I honestly don’t know quite how to feel about this latest ploy:

JohnKerry.com - 3 at the buzzer…

So here?s the deal; vote for your favorite House and Senate netroots candidates on Wednesday, November 1 from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. EST. The Senate candidate and the 2 House candidates with the most votes will get the last JohnKerry.com fundraising email of the cycle. We?ll challenge our 3 million person online community to get these fighters over the top in the last few days.

We’re trying to take back Congress and restore some semblance of order in our quickly-fading democracy, and they treat it like a cheesy radio promotion.  John Kerry and JohnKerry.com dangle much-needed funds over the heads of our candidates and cry, “what’s your favourite radio station?!?!?!?!?!?!?!”

I suppose that there is another way to look at it: they’re trying to get the base pumped up and voting.  I’m doing the same thing on YouTube.com, MySpace.com, in emails and everywhere else I don’t think I’m preaching to the choir.  I obviously can’t say I disagree with the sentiment, it just comes across all wrong.  And I suppose it doesn’t help that the only race I’ve watched in any great detail is the Kuhl/Massa race, and Eric Massa is one of those for whom the last minute funds are being held in absentia.

And much though I wish they could have found a better way to do this - much though I wish they wouldn’t treat their base like teenagers at a TOOL concert - I have to admit that the results of this poll should prove interesting on a number of levels.  First of all, in the House race, I’ve never heard of any of these candidates other than of course Eric Massa.  That to me means that the results should ultimately prove an effective barometer for who among those candidates are most likely to win: the most likely voters in this contest will be local to the districts in which each candidate is running.  Yes, I realize that we’re only talking about Democrats, here, but since Republicans tend to do better in races with lower turnout, the odds are those candidates who can get more votes here have a more energized base and therefore a better shot at winning.

Come to think of it, this is perhaps not the best move on that level: they may be tipping their hand too soon.  But what the hell?  Vote for Eric Massa.  How cool would it be for the whole nation to be talking about the Dem sweep in New York?  Northern Liberal?  Damned straight!

Technorati Tags: Democrats, Mid-Terms

powered by performancing firefox