Burnt Orange Report

David Van Os and 2004

By Byron LaMasters

David Van Os has started a sort-of blog entitled A Fighting Democrat. He makes the following claim as to the election results of 2004:

I carried 17 rural counties that Kerry-Edwards lost, and ran ahead of the ticket statewide and in every region. Upon analyzing the election returns in the metropolitan areas, I found that the more the daily newspaper had attacked me for being a liberal, a populist, or a progressive, the better my results were.

I'll take Van Os's word for it on the first count, although the second claim certainly requires some investigation. Charles Kuffner, however, did investigate Van Os's former claim here. Kuff counts ten counties where Van Os won and Kerry/Edwards lost. Additionally, however, Kuff also finds 25 counties that Bob Scarborough (RR Com candidate) won that Van Os lost.

I'm inclined to agree with Kuff's conclusion:

My point here is not to bash David Van Os. I voted for him, and I agree with his argument that Democrats need to deliver their message aggressively and forcefully, and they must not be afraid to deliver it in places that aren't traditionally friendly. Kerry's campaign was understandably not present here, and the result speaks for itself. The point I am making, though, is that the right person has to deliver that message as well, and while I admire his fighting spirit, that person most likely isn't David Van Os.

Ditto to that. Greg has thoughts on the matter as well.