There has been much talk, to the point of obsession, about getting rid of democrats who simply don't represent progressive goals. Some prefer primaries. Others prefer third parties. Still others prefer supporting a primary challenger and then voting third party if the process fails to result in a real progressive choice. And then there are the people who think anyone wanting to follow a course other than toe-the-party-line is a simpleton - they make their disdain for folks holding a different view of political self interest known far and wide (generally sprinkled liberally with insult. But hey, that's a form of liberalism, right?).

But there is another far less discussed aspect to improving government. And that is keeping the good ones in office. From a strategic standpoint this is a crucially important thing to accomplish. So, with this in mind I'd like to call attention to a grass roots project being spearheaded by the oft maligned Jane Hamsher over at Fire Dog Lake:

It's going to be a tough election year in 2010 so helping good incumbents keep their seats is going to be as important as supporting challengers was in 2006 and 2008.

You get to decide -- who should we help?  Which member of Congress gets to be an FDL Fire Dog?

Two thousand people who hailed from their districts nominated 180 members of Congress.   Voting is now open to the entire community.

Prizes:

1. The first, second and third place winner will be added to an FDL ActBlue fundraising page
2. Voter lists from the winners' districts will be purchased and entered into our Voter ID/GOTV tool
3. Members of the FDL community will call voters in these districts to identify and persuade constituent support, encourage voter registration and recruit volunteers.
4. Those voters will be called again by the FDL community to help turn out voters during the fall election
5. When $10,000 has been raised for each candidate on ActBlue and 500 Voter ID calls logged, we will rerun the contest and add 3 more candidates to the list.
6.  Those who are already on the list will receive the same incentives for another cycle, subject to a confirmation vote by the community so they remain accountable.
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We have also listed candidates in reverse order of district PVI. PVI is a measure of how heavily the district leans to a particular party. In general, the higher the Republican PVI, the harder time the incumbent will have in the next election if Democratic turnout is low. If someone is in a heavily gerrymandered Democratic district they probably don't have much to fear from a Republican challenger.

To me, this is what a real progressive grassroots movement looks like. I encourage everyone to stop wasting your money on the DNC, DSCC, DCCC or any group that allows the democratic establishment to dictate what activities are allowed and when they must sit silent. Together we can make a difference. It's time for we the people to be in control of what our efforts and resources are used to accomplish. Say what you want about progressives, but they are building an impressive citizen-driven set of tools for democracy. A refreshing contrast to the STFU crowd.

This is a damn good project that is 100% positive. I encourage everyone to participate (even you Hamsher bashers) not only in contributing your local knowledge to help single out quality candidates for support, but also to follow up and contribute and participate in calls to get them reelected.