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WHEN THE REVOLUTION COMES... The New York Times is picking up on Chris Bowers' brilliant "Use It Or Lose It" campaign, which seeks to force comfortable Democratic incumbents to donate 30% of their useless war chests in order expand the field of competitive seats. The Times leads with Martin Meehan, a safe, Massachusetts Democrat with $4.8 million in the bank. He's donated $355,000 to the DCCC. Now, Meehan won in 2004 with nearly 70% of the vote. This year is a Democratic dream and he lacks a serious challenger. A 30% donation from him would be $1.44 million, more than enough to fund a couple smaller House races and offer the Democrats a cleaner, less compromised majority. But he has no intention of giving more money. In part, that's because he dreams of eventually running for Senate. In part, it's because he doesn't see why he should have to. Kerry's spokesman, David Wade, sounds similarly entitled:
Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004, came under fire last week when it was pointed out that he had contributed only $15,000 this year to the party�s senatorial committee. Heyjohn.org, whose creator has remained anonymous, highlights the fact that Mr. Kerry has $14 million in his campaign accounts.[...]�Cowards can hide behind anonymous Web sites,� Mr. Wade said, �but Democrats out in the country, party leaders and real net-roots activists know how hard John Kerry has fought to win these elections.�Raise your hand if you think it's good 2008 strategy for Kerry's spokesperson to call members of the netroots "cowards" for demanding that Kerry donate some of the $15 million they gave him to win in 2004 towards winning in 2006. Fail them once, shame on you. Fail them twice...As rejoinder to all this, Bowers and the netroots note that the richer Republicans incumbents have donated $2.3 million more to their party's efforts than have their Democratic counterparts. They list the rich, comfortable Democrats alongside how much money they have and whether they even face a challenge. They've gotten articles in The New York Times, The LA Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe. And they've drafted MoveOn.org to deploy the e-mail list and web resources to create an action center where concerned individuals can call their congressman's offices. It's not all sticks, though. If Democrats donate (as Barney Frank has done), the netroots will pledge fealty to them, talk them up lavishly, fundraise for their next campaign, work against any primary challengers they may have, and generally seek to reward generous behavior with their own continued support. If they don't donate, the netroots promise to remember, and punish. Carrots and sticks. The only way to deal with a donkey. --Ezra Klein
