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Thursday, August 04, 2005

Conspicuously Missing

Amidst all the post-mortems on the Special Election in Ohio's second district, what's missing is references to the teacher in Clermont County that contributed $20 to the Hackett campaign, the student at Xavier who gave $50 dollars, and the hundreds that battled stifling heat, often in the nineties, for numerous days to walk the streets of Southwest Ohio in support of a candidate they believed in.

In the mad dash to gather up all the credit every individual organization can for the success in Ohio-2, most references to the role of the grassroots have missed the mark completely. As the Republicans attempt to paint a broad picture of a "lefty-fringe" blogosphere, it's important to note where the real power behind the effort comes from--it came from over 10,000 regular people willing to contribute their time and money to change in America, and in an oft forgotten, destined to be ignored corner of Southwest Ohio.

Posted at 11:31 AM in Ohio | Technorati

Comments

I assume you mean "post mortems," Tim?

Posted by: WisconsinProgressive at August 4, 2005 12:06 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

heh. it was a cross between post modern and post modems I suppose. No one has ever accused me of being a good self editor.

Thanks for the catch -- Tim

Posted by: Tim Tagaris at August 4, 2005 12:29 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Thanks for the recognition. I decided after the '04 election (2000 really, but especially '04) that I would look for every opportunity to participate and I found one in this race. I traveled down for the day the Saturday before the election from Delaware, Ohio and spent the day talking with some of the people of Portsmouth, Ohio.

What a great day and a great time. After having drawn what had to be two of the scariest streets I've ever canvassed on, I managed to find two people who were going to vote for Paul which made it worth my time and concern for my personal safety!

I plan on doing lots more of this and hope those who came out will as well. It is the most pure and true exercise of the democratic tradition.

Thanks for the site and let's "rock on"!

Posted by: ericv at August 4, 2005 04:17 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment