As you might have noticed, I've been writing this blog for a while now, promoting Tim Kaine and other Democratic candidates in Virginia this year. After 9 months of working on this, we now have a RaisingKaine blog, website, and PAC, plus an excellent group of talented Democrats in Virginia helping to "Raise Kaine!" Yesterday, several of us went down to the anti-war rally and handed out 500+ "Defeat Bush in 2005" flyers. They were very popular, tying Jerry Kilgore directly to the disastrous Bush-Cheney-DeLay crowd, but what I found disturbing was that the vast majority of activist Democrats from Pennsylvania and elsewhere knew nothing or next-to-nothing about the Virginia governor's race. Also, probably 95% said that they "couldn't do anything" since they "didn't live in Virginia."
Just one problem: that's NOT TRUE!!! I told them about the Republicans pouring millions into the Virginia 2005 race, and just that very day making thousands of calls from around the country. I emphasized that we Dems need to do the same. With most people, I got a sparkle of understanding in their eyes, and a few people who said, "ok, I'll try to help,"...so there is some hope! :) But instead of 10%, it should have been 90% of people saying, "yes, I can help!" (by the way, I told people that I had helped on out-of-state races before, and many folks seeemed truly surprised...hmmmmm).
Frankly, after hanging out at the rally for a few hours yesterday I now have a much better on-the-ground feel for why Democrats lose elections. First, the activist Left Wing is splintered into Greens, Socilaists, and a lot of people who simply hate the "Republicrat" Party or even the "corporate Dems." Many of these people, unlike the Republican equivalent on the Right Wing, will simply not fall into lockstep and support the Democratic candidate. In many cases, it's because they don't think the Democrat is "liberal" or "ideologically pure" enough on one particular issue - abortion, gay marriage, Iraq, the Supreme Court, whatever. This is very different from the Republicans, I believe. It is also both a strength and a weakness for Democrats that we are "small-d democrats" as well, not just lock-step Republicans. That's why we D/democrats need to be reasoned with, persuaded with fact-based evidence, etc.
Second, Democrats are DISORGANIZED. Yesterday, I saw a great deal of anger, passion, and desire to DO SOMETHING -- about a million different causes. What I did NOT see was much sign of taking all that energy and FOCUSING IT into effective political mobilization. Sometimes, I swear that I feel ike Dems are the ADHD Party!! :)
Imagine, for instance, if 1,000 or 10,000 of the folks yesterday (not the radicals...no offense to radicals!) had taken a couple of hours to CALL INTO VIRGINIA and New Jersey? Imagine if we could have signed people up to do some serious canvassing, phone banking, etc., between now and Novmeber 8? Maybe I missed it, but I didn't see that yesterday, nor did my RaisingKaine colleagues. The Republicans, meanwhile, appear to be FAR more organized and disciplined than we are, but they certainly are NOT MORE TALENTED or PASSIONATE (caps on purpose!) than we are.
So let's get organized and kick their asses in Virginia over the next 44 days! Tnis race is neck and neck, which means it comes down to GOTV, organization, blood sweat and tears!! If you want to help the Kaine campaign, click here. If you want to help the RaisingKaine grassroots group, e-mail me at poldir@raisingkaine.com.
Thanks!