Blue Catablog

The DCCC has announced its first Democratic candidates that they will support under their “Red to Blue” program. These candidates will be given extra support in the quest to turn these Republican-held House seats into Democratic ones. The goal is laudable, since in order to gain the 15 seats that are necessary for the Democrats to control the House of Representatives, and I like many of the choices made by Rahm and the DCCC:

Democratic Challenger -- Incumbent -- District’s % for Kerry
Darcy Burner (Wash.) Dave Reichert 51
Phyllis Busansky (Fla.) Michael Bilirakis (ret) 43
Francine Busby (Calif.) Vacant Cunningham’s seat) 44
Joe Courtney (Conn.) Robert Simmons 54
John Cranley (Ohio) Steve Chabot 51
Jill Derby (Nev.) James Gibbons (Gov race) 41
Tammy Duckworth (Ill.) Henry Hyde (ret) 47
Brad Ellsworth (Ind.) John Hostettler 38
Diane Farrell (Conn.) Christopher Shays 52
Steve Filson (Calif.) Richard Pombo 45
Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) John Sweeney 46
Tessa Hafen (Nev.) Jon Porter 49
Baron Hill (Ind.) Mike Sodrel 40
Mary Jo Kilroy (Ohio) Deborah Pryce 50
Ron Klein (Fla.) Clay Shaw 52
Ken Lucas (Ky.) Geoff Davis 36
Patsy Madrid (N.M.) Heather Wilson 51
Harry Mitchell (Ariz.) J.D. Hayworth 45
Chris Murphy (Conn.) Nancy Johnson 49
Lois Murphy (Pa.) Jim Gerlach 51
Heath Shuler (N.C.) Charles Taylor 43
Peter Welch (Vt.) Bernie Sanders (I) — running for Senate 59

SOURCE: The Hill

These 22 challengers are just the first round of the “Red to Blue” program, with more expected to be added in a few weeks. But I am curious as to some of the choices made for the first list.

I am pleased to see Darcy Burner chosen, as she is in a district that voted for Kerry and she is running an energetic campaign (Full Disclosure –She is a Blue Catapult adopted candidate). But why add at the first step those candidates who already have raised a large amount of money. Howard Park has discussed on MyDD the problem of diminishing returns – that at some point more money doesn’t help as much in some races as it would in others where the cash has been less prevalent. The “Red to Blue” Program meant an average of $250,000 more in contributions in 2004. For candidates who are already prolific fundraisers, such as Madrid, Lampson and Duckworth, this extra money is probably not going to be a deciding factor. In other seats, such as Harry Mitchell running in AZ-5, who just recently got in the race against J.D. Hayworth, this extra boost will probably be incredibly helpful. I also like the choice of Tessa Hafen in NV-3 against Jon Porter, which is a seat that can be put in play IF there is money behind it.

But I am surprised with the Peter Welch choice. The VT seat should be safe Dem and extra help should not be needed until later in the year, if there are signs of danger. John Cranley in Ohio is a good choice, though from what I know from friends near his district, his campaign has been somewhat lackluster so far.

In the end, no real major complaints, though I wish the DCCC would focus on expanding the map of challengers rather than just buffering the so-called “top-tier” candidates. I do have a few thoughts on who they should add in their next round:

Angie Paccione in CO-4 running against Marilyn Musgrave
Eric Massa in NY-29 running against Randy Kuhl
Chris Carney in PA-10 running against Don Sherwood
Dan Seals in IL-10 running against Mark Kirk

Anyone have any other suggestions? They should be candidates who really become more viable with the extra help the DCCC could provide.