I’m sure we’ll have a lot more to say about the Donna Edwards race long term, but here are my initial thoughts.

1. Our support for Donna on Blue America started early (she first appeared here with Howie Klein in June of 2006, at the suggestion of Paul Lukasiak.) When she lost her race against Al Wynn under dubious circumstances, people didn’t get discouraged and turned out for her again in the next cycle. "Democratic defeatism" wasn’t a factor on the blogs, and over the two cycles ActBlue pulled in over $401,715 for Donna. That’s a potent total that has the potential to make progressive candidates viable against corporate cash in a way that wasn’t always possible before.

2. Donna is a fabulous candidate whose history as an activist helped her to put together a powerful progressive coalition that included SEIU, MoveOn, Emily’s List, LCV, Sierra Club, ACORN and the blogs. Together it was enough to defeat an entrenched politician who had the support of the Democratic establishment (Nancy Pelosi, Rahm Emanuel, Steny Hoyer, the CBC), a ton of corporate money as well as the imprimatur of groups like NARAL. It’s an exciting blueprint that should give many a Blue Dog who see their primary function as voting for WalMart sweetheart deals sleepless nights.

3. The importance of the money we raised early for Donna was vital. Blue America raised $ $61,861.38 for her this cycle alone. The $100,000 fundraiser that the blogs did came at a point in the campaign when she really needed it, raised the profile of the campaign and got a lot of earned media.  It also sent a signal to other interest groups that her campaign was viable and worthy of support. We also contributed volunteers and did some polite public nudging of other interest groups that let them know their support would be appropriate and appreciated. The last minute $100,000 from MoveOn and the $600,000 from SEIU that allowed Donna to saturate the airwaves in the final days was also critical.

If you were one of the people who contributed to Donna’s campaign, thank you so much and I hope you’re getting special joy out of this victory. And thanks especially to the mighty Howie Klein, who puts in more work on this stuff than anybody knows, pours his heart into it and led us all to a great candidate like Donna. Thanks also to Matt Stoller, who did incredible work on the campaign, shot the above video and quite nearly froze his butt off yesterday as a poll watcher.

It’s a very sweet victory indeed for a lot of reasons but especially for Donna. She’s an amazing candidate and she earned this.

Related posts:

  1. Donna Edwards, Where Are You?
  2. Is Donna Edwards Catching the #Rahmflu?
  3. Donna Edwards (and others) could learn a thing or two from Jerry Nadler
  4. SEIU Will Not Back Away from Push for Public Option
  5. Progressive Groups Target Companies over Their Chamber of Commerce Membership