Netroots and the DCCC

Kos has an interesting post up on the DCCC’s methods of weeding out credible candidates. Kos puts it as more opposed to each other than I think they may be–though I wasn’t involved in the discussions, I’m not sure the difference can’t be bridged.

Since there is little way to weed out candidates who won’t work hard except fund raising, it is almost always the tool decide where to direct resources. This works generally for several reasons. First, it shows someone is working hard. Lazy candidates aren’t going to make it so weed them out by how much money they can raise. With a good personal friend running I can tell you how brutal the whole dialing for dollars deal is. Kos puts the number at 8 hours, but that just includes calls and not followups plus all of the events you have to attend. And if you write thanks yous that open up the wallets the second time, its even more brutal.

Second, it tells you that someone has some kind of support out there. Not all candidates are appealling and as a general rule, the appealing ones can raise cash if they work hard.

I’m not worried about the netroots boosting marginal candidates too much, because even if you can raise an amount on-line, the only way it’ll continue is if big donors open up. Kos makes this point so maybe I’m more with him, but the concern isn’t misplaced, it just assumes that raising cash is easy on the net.

You’ll notice when I talk about Democratic challengers in Illinois, only three are mentioned. It isn’t that I don’t like the others–Tim Bagwell in the 19th is great, but he can’t raise any cash and he isn’t going to be able to get his message out without it. Bean has fantastic numbers given her position. Renner is doing decently, but needs to pick up, and Cegelis needs to leverage her relative web success with big donors now. But they all show promise. Other candidates haven’t been able to raise that money and if they can’t charm money out of someone, I don’t know how they are going to charm votes out of more people.

The DCCC is right about needing to focus on candidates who are strong and fundraising is the key measure available. On the other side, they shouldn’t be reluctant about the net roots because surprises happen and the net is only an entry way to being taken seriously. You still have to work hard to get to the next level.