I took the sword out of my chest

by Barry Welsh, Thu Nov 09, 2006 at 04:01:56 AM EST

Hello Everyone,

I'm Barry Welsh. I took on Mike Pence without even a sling and five rocks! I am writing to thank all of you that made our effort in Indiana's 6th Congressional District against Mike Pence possible.

I do not come with a heavy heart, I do not speak with malice or contempt, and I am not passing judgment on how money was dispersed by National, State or District Committees.

I am here accepting defeat in an election, and claiming victory in a campaign, because that is what happened.

There are those that say the internet has no impact on elections, that blogs do not matter. I can only speak for our campaign.

Our campaign was totally volunteer. We had professional volunteers, and we had plenty of them, and almost all of them came through internet contact.
We raised over $50,000 dollars, and almost $20,000 of that came from over 400 on line donors. The internet matters in elections, and will more in '08.

In 2004, my opponent by a 67 to 33 percent margin won the district that I am in. 67-33.

He spent 1.2 million dollars and had 400,000 + cash on hand. I raised just over $50,000 and had zero on hand, and everything already coming in was spent and then some.

We lost the election by a 60-40 spread. We moved this district from 67% Republican to 60%. 11% to go to get to 49%!

Our campaign forced debate. We called for getting out of Iraq long before it was fashionable and safe for Democratic candidates to do that thanks to Rep. Murtha.
We called for the removal of Donald Rumsfeld. We stuck to our original pledge. We stuck to our original platform. We gave people a viable alternative.

That was all possible thanks to YOU!

Barry Welsh

Tags: Barry Welsh, Elections 2006, IN-06 (all tags)

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Re: I took the sword out of my chest

Barry, Thank You, We need people to step up are you resting or getting ready for the run. Do not give up

by KevinB 2006-11-09 04:10AM | 0 recs

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Re: I took the sword out of my chest

Kevin,

We are resting up, and celebrating victories by friends across the nation and around the state.

We will see how much interest there is in us doing this again and then make that call, but this started as a four year plan.

Thanks

Barry

by Barry Welsh 2006-11-09 04:41AM | 0 recs

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Barry Welsh - Thanks!

Keep up the good work Barry. As Democrats we'll all need to challenge Pence more than ever in the coming months as he seems sure to grab more power within the Congress this term.

You deserve our thanks for working hard to spread a progressive message in Indiana. You've no doubt changed many minds and that fact is confirmed by the election results which show excellent progress in a very tough district for Democrats.

by Curt Matlock 2006-11-09 04:21AM | 0 recs

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Re: I took the sword out of my chest

We took some hits on social issues from the conservatives no doubt, but we did get some people thinking in this district, and we did make some ground.

More importantly, we kept him from throwing all of his money in other places.

Thanks Curt,

Barry

by Barry Welsh 2006-11-09 04:45AM | 0 recs

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Re: amazing Indiana off-radar races

Barry, a vote of sincere thanks both for your own sterling efforts and for the web site that so many of us used.

You did amazingly well on a shoestring. Amazingly well.

Hayhurst in 03 did amazingly well, too.

When the figures are in, please don't be bashful about letting us know, both here and on daily kos, if you need help retiring campaign debt.

Thanks for all your hard work.

by Christopher Walker 2006-11-09 04:46AM | 0 recs

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Re: amazing Indiana off-radar races

Christopher,

Thank you. We are going to be a couple of thousand dollars in the hole I am afraid, because it doesn't look like the yard signs were totally paid for, but it isn't all in yet, so I may have to do that as much as I would hate to.

We proved that we are a good return on investment, just over $50,000 raised and 75,000 votes returned to his 110,000+ votes for 1.2 million.

We tried everything to raise money too. We invited everyone we could think of to come and help. We called every list given. We kept calling the state and the national committees.

Our most successful fundraising was online. So I wanted to get to the blogs as soon as possible and thank everyone. I think all of the candidates should be doing that. Candidates are everywhere when it is fundraising time, they need to be everywhere when it is thank you time as well.

Thanks again Christopher,

Barry

by Barry Welsh 2006-11-09 05:11AM | 0 recs

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Re: amazing Indiana off-radar races

Barry--do let us know. If you need help retiring your debt, I can put up a donation link post on Swing State Project.

by HellofaSandwich 2006-11-09 12:26PM | 0 recs

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Re: I took the sword out of my chest

Barry

We know the feeling all too well in TX-06. Thanks for running and maybe we will see you again in '08. Take care and keep in touch.

Dave Harris

by FM2DC 2006-11-09 06:19AM | 0 recs

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Re: I took the sword out of my chest

Dave,

I had such good vibes from your camp and John's, I just knew both of your campaigns were going to win.

I have something happening here that I want to know if is happening at other places. I have people volunteering still. Wanting to be part of 2008. Is this normal?

Are you going to keep running?

Barry

by Barry Welsh 2006-11-09 07:21AM | 0 recs

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Re: I took the sword out of my chest

Congratulations, you really are doing a hero's labors. Don't forget that you were part of a team all across the nation that took on Republicans and forced them to defend everywhere, and I am sure that your efforts in IN-06 directly contributed to our victories, most especially the big sweep in Indiana!

You boxed Mike Pence in from campaigning and contributing elsewhere, and on top of it made huge gains on him, and in that district, and for your state. You're helping people realize that Democrats are a real alternative, and simultaneously enabling the Democratic wave nationally to crest a bit higher.

I can't thank you enough.

by bruorton 2006-11-09 06:36AM | 0 recs

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Re: I took the sword out of my chest

Thank you Tim,

I have been getting a ton of calls today. In our debate, he said his focus was on the people of this district and he had no higher aspirations, then the day after the election runs for leader of his party as a stepping stone for 08 President or VP bid? Geeze. An honest man's work is never done!

Anyway, if he is Minority Leader, there will be focus here for the next two years, at least from the local press that will help keep our name out there if we do go again.

Thanks Tim,

Barry

by Barry Welsh 2006-11-09 07:28AM | 0 recs

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Re: I took the sword out of my chest

Thanks again, Barry.

by kydem 2006-11-09 12:05PM | 0 recs