you know what IT is, right?

IT is taking back the house, a goal shared across the netroots, including here in illinois.  smart observers realize that changes in the house's partisan complexion will be clustered, with a few states having a dramatic impact on this outcome, and others having virtually none.

the midwest holds two of those clusters, ohio and indiana.  both these states have internal trends favoring democrats that sit on top of the national trend moving away from republicans.  iow, a wave on top of a wave.  any surfer will tell you, that's the one to catch!

some of the things i'd like to see democrats emulate from republicans (gasp!) are: WORK SMARTER, not harder; and CONCENTRATE your resources.  on the net, we call that a swarm (used to, anyway).  here's where to swarm!

below are the rothenberg rankings that touch on midwest races (with democratic candidates and their websites added):

2006 Rothenberg Political Report House Ratings

Races are listed by likelihood of a party switch. Rankings updated August 25, 2006. Republicans currently hold a 232-203 majority in the House. Democrats need to net 15 seats for a majority (218 seats). We are currently predicting a Democratic gain of 15-20 seats.

DEMOCRAT FAVORED (0 R, 6 D)    DEMOCRAT
OH 6 (Open; Strickland, D)    Charlie Wilson

LEAN DEMOCRATIC (0 R, 4 D)
IL 8 (Bean, D)            Melissa Bean
IA 3 (Boswell, D)        Leonard Boswell

TOSS-UP/TILT DEMOCRATIC (7 R, 0 D)
IN 2 (Chocola, R)        Joe Donnelly
IN 8 (Hostettler, R)        Brad Ellsworth
IN 9 (Sodrel, R)        Baron Hill
IA 1 (Open; Nussle, R)        Bruce Braley

PURE TOSS-UP (10 R, 0 D)
OH 15 (Pryce, R)        Mary Jo Kilroy
OH 18 (Open; Ney, R)        Zach Space

TOSS-UP/TILT REPUBLICAN (7 R, 0 D)
IL 6 (Open; Hyde, R)        Tammy Duckworth
MN 6 (Open; Kennedy, R)        Patty Wetterling
OH 1 (Chabot, R)        John Cranley

LEAN REPUBLICAN (11 R, 0 D)
WI 8 (Open; Green, R)        primary

REPUBLICAN FAVORED (11 R, 0 D)
IL 10 (Kirk, R)            Dan Seals
OH 2 (Schmidt, R)        Dr. Victoria Wulsin

for volunteers from the chicagoland area, here's a ordered ranking for having the greatest impact on turning congress blue:

1. IN 2: Joe Donnelly

1. IA 1: Bruce Braley
   
2. IL 6: Tammy Duckworth
   
3. IL 10: Dan Seals
   
4. IL 8: Melissa Bean

if you're involved in a campaign, stick with it.  but if you're not, then you ought to seriously consider helping out one of these, especially on election day.  you have to take your activism off the blog to make your virtual desires an actualized reality.  the one thing we've learned over the past two years is that you can make a difference!