I sometimes wonder how much my small contributions to the Democratic cause will matter in a very blue state (WA) but I have come to believe it does count in our local elections which can be just as important as the presidential election.
The Nation
has an excellent article by Christopher Hayes about the Obama "get out the vote" campaign in the south. It ends with a real success story:
After the Democratic primary in South Carolina, one of the most active Obama volunteers in the city of Florence, a 37-year-old attorney named Steve Wukela, decided to run for mayor against a thirteen-year incumbent named Frank Willis. Wukela ran at Willis from his left. With a motto of "Real Democrat for Real Change," he castigated Willis for having donated to George W. Bush and for standing by "while sales taxes were increased on the poorest among us, shifting the burden to those least able to afford it." Wukela activated the volunteers he'd met going door-to-door for Obama, implementing a voter-contact model he'd been trained in by the campaign and reaching out to new voters. "Everyone said, Steve, that's nice, the Obama campaign was nice, but you probably shouldn't try to unseat a thirteen-year incumbent," explained Bird. "You're getting a little ahead of yourself."
But there was a constituency for change, thanks in part to the voter-registration activities of the Obama campaign, which had registered 8,000 new voters in Florence during the primary. And when votes in the mayoral election were tallied, Wukela had eked out an upset. By one vote.
Think redistricting with the 2010 census - do you really know the people running for Secretary of State?
Think of the Insurance Commissioner - which person will stand up for the insurance consumer versus the insurance industry? (As an aside, one of the person's running for insurance commissioner in WA is the chairman of the Republican Party in Spokane but under our new top 2 primary the ballot will say "States No Party Preference" with his name.)
As a high info campaigner you will have a chance to influence more than just the presidential campaign.