Kos is right. The South is no longer the key to victory in 2004. Instead, the road to the White House wends through the battleground states of Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Florida, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire and Ohio (and perhaps Arkansas, Arizona and West Virginia).
I've been a fan of a Blue + Swing stategy for a while now. But I have a question, and it's one on which I suspect victory may hinge:
What do voters in the (safely) Blue states do to help turn the tide in the Swings?
There's no doubt that a solid majority of deep Blue activists live in solidly Blue states. What do we do to help where it matters?
Certainly we can give or help raise money. That's a given.
But what can those potentially tens of thousands of deeply committed Democrats who have more skill, commitment and passion than money (or rich friends) do?
The national Party seems completely at a loss for how to handle serious, distributed, Net-based swarms of volunteers, so I don't place a lot of faith there. What are MoveOn, ACT, the Dean Campaign and others planning?
More to point, what aren't they planning that they ought to be?
If we were going to design an effort to harness the passion, smarts and hard work of solid Blue volunteers in helping win the Swings, what would it look like? How might we empower the Blue swarm to turn the Swings?
Any ideas? Any suggestions? Any leads to people doing it right?