A Silver Jag?

Does elected office really pay that well?

Sphere: Related Content

There is No Candidate Fairy

There's been a good bit of chatter today about the robo call the DPG commissioned to solicit candidates for some targeted races. I've had several calls, and no one who called thinks it was a good idea. People used words like "embarrassing" and "desperate" and in general made fun of the effort. Truthfully, I could've written the press on it before it ever happened. The spin was predictable, but it points to a larger problem.

We need a systematic program to identify, train and elect Democrats. While the party has a role in this, I'm not sure that this can really be accomplished through the DPG. Some entity needs to have the freedom to focus only on recruitment, and they must have the latitude to be selective about who they support in primaries. It needs to be someone's full time job. I have some thoughts about this, but, that's a discussion for the day after qualifying.

Right this minute, we all need to understand that there is no candidate fairy-there is no pipeline, (though there needs to be a pipeline and there can be a pipeline.)And, frankly, the way to make gains in the House and Senate is not by simply fielding a candidate-any candidate-in every race. It's probably better to have nine candidates in districts we have a great chance of flipping than to have 20 candidates in races where success is unlikely. This isn't just true for Democrats. When we're done with qualifying on Friday, there will be a lot of incumbent Democrats who are unchallenged. Neither Democrats or Republicans will invest a whole lot of money in races they are unlikely to win. Add to that, when you're in the minority, it is no small task to find qualified candidates who have the time to both campaign and serve, especially in districts 250+ miles from Atlanta. The bottom line is that if we want candidates in these key races, we all need to be reaching out to whomever we know in these key districts.
So, get on the phone and call your friends or family in places like Cordele or Camilla.

Sphere: Related Content