Author: Carnacki

Last year I attended Netroots Nation as a Democracy for America scholarship winner.

I promised I’d write a diary to encourage people to support Democracy for America’s scholarships of of Netroots Nation.

Then I sat down to write and couldn’t think of what I wanted to say.
“If you’re a songwriter and you want to sing about how someone broke your heart, you move to Nashville. To write about how you got drunk and broke someone else’s heart? Then you move to Austin.” – Peter Segal, NPR, Sat. 5/30/09.

Here’s what I said last year in Austin.’

I arrived at Austin Thursday just in time to hear Howard Dean speak outside the convention center.

It was one of those moments in life where timing is perfect.

In many ways Howard Dean’s work as a presidential candidate and then as DNC chairman got me there.

It was a true learning experiencing, getting to listen to Chris Bowers of Open Left on blog activism, Jill Tubman of Jack and Jill on the importance of social networking and hearing Van Jones on promoting a green jobs based economy.

But when you’re a state blogger often challenging your own party and fighting the Republicans, the most important part may have been the ability to just absorb the energy of the event and recharge the batteries.

I went to Netroots Nation for the forums. I stayed for the pie: sitting in the lobby chatting with franco and mcjoan and fellow state bloggers from Louisiana and Mississippi, hanging with the top comments crew and the kids from Bill in Portland Maine’s kiddie pool, listening to John Hobbs play the piano and sing at the worship service led by pastordan on Sunday morning.

I think the work of West Virginia Blue is important and is making a difference. We’ve challenged Senator Jay Rockefeller on telecom immunity, Gov. Joe Manchin on mountaintop removal, and too many state delegates for opposition to gay equality while providing a voice to progressives and liberals in a state dominated by media owned by rightwingers.

Too often it seems our successes have to be measured in the smallest of steps. But if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then there’s signs we are making forward progress:

“I think there was definitely a void on the Internet for Republicans, for conservatives,” the 26-year-old said, “and I hope West Virginia Red will fill that void.”

The site launched Sunday and takes its name from West Virginia Blue, a site that features pieces on Democratic politics and progressive issues.

“I think all of us who are involved in political circles in West Virginia are very aware of West Virginia Blue,” said Stauffer, who managed state Supreme Court candidate Beth Walker’s unsuccessful campaign.

While I’d still be blogging even if I wasn’t a DFA scholar, it did help instill the confidence in me that much of what we were doing was right and gave tips on how to improve.

I would not have attended Netroots Nation without a DFA scholarship. Money in the Carnacki budget is often tight. So if you believe in the netroots, if you believe in grassroots activism, please support the DFA scholarship program so that other bloggers can go.

I would not have been there without a Democracy for America scholarship provided by all those who generously donated, as well as Land of Enchantment, Kid Oakland, trashablanca, SallyCat, a kind doctor in Alabama, Clem Guttata, and all those who nominated me.

The well-deserving Bob Kincaid will be representing my state this year and I hope he finds the experience as enriching as I did.

If you can afford to support the scholarships, the link is [https://www.democracyforamerica.com/contribution_pages/106 here].

Yes. We. Can.

From the Charleston Gazette:

At a rally a few miles from the West Virginia border on Tuesday, Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden predicted he and Sen. Barack Obama would win West Virginia in the Nov. 4 presidential election.

According to NBC’s Mike Memoli, Biden asked the crowd in St. Clairsville, Ohio, “Which way is West-By-God-Virginia?” He then said, “I want to send a message to West Virginia — we’re going to win in West Virginia! … We’re going to shock the living devil out of y’all!”

Let’s win to send a message that Hope triumphs over Hate.

The Hate Talk Express was going to come through West Virginia.

Instead it turned into Sarah Palin’s Blow Off West Virginia Tour.

At a rally last weekend, a group of West Virginians took the front row at a Portsmouth, Ohio rally, across the Ohio River from West Virginia.

The story going around here is they shouted, “Come to West Virginia.”

Obama called back, “I’ll be there soon.”

You know what, we’re looking at a landslide of historic proportions.

Obama doesn’t need West Virginia’s five electoral votes.

But you can tell from Joe Biden’s statement, his throwing down of the gauntlet, that Obama and Biden WANT them.

You want to send a message to the country that a new day has dawned in America, you win West By God Virginia.

This is a Democratic state. The governor, four of the five Congressional caucus, the attorney general, the treasurer, the agricultural secretary, the auditor, four of the five Supreme Court justices and soon to be the secretary of state.

Dems out number Reps by nearly a 2 to 1 margin. Sure many of them are conservative Democrats. But we are the party of the Big Tent. Not the Rs, who have issued a fatwa on Christopher Buckley.

West Virginia went Democratic when many other states voted for the Republicans. Al Gore took the state for granted and we all paid a price. In 2004, with so many of our young men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan, I heard over and over canvassing that people didn’t want to change leaders in the middle of a war.

I told them they were wrong, that we needed to. But we lost.

This is an opportunity to return one of the most Democratic loyal states back into the blue column. Sure there’s some racism here – just as there is in EVERY OTHER state. But I’ve canvassed numerous African Americans here who voted for Hillary Clinton in the primary. What are we to make of them since the primary vote is what caused so many to label the state as racist?

People will inevitably say, Obama is better off spending his resources elsewhere.

Here’s what they don’t understand. Many of those surrounding states that are battleground states are filled with expatriate West Virginians. Their roots, their kin, are in West Virginia. If Obama and Biden win them over, their grandmammas and grandpappys are going to be telling them to vote for Barack Obama.

We heard over and over again that Appalachians were not ready to vote for a black candidate. What a load of bullshit!

In the worst case scenario based off the polls, we are in tossup status. ARG’s poll, the latest, showed Obama up by 8 POINTS. ARG is often disparaged for being a bad pollster. I looked it up today. ARG often was off from 3 to 5 points in Kerry’s favor in many states. 3 to 5 points consistently off. Do the math! Hell, say they were 8 points off. Hell, say they were 11 points off.

That’s tossup.

We were told over and over by the Republicans McCain would win this state by 20 points.

They swore it’d be a landslide for McCain.

This is the time, this is the state to break the backs of the rightwing movement.

I’m just a small state blogger and a foot soldier who canvasses and tells funny stories.

But I know this: When we were told this state could not be won, I had faith in my fellow West Virginians.

When we were told by 538 that the odds were 89 percent of a McCain win, I said, “Never tell me the odds.”

When we were told by the state GOP McCain would bury us, I remembered what my old football coach used to say.

And he’d say, win or lose, I don’t care as long as you’re leaving it all on the field.

With the coordinated Campaign for Change we are leaving it all on the field.

I know how we lost in landslides in 2004 presidential and congressional and 2006 congressional.

But my coach had another thing he’d tell his undersized players every Friday night on our way to a 9-1 season (F Oak Hill High School – yes I hold grudges).

He’d say, “Boys it’s not the size of the dogs in the fight that matters, it’s the size of the fight in the dogs.”

West Virginian’s Campaign for Change is bringing it.

Hillary Clinton brought it.

Joe Biden is bringing it.

And Barack Obama is bringing it.

Let’s go win this state.

WSAZ reports the story:

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) — The winner of West Virginia’s Democratic primary for president will visit Charleston this Friday to endorse Anne Barth for Congress.

United States Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) will host a rally for Barth’s campaign beginning at 1pm at the University of Charleston.

Excellent news. Click on the link for more details. The primary showed how popular Hillary Clinton is in this state.

For weeks I’d been urging her to come to West Virginia to campaign for Barack Obama. I can’t tell you how happy I am she’s coming here to endorse Anne Barth.

Maybe Shelley Moore Capito should bring her close friend Dick Cheney to campaign for her like she did in the past. Or George Bush. They’re so tight.

…

Here’s Anne Barth helped Morgan County Democrats kick off the grand opening of their county HQ.

From an emailer:

…

And this

The Charleston Gazette makes the right pick:

Anne Barth is a breath of fresh air amid stagnant West Virginia politics. She’s intelligent, informed, conscientious – and free from any hint of taint.

She spent 21 years as an aide to Sen. Robert C. Byrd, learning both West Virginia needs and crucial national issues. She shares the courageous opposition that Byrd voiced against President Bush’s unnecessary Iraq war, even before it began. She says America was “misled” into the tragedy.

She supports universal medical insurance to cover all Americans, and opposes tax giveaways to U.S. corporations that send American jobs overseas.

Barth’s father was a United Methodist minister, and she grew up in parsonages around the Mountain State. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from West Virginia University. She once was executive director of the state Democratic Party. Her husband is Charleston lawyer Nick Barth, and their two daughters attend WVU.

In contrast, her Republican opponent in the Nov. 4 election has backed the Bush-Cheney agenda that has harmed America painfully and sent the national debt to monstrous heights. Rep. Shelley Capito, R-W.Va., still defends her vote to plunge into the Iraq war, even after all evidence shows that the invasion was based on phony grounds.

In 2000 and 2004, West Virginia was a “red” state supporting Bush, Cheney and Capito. But it will be a shame if the GOP ticket prevails again, after eight years of damage in Washington. It’s time for a fresh start.

We urge voters of the 2nd Congressional District – a misshapen belt stretching all the way from Point Pleasant to the tip of the Eastern Panhandle – to choose Barth and bring much-needed change to Washington. We endorse her wholeheartedly.

OK, everybody huddle here on the sideline. Gather in close.

Listen up.

Take hold of the hands of those next to you.

This is it, we’re heading into the fourth quarter of the game, just one full month to go of this election season.

I know you’re tired. Many of you have been out there day after day week after week month after month. We’re all tired.

When we started down this road together, do you remember what our opponents said? They said they were going to have a “permanent majority.” Do you remember that? They called us traitors and worse. They were going to crush us.

But we hung in there. We took their hits and we kept on going.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again the words that were handed down to me and that I pass on to you: What matters is not the size of the dogs in the fight it’s the size of the fight in the dogs.

That has always been true throughout history: from the men who made a stand on a bridge at Concord to the Screaming Eagles dropped behind the lines of Normandy to the Battered Bastards of Bastogne to a man who took that  first step on the Moon to a woman who would not give up her seat on a bus in the South.

When we started down this road, there were not many of us. We stood up against a president who more than 90 percent of the people at one time approved and we stood our ground and refused to be swept along by the tyranny of the majority.

They told us here in West Virginia we were too backwards to vote for Barack Obama. They told us there was NO HOPE for us to win here. The Republicans told us McCain would blow us out by 20 points or more here in West Virginia. They told us it’d be impossible to win this state for Barack Obama and Joe Biden. That we couldn’t win it for us.

But we knew better. We had faith in our fellow West Virginians. We believed in them because we know what good people they are, that no matter how much you knock us down, we keep getting back up and we keep getting the job done.

Now look at us. Look where we are. We are just 4 points down. In the words of a wise man, we are doing the impossible and that makes us mighty.

That is striking distance. Forget their lead. It’s zero to zero. We’re not going to do anything different. We’re going to do the same things that got us here, we’re only going to do more of them. We’re going to phonebank, canvass, identify our voters, register new ones, write letters and emails, spread our message of hope. We’re going to reach deep inside and do more of the above. And we’re going to win.

We’re going to execute on all of the fundamentals. Not play defense, not make risky attacks. We’re just going to keep on doing what got us here in the first place. And we’re going to win.

Now look at the people to your left and your right with you when you phonebank and when you canvass. Remember them. These are the people who are making history with you. We lost dear friends along the way. If you’re weary, remember them. If it’s raining, remember them. If you’re discouraged because of your last call/door knock, remember them. If you don’t think you can keep going on, remember them. They are the angels who will lift you up on the wings of eagles. They will be with us when we win.

I don’t want anyone on the sidelines now. If you’re not in the field, strap your helmet on and get in there. On 3…1,2,3

Fired up! Ready to go!

Beautiful day in Berkeley County, West Virginia for canvassing. A warm day – not too warm – bright and sunny. A hint of fall in the morning.

All across the state beautiful things have been going on for the Democratic candidates.

I arrived at Martinsburg HQ of the Campaign for Change this morning to canvass for Barack Obama and our WV-02 candidate, the lovely in every way Anne Barth.

I felt a bit of disappointment at first because last week we had 40 people and at first there were just 4 of us. Then I remembered we had some volunteers going to the air show to do visibility and register voters and we have the state Jefferson Jackson Dinner tonight in Charleston and some of our folks are making the six hour trip there.

As we waited, more people came in, we formed pairs and headed out to canvass. Our field director wanted us to hit the same precinct we hit last weekend to catch those we missed, but I talked him into hitting one of our precincts that I had canvassed in the primary that was very strong Obama so that we could also trawl for more volunteers for phonebanking at HQ on weeknights. Then I talked him into being my canvassing partner and he agreed. While I was on a roll, I should have talked him into taking me out for lunch later, but didn’t think of it in time.

We were doing Democrats and independents today. It was a precinct I had visited several times in 2004 and in 2006 and I had hit a different turf of the precinct before the primary this year. Irish Hill. Mixed demographics, middle to lower income depending on the street. Good walking precinct with sidewalks and small yards and a moderate hill.

First woman we stopped was in the middle of a late breakfast. She didn’t want to talk, but said they were for Barack Obama and Anne Barth. There was another building where we didn’t find anyone home, but they had an Anne Barth sign in front. Another apartment where a newly registered resident who just moved in from Michigan said she was voting Obama and I told her about Anne Barth and she said she’d vote for her too.

We came to one house that I thought I recognized from 2004 where a woman who was worried about the economy and the war and I thought was clearly in our camp until I asked her who she was voting for and she said “George Bush.” I asked why when she was worried about the economy and the war, etc., would she vote for Bush and she said because John Kerry would let gays marry and that would be a threat to her marriage. We arrived there and a teenage boy answered and said his mom didn’t live there any more and his dad was at work. He didn’t know how his dad was voting.

The next was an African American man who was undecided. He said he liked Hillary Clinton and voted for her in the primary. I asked him what issues were important to him and we talked to him for a while about the economy and healthcare and the war. He’s a Vietnam War era veteran from the Marines. The field director had to take a call so stepped away and I had more time to do some persuading which really means listening.  After he talked for a while, I mentioned why I was for Obama and how I would get a bigger tax cut under Obama’s plan – about $1,000 compared to $100 under McCain’s and other issues that I thought would resonate with him. When I finished, he said, put us both down as for Obama. I said, what about Anne Barth, and told her how she’d be great for us and was Senator Byrd’s right hand for a long time as his state director. “Senator Byrd’s been great for us,” he said. “Put me down for her too.”

The next house no one was home and then there was a middle-aged white man on his front porch. A freight train rumbled by. He had an Obama bumper sticker with a peace sign. We talked briefly – and so it went.

Not home, vacant, Obama. On down the street. If they were home, they were for Obama. I don’t think I had anyone for McCain today. I came upon an African American woman outside one house. Her sister who was on our list was inside, she said, but asleep because she works nights. She said her sister was for Obama. I asked her if she was and she said yes, but she hadn’t registered to vote yet.

I had registration forms with me and she filled it out. The field director had to join a conference call so I finished the area alone. I had one household where the man refused. He might have been for McCain, he was listed as nonaffiliated, aka independent, but it’s really hard to tell. Some people just don’t like to say.

The next house, though, was my highlight. A 77 year old African American man. He was for Barack Obama and Anne Barth. “John McCain scares me,” he said. He didn’t like Sarah Palin either. The man had served in combat in the Korean War in tanks. He was a broad-shouldered big man, and at 77 he still looked like he could take on an enemy attack. Yet the thought of McCain in command he found “scary.”

“This has nothing to do with race,” the man said. “McCain just doesn’t have the right temperament.”

He said he never thought he’d see the day when a black man could be elected president. He thought it would come sometime in the future, but not in his life time.

I told him Barack Obama was leading in the polls nationally and down by just 4 points in West Virginia.

His eyes lit up. He hadn’t heard that about West Virginia.

If you’ve never canvassed or phonebanked because you’re too nervous about coldcalling on strangers – and I can understand why that’d be intimidating to folks – you miss out on moments like that that makes it worth it. My memory is not the best (too many concussions over the years I suspect) but I WILL remember the expression on his face. Do I think we’ll win here? I don’t know. But I know when it’s over, I’m going to be able to say many of us did everything we could and we gave it our best shot. And I know no poll ever showed us any where near this close in 2004 and we still gave it all of our effort.

The last house on my list, the woman wasn’t home. The man who answered said she was for Obama. I asked him if he was for Obama and he said yes. I said he wasn’t on my list of Democrats or independents. He said he was a Republican. Then he asked me how he could change his party affiliation. He said he wanted to change it to Democrat.

Some days you feel like you struck out. And some days it feels like you knocked the ball out of the park.

When I got back to the office, the amazing thing to me was the amount of foot traffic in and out. Elderly white women wanting yard signs (we were out). Middle-aged black men registering to vote for the first time. Kossack rosecar was working the front reception desk and was busier than I was, registering voters and answering questions.

I have no idea how busy the Republicans were across the street today. To be honest, on a day like this, I didn’t care.

If you want to help, we’re short on just about everything but heart.

Anyone wishing to contribute to the Obama Campaign and the Campaign for
Change in West Virginia, and ensure their contribution is used on the
ground here in the State can make a check out to Campaign for Change and
mail it to:

Charleston (state headquarters)
Campaign for Change
247 Capitol Street
Charleston, WV 25301

Martinsburg
Campaign for Change
124 S. Queen St.
Martinsburg, WV 25401

Cross posted at BOS.

The following diary is photo intensive. It contains images of hopeful, hard working people. Such images can raise enthusiasm, hope, and cause smiles. Other side effects may vary. Use only as directed. Consult with your physician if such symptoms remain prolonged. The most recent poll taken earlier this week showed Sen. Barack Obama within 5 points in West Virginia. 5 points.

My old football coach said win or lose, he didn’t care as long as we left it all on the field at the end of the game.

He also said, “Boys, it’s not the size of the dogs in the fight, it’s the size of the fight within the dogs.”

We’ve been told over and over by pundits and Republicans that Obama doesn’t have a chance in West Virginia. The poll taken this week showed Obama within 5 points.

Win or lose in West Virginia, we’re leaving it all on the field.

9:36 a.m. A dark and empty headquarters for Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito

9:37 a.m. Volunteers and staff at Berkeley County Democratic Executive Committee/Barack Obama Campaign for Change headquarters.

9:39 a.m. Volunteers confer at Democratic HQ.

9:40 a.m. A volunteer phonebanking.

9:47 a.m. Capito HQ across the street. Still empty. One of our volunteers parked across the street from Democratic HQ. Capito office still dark and empty.

9:48 a.m. Volunteers being briefed at Democratic HQ.

9:53 a.m. Phil hangs our new Barack Obama sign.

9:59 a.m. More volunteers being briefed before going out canvassing.

10:05 a.m. Our new sign is up.

10:07 a.m. Speaking of signs, notice anything missing from Capito’s? Actually several things are missing. 1. It doesn’t say she’s a Republican. 2. It doesn’t say she’s a candidate. It looks like it’s actually a Congressional sign and not a candidate sign. 3. And it doesn’t say who paid for it. Seems to me all of the other election signs I’ve seen have who paid for it on them. Maybe the tax payers paid for Capito’s sign and she doesn’t want us to know.

10:09 a.m. Another shot of people being briefed.

About 10:15 a.m. as I departed to go canvass with a young woman and her son Larry, 2, we saw a person enter the Capito office and unlock it.

Niles, our Berkeley County Democrat of the Year, said we had 40 volunteers this morning. Tyler said he saw 6 people depart the Capito office to go canvass.

My canvassing partners and I had a pretty good morning. My favorite encounter though was with someone whose name was not on our walk sheet.

As we were leaving Precinct 2, a predominantly white neighborhood, mostly older residents, there was an older, African American man, mowing his front lawn. His address wasn’t on our list of Democrats and independents so I said let’s see if he’s registered to vote if he likes Obama.

He was registered as a Republican (yeah, I know. I should buy a Powerball ticket for tonight). He was lifelong military. He was wounded in the Vietnam War. Up until this week he had looked forward to voting for fellow Vietnam War vet John McCain. That is until the sleazy ads from the McCain campaign decided there was no way he was going to vote for McCain.

“I’m just sick of his lies,” the man said. “He shouldn’t have brought in Karl Rove’s people.”

My canvassing partner, a white woman, and her bi-racial son, Larry, 2, and I talked to him a while. (Well, Larry didn’t say much.) I’m pretty certain we persuaded him into voting for Barack Obama (Obama is outraising McCain like 6-to-1 among active duty military) and Anne Barth. We left information with him.

“We need to change the direction this country is going,” the veteran said.

Yes. We. Can.

UPDATE
From an email from Charleston

First shift of volunteers in Charleston.</p

Elections director Greg Hoyer and state director Tom Vogel map out strategy.

Anne Barth had a long-scheduled event at Martinsburg headquarters before she and about 30 volunteers went off to canvass. By sheer coincidence ineffective Bush Republican Shelley Moore Capito held the opening of her campaign headquarters in Martinsburg across the street.
Here’s some union and Democratic activists doing a sign wave on the four corners of King and Queen streets.

Here’s some of the hundreds dozens handful of enthused excited people who thought Capito was passing out free Lottery tickets at her event.

Here’s Barth talking to a couple of supporters before her speech.

Barth addresses some of the folks at the Berkeley County Democratic HQ.

Barth described how Cook, Rothenberg and Congressional Quarterly have steadly moved the race in her direction and she expects it’ll be listed as a toss up next quarter.

Barth and the volunteers went out in teams to canvass several precincts in Martinsburg.

I arrived at Austin Thursday just in time to hear Howard Dean speak outside the convention center.

It was one of those moments in life where timing is perfect.

In many ways Howard Dean’s work as a presidential candidate and then as DNC chairman got me there.
I landed in Austin very tired. I had slept the night before at a rest area off the interstate to save money from driving home to West Virginia and then driving to BWI Thurgood Marshall International Airport.

I had about three hours of sleep and slept on my flight to Atlanta and then slept on my flight to Austin.

I took the bus (50 cents) from the airport to downtown Austin about three blocks from the convention center.

There was a crowd outside and I stopped. A man asked to put a sticker on me for Texas for Equality LGBT community. I said sure and got another sticker on my other shoulder with “Doing my part to piss off the religious right.”

As founder of West Virginia Blue, I’ve wanted to create a Netroots community where ordinary West Virginians who feel like their voices are not being heard could have an outlet so they could be heard.

Just as the Dean campaign showed many of his supporters that they have the power to create the America they want, I’ve tried to provide an instrument for West Virginians to feel empowered politically, a place where they can organize.

As I stood there in the Texas heat, I saw Booman of Booman Tribune on my left. I shook hands with Boo. Then kos of Daily Kos walked up and was on my right. I shook hands with him too.

Dean’s speech was what I needed to hear as he talked about  how the Democrats are challenging Republicans for Congressional seats and are going to challenge for the White House in states that have been going for Republicans.

Here’s his speech.

He’s calling on all of us to do more. “The most powerful people in America with the power to get people to vote is you.”

Throughout our nation’s history, ordinary Americans have been called upon to do extraordinary things from taking a stand in Massachusetts as the Redcoats formed ranks to holding the line on a ridge at Gettysburg as a gray wave advanced to figuring out how to get a man to the Moon and back to forming a picket line in the face of corporate gunmen.

What we’re being asked to do is to talk to our neighbors, such a small price to pay to work for the form of government we want.

Too many of our elected Democrats have made that hard to do at times. The answer is to not give up because some of them have let us down. The answer is to recognize that it’s a long struggle to achieve the change we want – the change we need to make for ourselves and other Americans. And it’s not just our own lives and futures riding on this. Due to our unique position in the world, our efforts are not just for Americans. They can make a difference in the lives of people dying in civil wars in Africa, or in cars that made a turn down a street in Iraq at the wrong time.

The differences that separate us from the Republicans are not percentages in tax rates. They’re differences that involve the future of the planet. If we want to try to save Mother Earth from the effects of global warming, we’ve got to be willing to talk to our neighbors about it.

As Dr. Dean said, voting just gets you a D in his class. True participation as a citizen requires more.

Because Barack Obama’s not going to solve our problems. Howard Dean isn’t going to solve our problems. The issues facing us are too big. It’s going to take all of us to solve our problems.

Which leads me back to Dean. His 50-state strategy is more than just a political gimmick. It means that every state matters just as every voter mamtters. We’re not the blue states of America. And we’re certainly not the red states of America no matter how much the right crowed we were in 2004. We are the UNITED States of America.

…

I also would not be here without a Democracy for America scholarship provided by all those who generously donated, as well as Land of Enchantment, Kid Oakland, trashablanca, SallyCat, Clem, a kind doctor in Alabama, and all those who nominated me.

Thank you.

Today is the anniversary of our adoption of Lucy.

On another blog, someone mentioned how today was 7-7-07 and asked if anything lucky had occurred.

Here was my comment:

Yes.

We adopted a dog from the animal shelter today. I last had a dog in 1992 after I sold my first house and moved into an apartment. My ex mother in law, a good dog woman, took Jeb where she spoiled him. When Ms. Carnacki and I bought this house, I wanted to get another dog. That was 10 years ago. She was pregnant at the time and didn’t want to have to deal with a dog and a baby. So we agreed as soon as everyone was potty trained we’d get a dog. We actually waited a couple years past that but still it’s been 10 years ago since we first talked about it and the longest period in my life since I’ve lived without a dog.

At the shelter today — and we noted the lucky date — we saw a couple we wanted to take home. But the one I really was attracted to was a dog much bigger and older than we had talked about.

Lucy is almost 10 years old and nearly 100 pounds and there’s not any fat on her. She’s just BIG. An older woman whose diability had gotten worse couldn’t take care of her any more and couldn’t find anyone to adopt her. The shelter people said she had cried when she dropped Lucy off and I can see why.

She’s an extremely gentle, well mannered dog. Very good with the children, who absolutely adore her

I know we won’t have many years with her. She’s old and big dogs don’t usually live long lives. But we couldn’t have picked a better dog in the whole world.

So to answer your question, yes I got lucky today.

It’s like she’s always been with us.

She follows me from room to room, looking up at me with big puppy-like eyes. Outside she loves to play “stick” where I throw a stick and she chases it and then snaps it in her powerful jaws.

She’s almost 11 and last month she gave us a real scare when she couldn’t get up one morning though she tried to stand. But I carried her to the car and the vet gave her a shot and she’s on a month long course of antibiotics. Like the other 10 year old in the house, my oldest daughter, Lucy has Lyme disease.

But the medicine has brought her back around though she tires more quickly than she did before her illness she still has the biggest heart.

I could not begin to describe how much we love this dog and how much she means to us. We owe her more than we could ever repay. I have no doubt she saved my oldest daughter from terrible danger. Lucy’s loyal and when she needs to be, she is ferocious. With her gray hair and age spots, she’s the most beautiful dog ever.

We got her from the shelter one year ago today for $15. I wouldn’t trade her for all the money in the world.

Most importantly, WV-02.

In 2006, ineffective Bush Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito won re-election with 57 percent of the vote in a year that saw Democrats take over the House nationally.
George Bush won in a landslide in the district. You’d think there couldn’t be a more “Solid Republican” seat.

Today Cook Political Report (subscription required) has upgraded the race in Barth’s direction once again. As I’ve understood it, the Cook Political Report only moves a race up one notch at a time. WV-02 has gone from “Solid Republican” to “Likely Republican” to “Lean Republican.”

That doesn’t mean Barth doesn’t have a lot of ground to make up and a lot of work to do. With her Big Oil fat cats, coal barons, Wall Street, mortgage lenders and banks helping to keep her in office as a reliable rubberstamp for their interests, Capito has three times the money in the bank.

But it’s no wonder Republicans are [having to spend money from a fund to assist challengers to help try to save Capito.

Barth is taking Capito to the mats and Capito’s spokesman already is crying about it.

The more people learn of Capito’s record and not the faux moderate image the media has let her create, the less they like her. By contrast, the more people who meet Barth, the more they like her.

Capito can’t. Anne can. It’s that simple.

Here’s the 27 races upgraded in our direction

AL-03    Mike Rogers    Solid Republican to Likely Republican
CA-46    Dana Rohrabacher    Solid Republican to Likely Republican
FL-08    Ric Keller    Likely Republican to Lean Republican
FL-09    Gus Bilirakis    Solid Republican to Likely Republican
FL-18    Ileana Ros-Lehtinen    Solid Republican to Likely Republican
FL-21    Lincoln Diaz-Balart    Likely Republican to Lean Republican
ID-01    Bill Sali    Solid Republican to Likely Republican
IN-03    Mark Souder    Solid Republican to Likely Republican
IA-04    Tom Latham    Solid Republican to Likely Republican
KY-02    OPEN (Lewis)    Solid Republican to Likely Republican
MN-02    John Kline    Solid Republican to Likely Republican
NE-02    Lee Terry    Solid Republican to Likely Republican
NV-02    Dean Heller    Solid Republican to Likely Republican
NJ-05    Scott Garrett    Solid Republican to Likely Republican
NY-13    OPEN (Fossella)    Toss Up to Lean Democratic
NY-25    OPEN (Walsh)    Toss Up to Lean Democratic
NC-10    Patrick McHenry    Solid Republican to Likely Republican
OH-07    OPEN (Hobson)    Solid Republican to Likely Republican
PA-03    Phil English    Likely Republican to Lean Republican
PA-05    OPEN (Peterson)    Solid Republican to Likely Republican
PA-11    Paul Kanjorksi    Likely Democratic to Lean Democratic
PA-15    Charlie Dent    Solid Republican to Likely Republican
TX-07    John Culberson    Solid Republican to Likely Republican
TX-10    Michael McCaul    Solid Republican to Likely Republican
VA-05    Virgil Goode    Solid Republican to Likely Republican
VA-10    Frank Wolf    Solid Republican to Likely Republican
WV-02    Shelley Moore Capito    Likely Republican to Lean Republican
WY-AL    OPEN (Cubin)    Solid Republican to Likely Republican