Reply #7: They thought they were going to win last election

[izzybeans]

because Hostettler was losing going into the late evening, but some time during the late evening the vote count flipped in his favor as the final precincts were reported (my mother was hosting a party with the state rep. from our hometown and they all went home thinking they had won the damn thing). He won by a few percentage points. And this was with a carpetbagger running; a no-no in that district. Ellsworth will have a battle on his hands. However, if the DNC is true to their word, which I doubt, he could win. I know the dems. have felt abandoned down there for quite some time. My hometown doesn't even elect republicans in local elections, but when it comes to national elections they elect republicans frequently-a statewide trend. This has to do with the fact that the DNC and the state party in general are absent on the local level, though they harbor illusions that they are "grassroots" oriented. The county organizations run things and people trust them heavily. I don't see why that couldn't be easily translated into a federal victory with a real committement from the state and federal parties. If the candidates had working relationships with the local party affiliates, rather than a quick love em and leave em campaign stump event, then they'd build quite a solid base down there for the federal election cycle over the long term; all that is needed in the short term is a push over the hill top. Retire Hostettler to Rose-Hulman.

Of course the right-to-life folks are quite vocal, and Hostettler is their baby, so they will fight dirty all the way and continuously. This state is a fundamentalist hotbed and that will always be a point of contention. If they want to do battle with these folks and win out over the fear mongering of the RNC, they will do well by putting in consistent face time with local party leaders and actually get to know the district, building interpersonal trust, rather than relying on name recognition. The DNC has a bad reputation, unfairly, but they do themselves no justice by remaining aloof.

The only thing that will convince a scared ruralite, afraid of a boogeyman they will never see, that the DNC can be trusted with their security is to stare that fear in the face and promise them they will be kept safe. They'll be more likely to listen to whatever comes next. Build trust first then persuade. Don't stand on the podium and stump, it will all sound like platitudes otherwise.