Even Howard Dean doesn't know her name; Grassroots win a place in the halls of Congress!

[FrenchieCat]

CONCORD, N.H. --Carol Shea-Porter may want to bring some campaign signs with her when she goes to the Capitol for orientation next week.

The 53-year-old activist -- whose upset win Tuesday helped Democrats reclaim the U.S. House -- can pass them out to party bigwigs like national party chief Howard Dean, who couldn't remember her name Wednesday.

"Carol Shea- -- it's a hyphenated last name. Anybody remember?" Dean told a roomful of reporters at a briefing broadcast on C-SPAN.

Meeting silence, he plowed on.

"Carol Shea- -- what's the, anybody know what I'm talking about? The first district of New Hampshire? ... anyway, Carol."

The moment was emblematic of Shea-Porter's rise. Politically inexperienced, ignored by state and national parties, financially outmatched by her Republican opponent -- she relied on a network of volunteers and a strong anti-Iraq message to defeat two-term Rep. Jeb Bradley, a popular former state legislator who had been widening his lead in the polls in the days before the election.

"This is a campaign that arises from the community. It's not coming from the outside, it's not coming form another state, it wasn't in anyway embedded with people coming from higher levels of the state Democratic Party," said Sue Mayer, Shea-Porter's campaign manager.

With a scant $35,000 in campaign cash, Shea-Porter won her Sept. 12 primary against a better-known and better-funded opponent who had been the early choice of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

After the primary, the committee, which is charged with electing Democrats to the House, charged hard into New Hampshire -- into the state's other congressional race. While it spent $1.1 million helping Democrat Paul Hodes win the 2nd District, it gave Shea-Porter nothing.

A surge in the final days of the campaign pushed her contributions to $204,000, one-fifth the amount Bradley raised, and defeated him 51 percent to 49 percent.

"That was an entirely grass roots effort without support from the party, including us," Dean said during Wednesday's briefing.

Shea-Porter, chairwoman of the Rochester Democrats, worked for former NATO commander Gen. Wesley Clark in New Hampshire's 2004 presidential primary.

"I was impressed by her immediately as a particularly well-spoken and energetic person," said Mayer, then a fellow Clark worker. "She just had a way about her of making people want to help."

Like Shea-Porter, Mayer, 56, is well-educated, had teenage children, and was volunteering full-time. When the Clark campaign folded, the two harvested contacts they gathered while supervising volunteers and created a network of like-minded people, connected by e-mail. It was presidential season, and at meet-ups and house parties along the Seacoast, their network kept growing.

Read the rest of this wapo article to see how she did it! It is a lesson to us all! Determination,drive, resourcefullness and smarts were key!
http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2006/11/10/even_howard_dean_doesnt_know_her_name?mode=PF

[Bluebear]

1. My new Congresswoman :)

[FrenchieCat]

2. That must be very cool......cause in essence, she's

really truly one of us!

To have won a primary on $35,000 is amazing. To have taken a Red seat in the general election without barely any help is even more so!

The congresswoman elect rocks! :patriot:

[mdmc]

13. nice!

:kick:r

[ninkasi]

3. She sets an extremely important example

We have to stop letting conventional wisdom guide us, while we are blindfolded. We can take the best of all strategies and form a way that works for us. Absorbing what this woman did will benefit us in the future. Being true to our roots will win us races, being some repub lite isn't the way to go.

[FrenchieCat]

7. Yes she is! She took matters into her own hands!

It can be done....for those who never thought it could (anymore).....It can! Long live Democracy!

[hfojvt]

4. not too much different than Boyda

nobody gave her a chance until the last two weeks when the race was called a toss-up and both the DNC and the RNC started putting money into it and Bush himself flew into Topeka last weekend - that may have been what gave her the race. That and Cheney being there a month earlier to raise money for a five term incumbent who beat Boyda in 2004. I took some comfort in the fact that Boyda got more votes in my county in 2004 than Ryun, the incumbent, did in 2002. Running for the 2nd time she had more name recognition going for her. I felt all along that she had a good shot and was determined to help her as much as I could.

[Rainscents]

5. She did it the old fashion way!!!

Go girl!

[FrenchieCat]

6. I will say that she had "some" help!

Wes Clark did help inspire her to run and then helped here in the only way he could, endorsed her, campaigned for her, and helped her raise some money and generated some good free press!! :patriot:

Wesley Clark endorses Shea-Porter for Congress
October 7, 2006

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. --Former presidential candidate Wesley Clark is endorsing Democrat Carol Shea-Porter for New Hampshire's 1st District.

Shea-Porter, who is running against Republican Rep. Jeb Bradley, worked on Clark's campaign in 2004. She has used his moderate, strong-on-defense stance as an example she is more moderate than some have pegged her.

"She is smart and determined, and has deep personal convictions," Clark said in a statement Friday issued by his political action committee, WESPAC, Securing America's Future. "Carol will bring a breath of fresh air to Washington at a time when it is desperately needed."

Shea-Porter also is the wife of a veteran who understands the importance of supporting the troops, Clark said.

"She has stood up for our soldiers when the Republican leadership failed to provide them with the equipment and the support they need," he said. "She rightly criticized the administration for its gross mismanagement of the war and for putting our soldiers at risk without a realistic strategy to win."

Shea-Porter said she is very excited to have Clark's support.

"The man is very experienced ... for him to endorse me, obviously its a boost for me and the campaign and also an honor," she said.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2006/10/07/wesley_clark_endorses_shea_porter_for_congress?mode=PF

----------
Wesley Clark in N.H., campaigns for Carol Shea-Porter
October 20, 2006

MANCHESTER, N.H. --Former NATO commander and Democratic presidential hopeful Wesley Clark is in New Hampshire today to support a former campaign worker.

Clark is making several stops in New Hampshire today, including at a Manchester reception for Democratic candidate for Congress Carol Shea-Porter, who worked on his 2004 presidential bid.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2006/10/20/wesley_clark_in_nh_campaigns_for_carol_shea_porter/

-----------
http://www.veoh.com/videoDetails.html?v=e140699qYKKbW3X

http://www.rollcall.com/issues/1_1/election06/15563-1.html

http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/trillian/2006/oct/29/nh_01_fighting_dem_carol_shea_porter_live_blogging

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2922777

http://www.patrickruffini.com/2008wire/index.php?c=Clark

http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/hampton/10242006/nhnews-hf-wesleyclark1024.html

[Rainscents]

8. Thanks for links!

I really enjoyed reading her stories!

[TayTay]

16. Sen. Kerry supported MS. Shea-Porter at JJ Dinner on 10/13

Congresswoman-Elect Shea-Porter did a guest blog on the JohnKerry.com site that is available here: http://blog.johnkerry.com/2006/10/winning_the_house_carol_shea_porter_in_new_hampshire.html

The NH Republicans touted how much Kerry did to support the New Hampshire Democratic Party and the two Democratic challengers who did go on to overthrow Jeb Bradley and Charlie Bass in Congress. The NH Repub site said this:

"John Kerry’s campaign committee and his PAC have funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to New Hampshire Democrats including over $300,000 to the NH Democrat Party, and thousands to Governor Lynch and Paul Hodes. Additionally, on the front page of John Kerry’s Political Action Committee (PAC) website (www.keepingamericaspromise.com) Hodes and Shea-Porter are listed as two of Kerry’s top priorities this election cycle. There is also a link for direct solicitations to their campaigns (https://contribute.keepingamericaspromise.com/s15a.html?sc=hp). " http://www.nhgop.org/

Of course, NH Repubs wanted to dismiss what Kerry had done. However, all those visits to the State and all that money contributed by Kerry and raised by his NH supporters really made a difference this year in the Granite State. They had historic change there.

Congratulations to all the Democrats in NH who have worked so long and hard on this and who have reaped such great rewards.

[Nostradammit]

9. Mrs. Shea-Porter Goes to Washington!

You just gotta love Democrats!

[TheMadMonk]

10. You forgot, "And shows it can be done, *without* supping with the devil.

Shea-Porter is a lobbyists worst nightmare. Beholden to none but her constituents, her vote belongs only to them, and hopefully can't be bought. Certainly not for the "going rate"

That is something which causes me to question the basic intelligence of corruptible pollies. With the right inducement, virtually anyone can be bought (if anyone's interested, my price is ten times the median annual wage (indexed), or double that for each year of the sentence, whichever is greater) but these guys can be had for a down payment that is pocket change for the persons doing the buying, and the promise of a job, identical to one that they (the bought) could quite probably secure entirely on their own merits if they made the effort to write out a letter of application.



My vague recollection of a Abramhoff article is that a basic congress critter's vote can be had for a couple of thousand, and even a committee chair can be bought for barely five figures.

I mean c'mon guys, you're selling out a country here. The least you can do is hold out for a decent price.

[ProfessorPlum]

11. Great post. I totally agree

At least make them pay, for Dog's sake!

[Pithy Cherub]

12. A very resourceful Clarkie!

That was amazing and now she is on her way to the Halls of Congress beholden to absolutely nobody, a true citizen legislator!:woohoo:

[librechik]

14. Does she post here? Come out Carol!

whata gal!

[Stinky The Clown]

15. One of the lessons in that article is in ths paragraph ......

"Volunteers, the heart of the campaign, brought lessons learned while working on the presidential primary campaigns of Democrats Dean, Clark, Richard Gephardt, John Kerry and John Edwards."

Its called common ground and common purpose .... and damn if it doesn't work!

What an inspiring story.

[FrenchieCat]

17. And so it is.....so it is!

Great big Salute to Carol Shea-Porter! :patriot:

She will fight for us.....and she is a prime example of how we are definitely on the road, as Dr. Dean would say.....in taking our country back! Eeeeyaaaaa! :headbang: