OHIO FOCUS: Republicans Running Scared in OH-5. You can help

There are two special Congressional elections coming up Dec. 11th. Both are seats that once were considered perfectly safe Republican, but suddenly are competitive. I'm telling you, there are fewer and fewer "safe Republican" Congressional disticts. I already blogged about the race for VA-1 along with ways you can help. In that race, Philip Forgit, an Iraq War vet is running as a Democrat and needs our help. That race is a good one for those who recognize the slow but certain trend turning Virginia Blue. This trend started in 2005 and has progressed year by year. This trend, coupled with Bush's abyssmal approval ratings and a deepening Iraq quagmire, is what has made VA-1 no longer safe for Republicans.

That said, VA-1 remains a long shot. NOT impossible, but a long shot. Never forget that we WON many long shots in 2006 and we could wake up Dec. 12th with VA-1 flipped to blue. But the race that is more winnable is OH-5 where Robin Weirauch is running for an unexpected open seat. To quote from Daliy Kos:

By now you probably know that there is a special election in OH-05 in less than a week. This is not a race anyone expected a Democrat to be competitive in, but the NRCC is clearly running scared - they've dumped more than 10% of their money in, using it to fearmonger on immigration.

Progressive, economic populist, Blue Majority candidate Robin Weirauch has a shot here. The DCCC is helping her with an ad buy. The AFL-CIO, the SEIU, and EMILY's List have her back. House Democratic leadership has contributed heavily to her campaign. Wes Clark is raising money for her. Ted Strickland, Sherrod Brown, and Tim Ryan are campaigning for her.

And tomorrow is the last day your contribution can help. After tomorrow, there won't be time for contributions to be put into GOTV efforts or advertising. If you're going to give, do it now. Help push Robin Weirauch over the top.

If you can, PLEASE DONATE! Now. The DCCC put a good sum of money into it, over $100,000. This scared the Republicans so much that they have actually gone into debt countering it with a huge ad-buy of nearly $300,000. This means we are draining their resources for 2008 already. Let me repeat, the Democrats have MORE MONEY than the Republicans right now and we are forcing them to go into debt to defend a previously safe seat. This is phenomenal. And we have a shot of winning.

Even more important than money, you can give your time. If you in Ohio, PLEASE join the phonebanking and canvassing efforts. To do so, email here:
For canvassing and phonebanking in Ohio, email WeirauchGOTV@ohiodems.org.

If you live outside Ohio, you can still help with phonebanking. This kind of virtual phonebanking really helped a lot for close races all over the country. You can be part of history by phonebanking for a really good candidate in OH-5. If you can help, please email here: phonebank4robin@gmail.com

Wherever you live, you can make a difference. To quote Jim Dean, head of Democarcy for America, it's time for us to take ownership of the political process. This race and these virtual phonebanks are the way to do it. And we can bankrupt the Republicans in the process!