First the whole idea is preposterous. Why would a few nutjobs ten states away want a guy who couldn't even win a Congressional Seat against a horrible Republican candidate to be the next Senator from Ohio? He doesn't have a track record of progressive legislative prowess. He doesn't have the most money. He doesn't have big money PACs or a long list of party-insiders slapping his back and encouraging him to run.
So why would we care? Well...I suppose that is why I am putting up this Diary. It seems any time Hackett's name is attached to a post or a Diary there are a good 27-456 comments that follow. Those who dislike Hackett seem to think they know why we like him--and they miss the point entirely.
When it comes to politics, explaining why a candidate touches you or inspires you is elusive and individual. You might as well try to explain why you like Blue. And even then, when I say blue I mean azure and when you say blue you mean cornflower. So this Diary is
not about why Hackett is the
Gee-golly-darndest-bestest-most progressivistest-candidate EVER!!! It isn't about how I like the way he looks in his Marine Major Uniform. And it isn't going to be about how he called Bush a Son-of-a-Bitch. (Sigh)
After commenting on Running in 2006 By Paul Hackett I noticed there were a few other Californians who seemed interested and it struck me that if we could pool our resources we could have a small but positive effect on the campaign.
It isn't like we are going to set any major platform or, through the genius of our blogging or Diary-writing, we are going to influence the election. If we were that clever we could all quit our day jobs (Ha-ha like we are even employed).
So how can we help? What can we do?
Well, in case you missed it, Bob Brigham from Swing State Project let us know that there are plans for a Hackett visit to California. So we will have an event to promote and a direct way in which to get involved. But that is later and, for now, something to think about.
First. My first suggestion is that we all try to scrounge around the web and find every Democratic web site, blog and Hackett-like candidate web site in California. Compile a list and separate the wheat from the chaff. Once we have our list we comment and post as appropriate. The main goal in this will be to simply make as many people aware of Paul as possible. There is no need to try to convince anyone--let them discover it the way you did. You heard a little buzz and looked into the Hackett campaign and you were inspired. I mean, it worked for you, right.
Second. Educate yourself. Paul has not been a politician for very long so he isn't known like Ted Kennedy or Joe Lieberman. So most folks don't know exactly where he is on the Democratic spectrum. This is why we will have to mine for ore and share the details. With our research and the eventual Hackett for Senate website we should be able to be a resource for where Hackett stands on any issue. And of course we should be able to provide a brief biography.
Third. We need to be a network. We need to get the latest campaign news out. We all have varied schedules and we are on dKos or My Left Wing or wherever at different times. As soon as some Hackett news breaks we will need to bust a quick blast to each other to get everybody up to speed. Eventually we will get a handle on issues that effect the candidate and we will be able to raise awareness on these issues too.
Fourth. We have to be educators. When we see a misleading or factually inaccurate post, comment, thread or Diary, we need to be sure we have our facts correct and rebut or refute their point.
Fifth. We need to make sure every Hackett Post or Diary or Comment has a link to the Hackett web site and the Hackett ActBlue site. Maybe we will even make a CfA Hackett ActBlue site.
Sixth. maxschell commented on the original post
We need:
(1) website to collect names and organize
(2) Norcal and/or Socal HQ.
I agree. Eventually we will need some way of hooking up and linking up so I will defer to the most web savvy of us to suggest a simple cheap way to create a virtual HQ. Now is the time to think about how much and how many and what resources we should need--but let's not rush out today and buy media, URLs or .com identities.
I'd like to add as a final comment that Paul Hackett's Campaign has inspired a lot of new and old Democrats to become politically active for the first time. This is really at the core of why I think he is an important candidate for America, California, and Ohio.
I am posting a few links below. If you did not see these articles please take the time to read them. They cover the OH-02 Campaign.
The Ohio Insurgency: The Democrat who Fought
The Digital Insurgency