Samara Barend, Democratic candidate in the open seat 29th district in New York State, came out with some fundraising news - she has twice as much cash on hand as her nearest opponent, $136,000.  She's raised a total of $171,000.  I have little frame of reference to know if this is a good amount, though my sense is that even if it's a little bit of an underperformance, the underperformance of the GOP opposition is much starker.  That said, the district is weighted 44-30-20 (GOP-Dem-Ind), which would normally augur badly for a Democrat.  But let's get away from the money news - there is great news on a much more important front.

Randy Kuhl and Mark Assini are in a blood feud - it's the liberal Republicans versus the Southern fried GOP.

Kuhl, who has the backing of Houghton, has raised $269,000 over the course of his campaign, according to filings. Kuhl also won the backing Monday of the National Rifle Association. The NRA has given Kuhl an "A+" rating as a state lawmaker.

His campaign manager Ira Treuhaft said their fund-raising shows a wide range of support for Kuhl within the staunchly conservative district, where Republicans outnumber Democrats by about 5-3.

"This is the most Republican seat in New York state... The outpouring of support for Randy has been magnificent," said Treuhaft.

Complicating Kuhl's campaign is a decision by state Conservative Party leaders on Friday to give their endorsement to Assini. Should Kuhl win a GOP primary, that could set up a three-way contest in November with Assini siphoning conservative votes from the state senator.

Kuhl fell victim to a battle between state Conservative Party Chairman Michael Long and state Senate Republican Majority Leader Joseph Bruno. Long claims Bruno, with Kuhl's support, has become too liberal in the quest to keep the Senate under GOP control.

The retiring incumbent, Amo Houghton, is a very liberal Republican who voted against the war and the tax cuts, so it's not an impossible district.

I've heard complaints that she's too young to run, that her campaign is inexperienced (seemingly long-shot campaigns always are), and that it's a staunchly Republican district - I've also heard that it's a changing district and that she is very well-respected in the area, as is her family.  It's a fairly blog-savvy campaign.  Ally Giard, the Deputy Finance Director, blogged on BOP before joining the campaign, and Chris Juan, a campaign staffer, posts on Daily Kos diaries.  Here's Juan's interesting story about how the campaign changed coverage in the paper, after getting bad press:

The local Democracy for America group who has endorsed Samara jumped right on top of this. We wrote the reporters, we wrote the editors, we made some noise, and pointed out that this was simply not true. Not only did Samara raise nearly $171,000 for the quarter, she also has as much cash on hand as both Republicans combined!

We were told yesterday that a correction would be in the paper today. Of course we expected a little 1-inch blurb on page 8B or something, but what we actually got was a full blow article with this outstanding headline....

"Democrat Ahead in Fundraising for Local District Race"

http://www.rochesterdandc.com/news/0720A54V6LP_news.shtml

A little action can really make a different. This was by far the best write-up Samara has received in the local newspaper. The momentum is building in this race and we're going to give the Republicans one heck of a right they never expected.

This is an important way of using digital technology - swift news cycle dominance via emails and mobilizing supporters to pester the press.  We like to speak of blogs and money, but really, the amount of money raised through blogs is pretty small.  Like 'smart money' in investment, though, blog money is well-timed and often critical to investing political campaigns and movements with legitimacy.  Really, blogs and technology are bringing back coalition politics, so I find it heartening that the local DFA group had such an impact on the press, beyond just raising cash.

At any rate, the blood feud among Republicans is terrific news.  If Barend can establish legitimacy as a potential pickup, this is a seat we can take.  You can read more about her candidacy here. My contacts in NY politics are thin, so if anyone can weigh in with an analysis of the district or her reputation therein, I'd appreciate it.