well the dccc is at it again. but this candidate will stand up to them.

[mopinko]

just had the pleasure of a phone call from du'er and '14 congressional candidate kelly westlund.
she is getting in for '16.

the d-trip didnt support her run last time, because she didnt want to turn her campaign management over to their chosen one.
in the meantime she has backed the "wrong" candidate to run the county party. she wanted a true progressive from her past campaign and the party wanted the same old same old.
and just been generally not going along to get along like a good little girl.

therefore, they will be primarying her. of course.

she will pop in soon with her official kick off, but she gave me permission to leak this.

no act blue page at the moment, but set aside a couple bucks for her, please.

[hobbit709]

1. The national party level campaign consultants have such a good track record.

They're the main part of what's wrong with the system when trying to get a progressive elected.

[mopinko]

2. yup yup

they play a hardball game, too.

shit on a shingle is what you get if you play their game.

[KamaAina]

3. DUer? What's her DU name?

[Scuba]

5. kellywestlund

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=profile&uid=316026

[mopinko]

6. sneaky

idnit?

[Le Taz Hot]

4. Kickity

[mopinko]

7. and btw. she told me a story from her last run.

she said she got a call from bernie sanders. like, out of the blue.
he said he liked to talk to all the congressional candidates. he quizzed her for quite some time.
he decided she was the real deal and endorsed her.

russ feingold did as well. hoping for both of them to be on board this time around.

go kelly.

[Scuba]

8. +1,000

Now we need to get Jennifer Shilling to mount a primary campaign against Ron Kind!

[ChiciB1]

17. We Also Need To Find Someone To Primary

Bill (finger in the wind) Nelson of Florida! Don't know of anything in the works because I've kind of cut my ties with Florida Democratic Party, so I may be uninformed as of this date!

But he's got to go!

[bvar22]

9. The DCCC and DSCC are the main reasons the Democratic Party has become so conservative.

IF you Work-for-a-Living do not EVER donate to the DSCC or the DSCC.
They WILL use your money against you.

[mopinko]

10. ABSOFUCKINGLUTELY.

they are scum suckers.
she got a big fat zip from the party, but walker and duffy got a lot of milage out of insisting that "the whole democratic party was behind her. from nancy pelosi to barack obama."
yeah, she kept looking over her shoulder, but no one appeared.

give directly to good candidates. period.
one reason i love du- i find out about candidates from all over the country that are worth supporting.

[ChiciB1]

16. I SOOOOOO Agree With You! I'm A Democrat

who is a Democrat who knew what a Democrat was BEFORE DCCC & DSCC! Our Party has been leaning RIGHT for quite some time, lost their spine and have become a shadow of what I always felt proud to be. Call me leftist, Socialist or "other" but I want to belong to a Party that represents "We The People," not a Party that has rolled over and is touting "Money Is People" and want the rest of us to roll over too!

I want to MARCH proudly with the Work-for-a-Living side of our Party!

[Oilwellian]

11. We better fight back

Corporate control of the party has got to go!

K&R

[daleanime]

14. +1

[mopinko]

19. they have taken "dont back no losers" to an absurd degree.

almost as if they divvy it all up before hand, and dont run up the tab on each other, maybe?

[passiveporcupine]

12. K&R

[brooklynite]

13. Perhaps they didn't support her last time because the District was (and IS) "Safe Republican"

...supported by the fact that Duffy beat Westlund 69-30.

Considering that I'm one of the few people here who DOES work with DCCC, I'm happy that my finial support is being used responsibly. I don't begrudge anyone here contributing to (I wouldn't recommend it) or volunteering for her campaign, but DCCC doesn't have unlimited funds, and they need to be allocated to 1) candidates who have a chance of winning (there are currently 59 competitive races; this isn't one of them), and 2) candidates who have qualified staff so that DCCC can be sure the money will be spent responsibly.

Bottom line, the goal isn't to "feel good" by "sending a message", the goal is to win back the House. A dollar spent on a race that has little to no chance is a dollar not spent on another race that's more competitive.

[George II]

15. Amazing how "they" are always blamed when things don't go one's way, huh?

As you point out, 69-30 tells the story.

[mopinko]

18. maybe it ought to be a dollar spent to build the party.

still have a soft spot for the 50 state strategy. working with dems in every district strengthens the whole party.
and in a presidential year some resources for down ticket races would add up.

if there had been a level playing field, she might have done a lot better. going up against the koch bros money pretty much with no party behind her, starting with zero name recognition, and not being able to afford paid media, what is the best you can hope for?
dccc needs to figure out how to help without trying to take over.
why cant they just come in and produce and run some media for people like kelly? why cant they fit in instead of take over?

i still remember the night of the wis primary in '08. jim doyle was practically tearing up about how the obama campaign came to town and fit themselves around the work that was already being done. they didnt take over, they shored them up.
and they won.

the party really ought to be a lot more grateful for candidates that are willing to throw themselves into race where they are likely to get crushed.
guts is something we sorely lack at the top. maybe that is why they dont get it.

i suppose they would prefer that that box on the ballot was blank?

[mopinko]

20. besides. this is a presidential year, not an off year.

that shifts the equation some.
this time she is on the ticket w russ feingold, and maybe bernie. biiiiiig difference then. big.

[mopinko]

25. so, does yesterdays madison rally give you an pause?

last time out she was endorsed by bernie sanders and russ feingold.
if they are the top of the ticket, do you still think that the off year totals will stick?

[Octafish]

21. Dr. Dean thought it wise to contest the pukes everywhere.

As a result, we regained Congress and then the Party shuffled Dean off to Buffalo.

Sounds like Ms. Westlund's campaign would make a great place to start.

Who knows? Maybe we could regain the House and Senate?

One thing I know, we won't if we don't try and that is the policy of Dr. Dean's successors.

Thanks for the heads-up, mopinko! Go Wisco!

[mopinko]

22. we wont if we dont try. eggzactly

if bernie is the nominee, i think everything is up for grabs.

[davidpdx]

23. I stopped subscribing to the DCCC's newsletter and pretty much every one from the

Democratic Party because I'm sick of them pushing conservative candidates instead of progressive ones. So many of the candidates in 2014 abandoned the party values for their own more conservative values and lost. They deserved it.

I won't be donating to any of those entities ever again until there is a change (which I'm not holding my breath on). Instead I will donate directly to the campaign of candidates I like and the DCCC and all the other organizations can go fly a kite. In addition I will donate to outside organizations that work on specific issue that are important to me.

[mopinko]

24. seeing as bernie endorsed her last time around,

and seeing how bernie blew the roof off in madison yesterday, i am thinking that if he is the top of our ticket, this district looks a lot more winnable.

eta, same goes for feingold.

[NCTraveler]

26. Her page.

http://www.kellywestlund.com/

I think this is also in Mineral Man's back yard.

[mopinko]

28. i think you are right.

i am hoping to spend some time up there in the fall/winter, when the farm has been put to bed for the season.

[oldandhappy]

27. Our local club lost faith

with our county structure last election. Lots of reasons but your post sounds all too familiar. We (our club) are trying to organize with other clubs near enough to us to be able to cooperate on support for congressional candidates. We will give our money directly to candidates and not to the county structures. Have to try!

[mopinko]

29. yup. happens all over.

just happened in my ward. the alderman wanted to appoint himself to fill the remaining term of our deceased committeeman. he insisted that if someone "qualified" had stepped forward, he would not take the position.
except that an eminently qualified long time activist did step forward. THE most diverse ward in the city has been represented by nothing but white males forever. this woman would have brought so much to the org.

to his credit he did put it to a vote, which he won 3 to 1. i am pretty disappointed that an org that prides itself on being uber progressive didnt take the opportunity to at least move the needle that little bit.
hopefully she will run for the position in the primary. (tho she should run for something that you actually get paid for. it is an unpaid position.)