Commenting briefly on Quigley's win in the Special Primary for Congress in IL-05, Steven Benen points out:
Netroots favorite Tom Geoghegan came in a disappointing seventh in the multi-candidate primary.
'Netroots favorite'? Actually it was only the 'Netroots' who weren't paying attention. It's amazing how dismissive some of these people were.
David Moberg thought of the field as displaying "little indication of profound progressive commitment or intellectual imagination". Harold Meyerson rapturously compared Geoghegan to no less a figure than Barack Obama, while dismissing the other candidates as nothing but "a number of conventionally liberal pols".
This led Ezra Klein to enthuse: "I like what Harold Meyerson had to say about the race". Dday on Hullabaloo, quoting the same piece, mistakenly claimed the race had "no front-runner" even though every blog in Illinois talked of 'top-tier' and '2nd tier' candidates. Unaware of this, Dday concluded that "Geoghegan is the real deal and he can win."
Digby herself devoted no less than two posts (1, 2) to a remote form of GOTV from her abode in LA. Unaware of any other candidate, she nevertheless was able to declare, "It's almost as if this moment were made for him."
I could go on but there's no need. The results speak for themselves. They're a reminder that people -- even 'netroots' -- actually have to look at the situation on the ground before making a decision on who to endorse.
UPDATE: Chris Bowers spills the beans (and good for him):
There were other, pretty progressive candidates in this campaign, and if I had done more due diligence, we might have been able to help one of them.
Actually Chris, one of the 'pretty progressive candidates' did win! But thanks just the same.
UPDATE II: Excellent analysis by FDL's Jane Hamster:
I feel strongly that the next step in our evolution is to be able to accurately assess the ability of candidates we support to actually win, and be honest with our readers about the chances of that happening before we ask them to buy into the race.
I would only add, in the words of Barack Obama, "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good."
