I have been a long time reader of Swing State Project and now Daily Kos Elections and I wanted your help with something. I set aside a budget for myself for political donations for 2011 and I have $300 left in it. I'm looking for help from you all to tell me specifically which candidates to give it to.
Here are my criteria:
1. Must be a Democrat/Bernie Sanders
2. Must not be involved in a competitive primary. I don't really like Democrat-on-Democrat violence and spending money in an election for a primary campaign that will just turn out nasty in a seat Democrats are going to win anyways.
3. Must be in a competitive seat, meaning either against a Republican or in a Democratic open-seat in a competitive district.
4. Must have some kind of redistricting certainty. That means no Florida or New Jersey where we don't really know the lines yet, absent a compelling reason.
5. Should be for a valuable Democrat. There was a diary a few years ago categorizing the most valuable Democrats, who have a good liberal voting record in tougher districts.
6. They should have a chance to win. I love the idea of helping to take out John Boehner, but I know what that seat's like.
I think of this as a little bit of a public service as we all think about making our political donations during the holiday season and am interested to see what kind of discussion this will get.