The Fighting 29th

All about New York's 29th Congressional District

Chris Bowers, one of the founders of Open Left and a major voice in the netroots community, lets Eric Massa have it with both barrels over Massa's recent vote against the recent housing bill. Bowers thinks that Massa's explanation, which is that the bill disproportionately benefits mortgage holders in other states, is "borderline unpatriotic" and notes that "Someone who thinks like this should not be in Congress."

Bowers' typically overheated prose shouldn't surprise anyone who visits his blog even semi-regularly. Still, I think his post is worth careful study by netroots supporters under the mis-impression that he's part of a serious political movement.

Bowers' post, coming barely two months into the Massa's term, implies that one "wrong" vote will cause the netroots to throw their elected candidates under the bus. If that's true, then the strategy for a challenger is simple:

1. Before you're elected, cultivate the netroots assiduously so you can get plenty of that easy ActBlue cash. Write some blog posts, attend netroots conventions and support the netroots pet causes.
2. After you're elected, forget that the netroots existed, because you'll inevitably vote in ways that will anger them, and incumbents can finance their campaigns without ActBlue cash.

Of course, this reasoning presupposes that Bowers' threat to withhold ActBlue money is worth anything. I'm sure it isn't, because there are a number of pragmatic ActBlue supporters who realize that a Democrat needs to make a few compromises to stay in office in a district like NY-29. Those supporters will probably throw a few bucks Massa's way in 2010.

Bowers's final threat, which is "to submit a modified version of this blog post as an op-ed to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle" is perhaps the most vacuous of all. Eric Massa would like nothing more than to define himself in contrast to members of the "far left", and if the D&C bothered to post his op-ed, Massa would have a field day defending himself.

Chris Bowers might know a lot about building a blogging and fundraising community, but he's out to sea when it comes to influencing a sitting Member of Congress.