As I mentioned on the website +óGé¼+ôThe Virginia Progressive,+óGé¼-¥ Virginians have shown their ability to activate a grassroots campaign while getting out in force behind Jim Webb. Webb was able to beat Harris Miller in the June 13th primary despite the fact that Miller has a substantial lead in the fundraising department. In addition to his numerous volunteers, one of the primary reasons in why Webb was able to receive the Democratic nomination was the enormous support he received from the blogosphere. That netroot support caused Kos to list Webb as one of his netroots endorsed candidates. In fact, Webb has picked up over 1400 new donors through the program, which is the third highest amount of donors among the candidates listed. That is quite an accomplishment considering that the Daily Kos is one of the most popular progressive blogs.
Virginians now have the opportunity to get behind their local Congressional candidates as well.
The top three winners of the [DCCC+óGé¼Gäós +óGé¼+ôCandidate for Change+óGé¼-¥] contest will get a fundraising email from the DCCC, a volunteer phone bank run out of Democratic National Headquarters, a feature spot on the DCCC website, and a chance to talk with our supporters in a DCCC online chat. Votes have been flooding in, but the outcome is still very much in doubt. Have your say now.Of course I believe that it is important for people to vote for whomever they believe is honestly the hardest working candidate and you may do so by following this link and filling out the form. Earlier today, I voted and decided to write in Andy Hurst as one of the three candidates that deserves the assistance from the DCCC.
I cannot deny that I voted for Andy partly because he is running in my district. Nonetheless, I believe I would have voted for him even if I lived elsewhere. Why? Because I truly believe that Andy Hurst is one of the hardest working candidates running for Congress this year. Politicians constantly claim to be listening to the people, but rarely actually make the effort to hear what they have to say. Andy, however, is actually making that effort.
On July 29, the day after the Post published a story about Davis+óGé¼Gäós connections to lobbyists, I took part in a canvass set up by the Hurst for Congress campaign. When the canvass started at 10am, the parking lot of Antietam Elementary School began to fill up with a fair amount of volunteers. What truly made the event worthwhile was the fact that Andy actually took part. Many candidates would simply send staff members to the canvass, but Hurst took the time to briefly talk to us volunteers before joining us in knocking on doors and talking directly to members of the community. Although I already knew Andy was a great candidate and had a reputation for caring about the voters had to say, I was still greatly impressed.
In addition to participating in canvasses, phone banks, and live-blogs, Andy has refused to accept any money from PAC+óGé¼Gäós because he wants to only represent the voters, no wealthy Washington lobbyists. As a result, however, he doesn+óGé¼Gäót have as much money on hand as Tom Davis. It is therefore especially important that the voters help to get out the word about Hurst+óGé¼Gäós candidacy in anyway they can +óGé¼GÇ£ even if it is only by voting for Hurst in the +óGé¼+ôCandidate for Change+óGé¼-¥ contest. I voted for Hurst in this contest (as I did in the primary and will again in the November election) because Congressional reform is needed and he has displayed his desire to serve the voters instead of PAC+óGé¼Gäós. I strongly encourage everyone else to do they same and tell the DCCC that hard working candidates such as Andy Hurst should receive some well deserved attention.