Why Democrats Should Be Thrilled About the Kansas Election, Even if They Lose

[babylonsister]

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/04/why-democrats-thrilled-special-election-kansas-estes-thompson

Why Democrats Should Be Thrilled About the Kansas Election, Even if They Lose
The race shouldn't be competitive. But it is.

Tim Murphy
Apr. 11, 2017 11:05 AM

snip//

Special elections are weird, and Kansas politics is particularly weird—Democrats picked up 12 seats in the state legislature last fall despite the Trump wave, and Republicans recently voted to expand Medicaid in the state. (They did not have enough votes to override Republican Gov. Sam Brownback's veto, though.) Brownback's deeply unpopular war on the state budget has made life difficult for rank-and-file Kansas Republicans over the last four years.

Even if Estes prevails, as he's still expected to, Thompson's campaign is notable for a few reasons. An Army veteran and civil rights attorney from Wichita, Thompson is a political novice who was inspired to run by Sanders' campaign. He picked up the endorsement of Sanders' political outfit, Our Revolution and appeared at an event with the Vermont senator in February. His platform is a mix of progressive populism and red-state credentials; he wants a $15 minimum wage, said in a recent Reddit AMA that he likes the idea of single-payer health care (although he believes it won't happen in the near-term), and cut a campaign ad in which he shoots an assault rifle.

But what may be most relevant, for the perspective of national Democrats, is how well he was able to assemble a campaign without much help from on high. The Democratic National Committee never offered any money to the state party, and the state party balked at Thompson's request for a mere $20,000. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee only got involved on Monday. Instead, Thompson built his campaigns on thousands of small-dollar donations, in the mold of his political icon, Sanders. And when the race appeared to tighten last week (there have been no reliable public polls of the race), the progressive grassroots showed up in overwhelming force. From last Thursday, when Republicans began to sound the alarm, through Sunday, Daily Kos raised $149,255 for Thompson through ActBlue—an astounding four-day haul for a Democrat in a district Pompeo last won by 34 points. Thompson has raised more in three months for his special election than the 2016 Democratic nominee, Daniel Giroux, raised in 13.

We knew that Democrats were fired up about the special election in Georgia, in a district that's trending blue and where the party's de-facto nominee Jon Ossoff raised more money last quarter than any House candidate in history. But Thompson's ability to build a viable coalition in Trump country, largely on his own, may say a lot more about where the party is headed going into 2018.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. This is very good news.

I do believe that people are slowly getting fed up with how things are going in Kansas. And this man, Estes Thompson, has come along at this pivotal moment and his grass-roots campaign has caught fire. People are paying attention.

Even if he loses, he will have made an impression, and a name for himself.

He'll be back.

[Amishman]

2. Yes, there is a lesson to be learned here

And it is that this is the type of candidate and message we need to compete outside our current strongholds

[William769]

3. kick & recommended.

[Me.]

4. It Boggles My Mind That He Was Refused Help

And in the scheme of things &20K is such a small amount relative to what's usually spent. I really hope Perez is going to take this sort of thing in hand.

[tazkcmo]

5. Has anyone seen any polls?

I'm looking but haven't seen any.

[LAS14]

6. What the f was Perez talking about, then, when he said we'd fight in all 50 states????? nt

[Wounded Bear]

7. Very hopeful signs...

and a big plus for the grassroots folks out their organizing since the post-inaugural protests. Nice to see that change into real political action. In many ways, these are important practice runs for 2018. Winning these few special elections would be promising, but the real fight will be next year.

I've been saying for a while, I believe there are lots of Dem-ready voters out there in Trumpistan. What we really need to do is help them get together and organize. I'm sure living in a deep red district can be isolating and even intimidating, but if they can find like minded people locally that share some progressive values, perhaps they will organize and turn out.

Good on Thompson and Kansas for getting the fire started. We need to burn down the Repub crime syndicate.