We've all seen this before. We're passionate about a certain candidate or race and we're frustrated by the lack of support from the insiders, meaning party leaders, important caucuses and committees, in short: the Washington Beltway bubble.
Case in point is a certain son of a former President who's currently running for the U.S. Senate from Nevada. There is very little support from insiders. He's basically ignored.
So, what's a candidate to do? He can either accept defeat or become creative. Jack Carter's campaign is one of the most creative I've seen in a long time. He will go routes few or no one else has gone before. And what more could you wish for in a Senator?
Now, if you go to the
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee's website on Nevada, you might get the impression Senator Reid was running against Republican incumbent John Ensign. The only news you get on that site is that Jack Carter is actually running. That's all. There latest "press release and news clips" feature has last been updated in February. Compare that to the sites on
Virginia,
Montana and
Arizona and you'll not only find that the challengers are profiled right next to the incumbents but that these sites are actually updated much more frequently. Apparently the DSCC doesn't even have the resources to update information on the races it doesn't deem winnable. All the more reason to support
Governor Dean's 50-State strategy.
You might also be aware that the DSCC has its own blog, updated daily. Mentions of Jack Carter's campaign on that blog? Very few and in between and they usually refer to the blogging activities of Sarah Carter. So, if it weren't for Sarah the race probably wouldn't be mentioned at all.
That Harry Reid still has to be heard including the campaign in his own state - against a freshman Senator who votes with Bush 96% of the time, who's approval and poll numbers are just barely above 50% and who's predecessor was in fact a Democrat - in his list of possible pick-up opportunities is another long story on which I'm not going to elaborate today.
Instead I would now like to focus to what lenghts Jack Carter's going to in order to defeat Senator Ensignificant in November.
Knowing that the insiders and therefore the big contributors are not behind him he has to get creative.
First of all, he managed to convince his family that this race is winnable. Okay, you say, that should be a given. But his family is not just doing the customary photo shoots. No, they're actually getting involved.
There is his father, a former President, who at 81 years of age travels the country to raise money for his son, who comes here to Daily Kos and interacts with us, who not only writes a diary but actually comes back with answers to your questions. All because he believes his son can win this campaign.
Then there is his daughter, who is currently working on her PhD in Neuroscience and still finds the time to blog daily on her father's campaign website and who has become a regular on Daily Kos. All because she believes her father can win this campaign.
So, one creative way of getting attention and by that way also resources for his campaign is the interaction with the blogosphere. And, in this election cycle there are many more candidates doing the same. Jack Carter is still going farther than that.
Jack Carter has also already done a couple of interviews with members of the blogosphere. One was with Jonathan Singer of MyDD, another with Timothy E. Smith of ePluribus Media, and yet one more with Stuart O'Neill of politicalinterviews.com.
When you use the internet why not use it all the way they might have asked themselves at the Carter Campaign Headquarters. So, they went to My Space and created a Jack Carter for Senate page in the hope of reaching younger voters in Nevada.
Thinking about what it takes to win in Nevada they figured that just relying on Democratic strongholds won't do the trick. So the campaign has instituted a rural strategy (on which Sarah has written a diary) and Jack is travelling all across Nevada, not ignoring the towns that have voted by more than 70% for Bush the last time because he is aware that there are many independents and libertarians in Nevada who just might look for an alternative this year.
Many candidates often ignore one group of voters that can really make a difference in a tight election: Americans living abroad. There are millions of Americans who live abroad with the right to vote in the state they last lived in. I was fortunate enough to attend a Democrats Abroad meeting in Heidelberg, Germany last month (I also wrote a diary about it) and came away with one feeling: this is a very energized group of voters.
Jack Carter is actually engaging with this group of voters, having lived abroad himself for several years. He recently wrote a letter to Democrats living all across the world which was published on the Democrats Abroad homepage. Some excerpts:
We know firsthand how important it is to support the thriving communities of Americans beyond our borders. You are ambassadors, each and every one of you. You learn and you teach. Your impact reaches well beyond the business you transact. I understand your situation and, as a U.S. Senator, will work to ensure that your government is supportive of you.
...
I have the Democratic nomination assured (the primary is August 15), and I'm running against a first-term incumbent Senator who is a strong Bush Administration supporter. This is a state which Sen. Kerry lost by only 20,000 votes. Democrat/Republican voter registration is almost exactly even. And the Carter name is very well respected. I've got a great shot to win.
I'll need all the votes I can muster from overseas Nevadans, and I thank Democrats Abroad for the extraordinary efforts you are making all across the globe. I've sent the link to VoteFromAbroad.org to my friends back in Bermuda!
And, as this is America after all, I'm asking for your financial support for my campaign. Please visit my website - www.CarterForNevada.com). - and take a look at "Why I am running". If you, like me, feel that we need a return to real America values, then please join me. You can help by donating and by spreading the word to Nevadans, both overseas and back home.
I have watched the activities of Jack Carter and his campaign for a couple of months now. I am impressed by their creativity and their outreach. And, really, what more could you wish for in a Senator?
There are several ways you can help Jack win in Nevada and to win back the Senate this November:
If you are able to contribute you can do so here. Every Dollar goes a long way, especially since Nevada is a relatively small state with a relatively cheap media market.
If you live in or near Nevada you can volunteer.
If you are not able to contribute or volunteer there are still several ways you can help Jack win:
If you have a MySpace account you can add Jack as a friend and tell your friends to do the same.
You can vote for Jack at Mark Warner's Forward Together PAC's Mapchangers competition and make sure he get's in the top ten at which point he'll automatically receive $5,000 and has a chance to get a fundraiser with Mark Warner.
You can suggest him as a candidate worthy of support at Russ Feingold's Progressive Patriot's Fund.
For yet more ways of how you can support Jack Carter go to the Get Involved page at Carter for Nevada.
Also, please check out my blog Turn Tahoe Blue on which I write about news and campaigns that are important to the area of Lake Tahoe, both the Nevada and the California side.