SOUTHWEST OHIO ISN'T WAITING FOR THE DCCC-- THEY WENT FROM RED TO BLUE ON THEIR OWN

Earlier we looked at who the DCCC did endorse this week. What we left out, though, is who they didn't endorse. In yesterday's Hill Aaron Blake wonders why the DCCC's Red to Blue Program is ignoring Vic Wulsin again.

Democrat Victoria Wulsin came within 3,000 votes of defeating Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio) in 2006 and is taking another shot this year, but she’s still got something to prove to national Democrats.

Unlike every other near-miss rematch candidate, Wulsin has not yet been named to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s (DCCC) Red to Blue program.

...Wulsin, a physician, is hardly the only candidate to attempt a comeback after losing narrowly in 2006. Ten of the first 25 Democrats named to the list were repeat candidates who lost by six points or fewer in 2006.

Schmidt defeated Wulsin 50-49 in 2006. Wulsin won a competitive primary March 4 to earn the rematch.

Wulsin spokesman Kevin Franck was critical of the DCCC, and cast doubt on whether national Democrats know what is happening on the ground. He pointed to recent gains in Democratic registrations and Wulsin’s outperforming in her district of Gov. Ted Strickland (D) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) in 2006.

“I’m not sure I understand the D-trip’s thinking, completely,” Franck said, adding: “Interacting with the D-trip and the national party organizations, when you get to the highest levels of decision-making, where the choices are made about which list a race goes on, there seems to be a lot of mystery surrounding the metrics they’re using.

“I think we have a very clear case. We have an incredibly unpopular incumbent in a district that’s not a Republican stronghold anymore. Vic has been running for two and a half years now. Her name ID is much higher than it was. We have more money than before.”

But while the DCCC fiddles around with old Emanuel/Stalinist techniques for eliminating grassroots progressives like Howard Howard Shanker (D-AZ), Steve Harrison (D-NY) and Diane Benson (D-AK), Ohio has changed right under their noses. OH-02 was once considered a firm Republican stronghold. The last few years of Bush and Schmidt has changed that entirely.

New data from Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Bruner's office indicate that there are 126,739 Democrats in the district and 121,660 Republicans. Since March 4, 2008, Democratic registration has risen 129% with the most populated counties, Hamilton, Clermont and Warren, experiencing the most significant gains. In Hamilton County there were nearly twice as many Republicans as Democrats before this year's primary. Now, Democrats outnumber Republicans by almost 10,000 voters in the district's population center.

"After the March 4th primary, we knew that a greater number of Democratic ballots were pulled than Republican ballots, but now it is clear that the entire character of the district has changed," said Wulsin Campaign Field Director David Margolis. "Democrats now represent 51% of party-affiliated voters in the second district."

"The number of committed Democrats in the second district has more than doubled since March, turning what had been an overwhelming Republican advantage into a Democratic majority." Margolis added. "All momentum is on the side of Democrats whose registration numbers have increased exponentially this year."

Under Ohio law, counties are required to report voter registration data to the Secretary of State's office once a month. Data from Warren County were obtained by the Warren County Democratic Party from the board of elections. 10 precincts in Warren County split votes between the 2nd and 3rd congressional districts.

The DCCC will have that all figured out by November. Meanwhile, Vic Wulsin deserves the support of grassroots Democrats even if the power-hungry and corrupt insiders wouldn't--or don't want to-- recognize an opportunity if it was sitting on their heads. The Democratic insiders club want as many go-along-to-get-along shills as they can find-- anti-Uprising conservatives like John Barrow, Tim Mahoney, Chris Carney, Ann Kirkpatrick, Michael McMahon-- to stuff into their caucus so they don't have to do anything controversial. Strong-minded independent thinkers like Vic Wulsin scare the bejesus out of them. Those are the kinds of representives that are good for the rest of us.