DCCC Chair Chris Van Hollen heard the messages of Swingstate Project crafted by Davidnyc! I copied this from the DCCC homepage:
Saturday’s big Democratic win of Republican Speaker Dennis Hastert’s seat is just more proof that voters are looking for the big change that Democrats will deliver.
In South Florida, we have three strong Democratic challengers fighting for change against some of President Bush’s most reliable rubbberstamps. Republicans Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL-18), Lincoln Diaz-Balart (FL-21), and Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-24) have rubberstamped President Bush’s failed agenda time and time again. With only underfunded challengers as opponents, they have become entrenched politicians unwilling to respond to the will of the voters.
Those days are over. Democratic challengers Annette Taddeo (FL-18), Raul Martinez (FL-21), and Joe Garcia (FL-24) are running tough campaigns against the South Florida Republicans that will force them to defend their blind support of President Bush. With Bush’s approval numbers mired in the 30’s, that’ll be no easy task.
The DCCC will be right alongside these candidates taking the fight to these loyal Bushies. The DCCC’s sole mission is to elect Democrats to the House and that’s just what we plan to do. We do it by ensuring our challengers have all the resources we need, knocking on doors, making calls and making sure no Republican attack goes unanswered.
While some of our Members may not always be able to actively campaign with every candidate, you can be assured that the DCCC will be there.
In a recent blog post at Swing State Project, there was frustration against Rep. Debbie Wasserman Shultz’s call that she would not be campaigning for South Florida candidates. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Shultz works tirelessly to help elect more Democrats to Congress. She has made clear that she supports the DCCC involvement in these South Florida races and has made sure that a Member who could completely throw themselves into those races would be assigned to them.
These Florida districts are ready for the big change that Democrats will deliver with a Democratic President and a strong Democratic Majority. Let’s keep the focus on beating Republicans Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL-18), Lincoln Diaz-Balart (FL-21), and Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-24).
I was very impressed to read that our progressive blogosphere has pierced another layer of recognition with the head of the DCCC actually citing the Swingstate Project posts and criticisms of Wasserman-Shultz! Van Hollen’s predecessor, Rham Emmanuel at times left me with the sense that he had very little regard for the progressive blogs, especially regarding his efforts in 2006 to replace Progressive Challengers who ran well in 2004 with more conservative challengers who he felt were better fits for the district. I find this a sign of progress regarding the attention that leaders like the heads of our national party committee at least recognize our concerns. Congrats David!