The recent efforts in Ohio's special election for district 2 have been amazing and heroic. The netroots has once again put their money and bodies where their mouths are, in the process putting a worthy candidate into play in a heavily Republican district. We should all feel proud of what we have done, and take comfort in the power of our collective strength.
With the coming of every rosy-fingered dawn there are always those cynics like myself who are quick to point out "yeah, but the heat will make the smog worse." This special election is no different. Yes, the netroots made this campaign a competitive one. Yes, the netroots raised impressive amounts of bank to get a veteran into office. Yes, we're all very proud, and justifiably so.
But if we know what's good for us we'll keep our stinking mouths shut.
There is a far more important message (or frame, or meme, or whatever you prefer) that is being sent here: Iraqi veterans are running as Democrats and WINNING, in
Republican districts. This, this exciting and incredible achievment, is the stuff of which massive tectonic shifts are made. It shows the GOP to be unenergized, downtrodden, and unfocused. It gives punch to notion that independents have embraced Democrats, and that Democrats are on the upswing.
If we, the netroots, trumpet our horn too loudly we risk distracting from that message and damaging our cause in '06 and beyond. If our goal is victory then humility will serve us best. There are lessons to be learned (and taught) from this that are more important than our own efforts:
A) Maj. Hackett is a libertarian Democrat, someone who is direct and honest, someone who by their service and honesty has a place not just at the table of the Democratic party, but a place of high honor. By showing America what a real live Democratic candidate can be the straw-men of the right wing -- straw men that are unfortunatley believed by many to actually exist -- can be shown false by simply pointing to Maj. Hackett and saying "This is who a Democrat can be, who we will energetically go to the matt for."
B) If we place too much attention on our fundraising successes we run the risk of future Democratic campaigns having their expectations set too high. This point was explicitly made by Atrios last week, and I think it is worth reiterating. This is a special election, where we have been able to focus our efforts. At the time of this writing only 7877 people have given to the Hackett campaign via the ActBlue site; while impressive, this is a small percentage of the readership that visits the blogs that have been focusing attention upon this race.
C) Related to the previous point, the GOP could very well use our strength against us. How difficult is it to imagine Hannity saying this: "This was due to outside interference from a small cell of hardcore leftists with deep pockets buying the election." Yes, it's ridiculous. It's also a likely point of attack. If we focus on ourselves we implicitly give this argument weight.
D) This election validates Dr. Dean's 50 state strategy. The primary benefits of this are political ones within the party itself. If campaigns such as this one continue to be successful Dr. Dean will continue to gain influence within the party, hopefully helping to further limit the internecine conflicts that are so destructive to our larger goals.
Republicans realize the importance of this election. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have come in from on high in an effort to stop the bleeding. They understand the broader messages that will be sent if they lose. So while we have every reason to be justifiably proud of what we have done in OH-2, we should be cautious in strutting our accomplishments. We, the netroots, are a part of a whole, and there is no victory without sacrifice; sacrificing our natual tendency to advertise our own accomplishments will greatly help us in the longer term.