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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDemocrats are having a banner recruiting year and it could cost them
Alex Seitz-Wald:Last month, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., tormentor of the Obama White House, archvillain to liberals everywhere and perhaps the single most endangered Republican in Congress, read the writing on the wall and announced he would not stand for re-election.
Democrats cheered. Then they looked at the mess on their half of the ballot and, as one party official put it, switched from champagne to vodka.
"We got rid of Issa, that's the good news. But that's also the bad news because everyone and their mother is running on our side," said Ellen Montanari, who organizes weekly protests outside Issa's office and founded a group dedicated to flipping the district.
My database show 28 competitive House seats in which 3 or more Democrats (in some cases as many as six) viable candidates in the Primary. That's a lot of money getting burned early that will needed in the General Election.
Blue_Adept
(6,402 posts)No, seriously, I get the financial element of it all.
But I'll take that to have an engaged citizenship.
NewJeffCT
(56,829 posts)than nobody at all
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)California has what's called a jungle primary, where all the candidates are on the primary ballot. 28 Democratic candidates for one seat can have their percentages swamped by two Republican candidates, and the general election becomes a contest between those two Republicans because none of the 28 Democrats could crack double figures. If the district is split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, the Republican voters will go for their candidate, leaving 50% of the remaining vote to be portioned out among 28 candidates.
NCTraveler
(30,481 posts)Additional money will not be burned. It is money intended for the primaries by actual supporters. The two cannot be linked like this in a very important primary process.
Money spend should equal message being heard. Solid.
wasupaloopa
(4,516 posts)None of which are really valid but someone has to do it.
Dems curb your enthusiasm!
phylny
(8,390 posts)Let's keep our eyes forward and our arms locked together as we proceed.