Netroots Candidate Wins High OfficeWell, not really. Chris Bowers of MyDD
got himself elected to the Pennsylvania Democratic State Committee.
As Dean Barnett
points out, he does not handle it with grace and humility:
It is over. We won. I feel like crying. I honestly cannot believe this happened. I accepted Kevin's offer to run less than eight days ago. I will now serve on the Pennsylvania Democratic State Committee. The city, the state, and the nation will change as a result. I promise everyone that.What, no pledges of changing the world, the universe and everything?
Of course, it wasn't easy; Bowers had to contend with the evil boxes designed by Diebold to prevent netroots candidates from winning:
At around 8:30 am today, I was ready to declare massive voter fraud in my campaign, because both of the machines in my district were not allowing write-in votes. Worried that darker forces had tried to keep Kevin and I from taking office by screwing with our machines, I spent much of the morning on the phone with the board of elections and with committee people in other divisions (precincts) in our ward. Eventually, it became apparent to me that the voting machine problems I was experiencing were not he result of foul play, but instead the result of an apathetic and incompetent election system in Philadelphia that really did not give a rat's ass whether. everyone had the right to vote or not.Rove sent down the word that Bowers had to be stopped, you see.
And let me close by saying this: we will all win, eventually. With few exceptions, all of the challengers who ran against the party establishment today will prove victorious in the long run. While victories such as mine were rare, all of the progressive and reform defeats will eventually succeed as long as the people who participated in those losses keep trying. If there is one thing the establishment is not prepared for, it is a dedicated group of people who will keep trying to win even after temporary setbacks. Even if our victories are few, our victories will keep multiplying as long as we keep running.Can't you just hear the music (and Bowers' head) swelling?
