Monday, August 20, 2007

Rick Gets Blogosphere Blessing

From The S.A. Current:


"In 2006 I was primarily focused on getting John Tester elected in Montana,” said Markos Moulitsas, founder of DailyKos, a progressive political blog that boasts over a million visitors a day. “This year, I am going to do everything I can to elect Rick Noriega in Texas.

It wouldn’t be too much of an exaggeration to say that Moulitsas’s ringing endorsement is the political equivalent of a Bill Gates letter of recommendation. His site — Daily Kos — worked with other leading progressive sites such as MyDD.com and the Swing State Project to raise more than $1.5 million for 17 candidates in the 2006 election cycle.

The 2006 elections were the tipping point for successful online political organization. The people-powered movement was able to propel its own brand of candidates to high political offices. Their successes include U.S. Senators Jon Tester (Montana) and Jim Webb (Virginia). Many at the convention are hoping to send a third people-powered candidate to the U.S. Senate — Rick Noriega.

Immediately after the convention, an article in the Washington Post conveyed the level of support Noriega developed in Chicago, saying that “many at the YearlyKos convention cared more about Democrat Rick Noriega than Sen. Barack Obama. They hoped Mr. Noriega will unseat Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican … ”

Cornyn’s low approval ratings — which have stagnated around 31 percent according to the latest polls — have given Democrats across the country hope for an upset. Nationally, another Democrat in the U.S. Senate would mean wonders for the agenda of the Democratic Party, but if it’s possible, the implications of a Cornyn defeat are even more meaningful here in Texas.

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