Hold on to your hats- I used to live in a deeeeeeeep blue district where Democrats ran unopposed.
Holy crap! That doesn't happen in red states! That impossible!
Nope.
It's true.
I was a Democrat in a Democratic area. No work was needed in District 19, so I focused my energy on District 18, a purple district that had a republican representing it back in the day.
BAM! District 18 is now blue. Not deep blue, but reliably blue. We got Phylis King elected after a few years of struggle. And it was a struggle.
Phylis worked her ass off, literally going door to door personally and making her case. When she knocked on my door I told her "don't waste any more time here- we're voting for you. Now, how can we help?"
Data entry, phone calls. Lots of mundane shit that was a time suck.
But we did it. And King is now mostly safe from a challenge. She's awesome and I'm proud to have worked for her.
Why am I telling you this?
Because the arguments over NN15 have exposed the marginalization of red states in a way that I never could before, and I want to rip the proverbial band-aid off that wound and expose the shit out of it.
First of all, let me state that I understand kos' stance on NN15 being held in Arizona. I don't agree with it, but I respect it. And that goes for everyone that has decided to follow kos's lead.
I carry no ill will towards any of you.
But the vitriol that was directed towards my friends in Arizona is something that I cannot let go without some confrontation.
Those of us in red states are fighting a battle that those of you in blue states don't or won't understand. IT IS WORK.
Most people don't realize that in most instances the urban areas of red states are blue and years ahead of the rural areas. Boise is nothing like Burley, ID. SLC is nothing like Logan, UT.
And this is especially true in the downtown metropolitan areas.
However, in the rural areas most people aren't as bigoted and conservative as the voting bloc would have you believe. I'm in southern Idaho where democrats have nearly zero visibility, but where they COULD wage strong campaigns if they tried. But the party won't bring a fight here.
I'm in the trenches these days, in an area where republicans run unopposed for state offices but where a democrat could win if they honestly tried. So it's easy for people on DK to visualize a conservative hellhole and honestly, some days I feel the same way about this town.
But I've spent two years here changing hearts and minds. That is work, and that's exactly where work has to be done.
I spent a lot of time here in a deep depression wanting to run back to the deep blue comfort of district 19 but I don't need to work in a safely blue district. My work HAS to be in the red zones, so I've decided to stay and FIGHT.
So before any one of you in solid blue states attack a red state, ask yourself this: who really needs your support? The people of Seattle or the people of Twin Falls, ID? Because those of us in these places that you so freely mock have to do a metric ton more work on a daily basis than you do in a year.
We are supposed to be all about the fifty-state strategy yet y'all mock the people in the red states when WE NEED YOUR HELP.
We are slowly, PAINFULLY turning red states blue. So how about you save the energy that you spend mocking and marginalizing us working with us and showing some support? If you want to turn Idaho blue I can show you the way.
If you want to turn Arizona blue, the Arizona kossacks can show you the way.
Et cetera, et cetera.
GIVE US SOME FUCKING SUPPORT.
We are tired and we've been working our asses off.
Instead of mocking us, why don't you work with us?