Support Gilda Reed!

I have to admit, I was very non-plussed when I heard that Gilda Reed was running Bobby Jindal's seat in Congress. LA-01 is so white-bread and redneck that I didn't give her much of a chance. Hey, I'm all for tilting at windmills, but this windmill is the size of the Empire State Building.

Then I met Gilda (who is also a Kossack) at our NOLA Kossacks meet-up last week, and she pointed out something very important to me: she is running in a closed primary.

That's right, starting in 2008, Louisiana goes back to separate Republican and Democratic primaries. Instead of Reed being one Democrat running against four or five Republicans, those candidates have to slug it out amongst themselves, then run against the winner of the Democratic primary (presumably Reed) in the general election.

That changes things a good bit.

When presented with a choice between your typical East Jefferson (parish) Republican and a person of Gilda Reed's qualifications and beliefs, people who would have simply picked one of the Republicans might change their minds.

• The soccer mom whose 14-year old might get drafted by Republicans will think twice.
• The Catholic who believes in social justice will think twice.
• The victims of the Federal Flood will think twice.
• The retired union worker will pause.

All of a sudden, the windmill that is LA-01 isn't so tall anymore.

So, NOLA Kossacks, let's talk about how we're going to help Gilda. We know now from New Orleans' experience with NetRoots Nation that we really can't expect all that much but lip service from the dKos community at large unless we step up for Gilda.

It's time to step up.

I've created a blog, supportgildareed.yatpundit.com, which I would like to be a multi-author/community effort to drum up support for Gilda among metro New Orleans bloggers. Please go there and comment, or drop me a note at edward@ebranley.com and give me your e-mail so we can start a true netroots movement for Gilda.

Let's get moving!