.
*California soldiers are dying at high rates.
*Katrina has shown us that our government is not prepared to help us in the event of a large earthquake.
*If it was not for real estate and marijauna (no joke there) our economy would be dead. My techie friends in the Bay Area are still getting used to the fact that I make more than them again (just like after college).
This is a poorly written thesis, I assure you that my project is better and I have more points, but I believe if the national delegation doesn't want to play hardball with their opponents, we should field a united delegation of candidates, at least in CA and perhaps even OH and PA who ignore that strategy. This is the season to contrast and compare, not try and tower above.
Thanks and hat tip to you all...and let's keep each other posted.
Is anyone here familiar with Brett Wagner's chances against Elton Gallegly in Ventura County?
I first encountered Pombo after the 2000 redistricting, when San Ramon was added to the 11th District. During that election, I realized who would be representing my district -- someone dedicated to overturning any and all environmental regulation. So I put up the website to give voice to my opposition. My focus has been environmental, and I have not addressed social issues. However, lately, the site has a lot about Pombo's corruption. There are so many scandals swirling around Pombo, it is hard to keep up!
Recently, I renamed the URL to www.abettercongress.org, thinking that a positive spin is better than just "vote the bum out". The site is evolving, and a blog may be the way to go. I had tried Yahoo groups, but that went nowhere.
I would be glad to talk with others about the website, about the campaign against Pombo, and about 11th District politics.
My email is scottr@abettercongress.org
http://www.soapblox.net/nj/showDiary.do?diaryId=7
They just went online this week. Check it out.
"Political novice Steve Filson, a United Airlines pilot from Danville, ran the meet-and-greet gauntlet last week in Washington, D.C., with members of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the California delegation. That included face time with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco.
"The ex-Navy pilot, 58, won high praise from top Democrats, especially from Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Alamo. (Filson and his wife, Mary, supported Tauscher before redistricting shifted Danville into Pombo's district in 2002. And Filson's daughter, Janelle, has worked in Tauscher's office.)
"'I've known Steve for a long time, and I believe he can galvanize both the western and eastern sides of the district, given his military record, his leadership in industry and his activities in the community,' she said. [snip]
"Wait, don't the Democrats have a candidate?
"Jerry McNerney of Pleasanton, who lost to Pombo by 22 percentage points in 2004, says he'll run.
"'I don't know Steve Filson and I'm sure he's a good man, but I've been through this before and I have name recognition and support,' McNerney said.
"But he barely made it onto the 2004 primary ballot as a write-in, and Pombo gave away more money than McNerney raised.
"'Jerry's a great guy and everyone is appreciative of his 2004 run, but this is about elevating this race to national status and making sure we have the most formidable candidate,' Tauscher said."