So we’re 10 days away from election day and what can be said except it’s been one crazy cycle. In many ways, crazier than most thanks to the Tea Party and the excitement their candidates of choice have brought to our lives.
But for me, this cycle has been crazy on another level. I’ve been lucky enough to work on a bunch of campaigns, both officially and behind the scenes by just being available to answer questions, promo the occasional diary, retweet etc. And as crazy as the candidates on the other side of the aisle have been, on our side we’ve had some real heroes appear. Some of them are quite familiar to you...some you may not have heard of.
disclosure: as I said above, some of these candidates are or have been clients of my company PPST, some aren’t... but they’d all be my heroes regardless...I have never been offered a dime for anything I’ve done in the blogosphere for anyone, nor would I have taken it had it been offered.
Today I want to take a few minutes and tell you just a little about some of the candidates who have touched my life in some way this cycle and encourage you to do the same in the comments below. And if you can afford to, and are so inclined, show them a little Act Blue love.
Lois Herr (PA-16). Some of you have read my diaries in the past about Lois. Lois is not only one of my favorite candidates, she’s a friend. She ran twice before, against Joe "Pitts is the" Pitts (as in Stupak-Pitts) and lost, but something is very different this cycle. For one thing, PA-16 is trending purple faster than ever before. For another, even the staunch Republicans of Lancaster County are tired of the same old, same old. In a recent internal poll it was found that Lois was only down by 9 with 26% undecided. Big deficit you say? Keep in mind that at that time Lois was polling closer to her opponent than any other challenger in PA. Also keep in mind, that Lois raised over $100,000 last quarter in a district where no Dem. has ever raised that much in a single quarter before. She’s a sleeper to those who don’t know her... and a hero to those who do.
Justin Coussoule (OH-08). I’ve not met Justin in person, though I did speak to him on the phone once. I did meet his campaign manager at Netroots Nation. Justin is my hero for the simple reason that he’s running against John Boehner and isn’t running to just be a name on the ballot. He’s running an aggressive campaign and as a former member of our armed services, has displayed a level of discipline not seen in that district in years. I have no idea what the polling in that district is like, but win or lose Justin’s still one of my heroes.
Lance Enderle (MI-08). Lance’s story has been well documented here so I won’t bore you with those details again. Suffice it to say that of all the candidates in this country he went into this with the longest odds possible. Barely got named the candidate in time to be on the absentee ballots (in fact we had a scare thinking maybe he wasn’t on some of them but it was just a scare), yet Lance has been out there working his butt off- meeting the voters, shaking hands and talking about the issues that matter most. As my twitter friend GottaLaff said, imagine Alan Grayson with James Earl Jones’ voice (and I’ve talked to Lance almost daily- I can vouch for this), throw in one of the coolest woozles ever and you’ve got Lance in a nutshell. Lance is one of my heroes because even in the face of the mess, he stepped up to the plate and has given it his all and hasn’t been anything but uplifting and positive- even when some of the rest of us were down.
Tommy Sowers (MO-08). What can be said about Tommy and the campaign he has run. Creative (check out @chuck_sowers, energetic, and smart. Another former member of our armed forces who came home and decided to continue to serve. Add to that he is running in Rush Limbaugh’s "home district" against a very entrenched GOP incumbent and you’d think he’s got long odds against him, but Tomm’s another candidate I wouldn’t be surprised to see pull off a win on Nov. 2.
Tom Perriello (VA-05). All of you know who Tom is. Many of you will remember when a RNC staffer outed the addresses and phone numbers of some of Tom’s staffers on Twitter not long ago. The grace w/which Tom and his staff handled that told me all I needed to know. I got to meet Tom and hear him speak at the Netroots Nation Fundraiser back in April in DC. Down to earth, downright funny and smart- I’d be proud to call him my rep if I lived in his district.
Manan Trivedi (PA-06). Manan will be known to many of you as an Orange to Blue Candidate. I was lucky enough to meet Manan in Harrisburg at PA Progressive Summit back in January. Saw him again the following week during snowpocalypse in Lancaster, again in April at a Berks County event and yet again at Netroots Nation in June. Each time, I was amazed at the intelligence of this guy, the heart of this guy- and his grace even with a severe sleep deprivation that came with the birth of his daughter Sonia in late Spring. Here’s another candidate who understands the heart of it all- retail politics. Often bringing his infant with him to go knock on doors throughout the district. Even in the face of blatant racism by his opponent, Manan never lost his cool and kept on knocking. I won’t be at all surprised to hear of his win in PA-06 on election night.
Raul Grijalva (AZ-07). Yeah ok, it’s no secret what I think of this guy, and nothing I’ve been lucky enough to see behind the scenes has changed my mind at all. Never one to back down from a fight yet always pragmatic enough to know when to come back and fight another day. Smart enough to say what he means and express himself clearly, yet not too proud to admit when he makes a mistake. And his staff is just like him. Losing this seat would be a huge blow to the progressive movement in general and that’s why I’ve devoted so much time to his campaign for re-election, it’s that important.
There have also been a few candidates that touched my life this cycle that aren’t still in their races like Connie Saltonstall in MI-01, Ryan Bucchianeri in PA-12 and Joe Hoeffel who ran for Governor in PA. Class acts all.
I’m sure I’m gonna get tweets and emails and even phone calls saying "you forgot so and so" and I apologize to those candidates now. It’s late after a very long day of campaigning and I wanted to write this while the mood was here and I had still had the energy. In the big picture, after what I’ve seen this cycle behind the scenes I’d have to say that all candidates are heroes just for putting themselves out there the way they do day in and day out. I also know I didn’t mention any Senate candidates... there’s just not enough time, and in general our Senate candidates get much more attention than those for the House, leaving them out isn’t meant as a slight at all.
So, who are your heroes?