There's no official kickoff, but here at DWT too Campaign '08 has begun--just not the one all the big-time pundits are already yammering about

I can't claim any credit for DWT's intensive coverage of Campaign '06. Howie did all of that. I just read it all, along with you folks out there--those of you who've been with us that long, that is. Of course we had no idea how it would all turn out, and in the end, satisfying as the result was in many ways, we all know it could have been better--and we even know some of the ways in which it could have been better, notably if so much of the House Democratic campaign strategizing hadn't been in the self-aggrandizing, corrupt hands of Master Rahm Emanuel.

We saw an alarming number of encouraging candidates strong-armed out of competition by the iron will of Master Rahm. And then, inevitably and all too evitably, we saw a bunch of worthy candidates just fall short in the general election. One small contribution I may have made along the way here at DWT was to remind Howie from time to time that the process he was undertaking is just that: a process.

If we--and our strategic partners at Firedoglake and Crooks & Liars, not to mention all the other worthy progressive support groups that have sprung up, online and off--want to make a difference in helping to attract and then support good, independent-minded progressive candidates to all levels of the electoral process, and we do, we have to recognize that that doesn't happen overnight. And it doesn't happen at the same rate everywhere. There are, after all, places where no progressive or Democrat has shown up for an election, or at least been taken seriously, in living memory.

This is, of course, a basic problem that has been attacked by DNC chair Howard Dean, whom we think of as sort of the anti-Rahm: as bold and visionary in support of democratic values as Master Rahm is in oppposition to them. Chairman Dean had to fight Master Rahm tooth and nail to provide resources all over the country for the reinvention of a Democratic Party at the grass-roots level. (The Master, of course, hates the grass roots with a passion that consumes his wormy guts, because the grass roots by definition isn't under his control.) One of the most elegant phrases introduced to our political discourse in these singularly inelegant times is Chairman Dean's revolutionary insistence that we need to show the people in the deep-red domains of the country the respect of asking for their votes.

One group of people I've worried most about is the corps of progressive fighters who have taken on battles that are still in progress. In places where voters' heads have been systematically blocked off to meaningful discussion of their actual interests, it's that much harder to bring the light to them. Fortunately, we now have so many organizations of all sorts in place to assist truly progressive grass-roots candidates that we should have that much more knowledge to draw on in 2008: How can candidates with strong roots in their communities best bring their political vision to their neighbors?

Above all, I want to make sure that those gallant fighters whose work is unfinished that they haven't been abandoned. And for starters, I'm pleased to pass on news from two of those fighters.


STEVE PORTER (PA-03)

Howie wrote frequently about this race:

The contest in PA-03 is a rematch of the 2004 race pitting a pretty pathetic rubber stamp nonentity, Phil English, against Steve. The district gave Bush 53% in 2004 and English beat Steve 60/40, after blanketing the district in mud, going so far as to have a Young Republican Club denounce Steve, a scholarly Jewish professor, as a Nazi and a supporter of forced sterilizations. PA-03 is the extreme northwest corner of Pennsylvania. Erie's the biggest city. It's about 40% rural and it's overwhelmingly white and considerably poorer than Pennsylvania in general. The district could hardly be more poorly represented.

Howie heard from Steve recently:

Dear Howie,

In preparation for 2008, I have started a website called www.DumpPhilEnglish.com. In conjunction with this, I am going to try to sell both bumper stickers and T-shirts with the Web address on them both to raise money and to publicize the site and its message. The costs will be extremely reasonable: about $15 for both items including shipping.

Please let me know if you and the blogs with which you are associated would be willing to help publicize the sales. If the item could catch on nationally, it could raise a good deal of money.

Please let me know your reaction, and meanwhile have a Happy Holiday season.

You'll be hearing more from Howie about this, including a likely return appearance for one of those Firedoglake meet-the-candidate online chats that became so popular during the campaign.


DAVE LUTRIN (FL-16)

Some of you no doubt have already read this comment that Howie added to a post yesterday, while waiting for his (delayed) departure for Tierra del Fuego:

I'm sitting in a locutoria in the domestic airport in Buenos Aires right now. I just got here, an hour ahead of schedule, after confirming with Aerolinas Argentinas that the flight was on time, just to be informed that the plane to Tierra del Fuego would be taking off "around noon" instead of at 8:40. Grrrrr... I could have been back at the hotel swimming or reading or just relaxing in comfort.

Anyway, what I have been doing is communicating with our old pal Dave Lutrin. Hopefully you'll recall that Dave was the Blue America candidate, the anti-war progressive, running against Mark Foley--until Rahm Emanuel found out Foley was bonkin' the pages. That inspired Rahm to go out and recruit Tim Mahoney, a corrupt Republican scam artist who was willing to change his party registration for a promised easy shot at a very Republican seat.

I asked Dave to join us at Firedoglake in early January when we resume our regular Blue America live chats there. Dave told me today that he's far from finisheed with politics and that he'll be happy to talk with our community about his experiences.

And so, as you can see, even without a starter's pistol going off, our Campaign '08 is indeed under way.