dccc

Thanks to you, our UNPRECEDENTED army of 1,791 volunteers, WE WON!

Chairman Chris Van Hollen today announced that Larry Kissell (NC-08) won the 2008 Mobilize for Change: A National Day of Action. Democratic Candidate Gary Peters (MI-09) won an honorable mention on the day when candidates across America bolstered their volunteer base to kicking off the last 100 days of their campaigns. Kissell has won a fundraising email that will be sent on his behalf to our list of three million supporters and activists.

Congratulations to Gary Peters, and all the Democratic challengers who mobilized volunteers last week to contact over a quarter million voters in just one day!

Please take just a few minutes to help Larry Kissell win the DCCC contest running today. Larry won last cycle and the DCCC sent out over 3 million fundraising emails for Larry. In 2006 the candidates had a month to plan their day of action. This cycle, they've had under a week. The winner is expected to raise over $100,000 on the fundraising email.

We can do our part and it will barely take any time out of your day.

You have two choices:

1. Go to www.helplarrywin.com and sign up to do virtual phone banking from your home. Spend just 20 minutes making phone calls and your efforts count.

I've met Stuart Rothenberg. He seems like a very nice man. However, like my opponent Robin Hayes, I think that maybe Mr. Rothenberg has been in Washington too long to understand that a people powered campaign isn't an urban legend.

Thus in response to Rothenberg's latest column, For House Races now, It's All A Question of Money, I say he doesn't get it. At all.

Kissell’s fundraising this time has been stunningly inadequate. He may still win, but not because of anything he has done in fundraising.

I was on my way home from work this morning when I heard a pleasant surprise--the DCCC was airing an ad attacking Patrick McHenry for his cozy relationship with Shrub and Big Oil. What's more, the DCCC is highlighting its ad script teeing up McHenry as part of its campaign to tee up 13 House Repubs for voting with Big Oil. (note, the audio is from the ad for Robin Hayes)

Surprising, to say the least.

Jim Morrill at the Charlotte Observer lets us know that Larry Kissell's path through primary season has opened up like the Red Sea. I'm not sure who plays the part of Moses in all this, but it means that Larry's resources will be leveled against Robin Hayes and no one else.

"Charlotte lawyer Chris Kouri called Kissell and told him he won't run against him this year. Kouri ran against Hayes as the Democratic nominee in 2002. "I don't think it's any secret that I've looked at running in the 8th District," says Kouri, adding that he's now fully behind Kissell. He wouldn't elaborate on why he changed his mind.

Another Democrat who planned to run this year is John Autry, a liberal activist who lost to Kissell in 2006. After campaigning for much of the past year, he says he's sitting this race out for health reasons.

More from Morrill's post about national support for Larry - after the jump ---->

DCCC's 40 Seat Target List
by Todd Beeton, Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 09:12:10 PM EST
Last month, DCCC chair Chris Van Hollen outlined the essence of his 2008 strategy: go on offense against 40 or so Republican seats that they deemed vulnerable. Today Roll Call (behind subscription firewall) is reporting that Van Hollen has gotten more specific:
Among the 40 Republican-held seats the DCCC is targeting generally, Van Hollen acknowledged that not all of them are exceedingly vulnerable to a Democratic takeover. But he said they all exhibit potential.

ONLY one is in North Carolina. The South is missing here.

Put a fork in Robin Hayes. He's done.

On a conference call with supporters and 8th District Dem party officials, Rep, Chris Van Hollen committed DCCC support to Larry Kissell and according to pollster Marc Silverman of Anzalone Liszt:

Hayes is facing an electorate that is as dangerous to his political career as it was in 2006, if not worse.

Got that fork ready?

I'll add tags later, there are too many. I've had a long day, from CrownTown to the Triangle to the District to (via phone) Biscoe. Oh, and there was Nancy Pelosi ...

I need to go to sleep ... but first, what happened during your day?

Sigh. I guess I need to clarify some things.

Last week I claimed that people shouldn't assume that the DCCC is going to financially support Larry Kissell in a substantive way. One person wondered if this was hyperbole. An emailer asked me what I had against the DCCC. (Really, you have to ask?) Finally, I get a phone call with basically the same question.

Where's my proof?

A few days ago, Larry Kissell wrote a diary on DailyKos titled No Confidence in Politics as Usual. Tucked away in that diary was this little morsel:

The Washington folks seemed shocked that we recently polled and it showed my opponent is in big trouble and the district agrees with me that we've had enough.

That's right. There's a poll. Unfortunately, I can't get my hands on it, but what I've heard so far is that Robin Hayes is in more trouble than he's ever been in and Larry Kissell hasn't lost momentum. From what I hear - and I promise to produce the poll if it is ever released - on the uninformed poll question, the two candidates (Kissell v. Hayes) are neck and neck.

I know that freshmen Representatives are more at risk than others, but does anyone from out WNC way think this is warranted? And, by that I mean, is there a chance in heck that Heath Shuler will lose in 2008? I don't see it happening, but give us your WNC prospective.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee today announced the Members of DCCC Frontline program for the 2008 cycle...

The Frontline Program is a partnership between the DCCC and Members which lays the ground work for the 2008 cycle by supporting and expanding their fundraising and outreach operations. This competitive program requires members to meet aggressive fundraising goals, accelerate volunteer and recruitment efforts, and increase on-line networking.

Last cycle, the Frontline Program’s early success helped make half of the most competitive Democratic seats safe by the fall of 2006, allowing the DCCC to expand its offensive opportunities. Democrats have an outstanding record of defending tough seats with battle tested incumbents and have successfully protected 95 percent of their incumbents since 2002. In 2006, Democrats did not lose a single seat.
...
Representative Heath Shuler (NC-11)
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