Blog-supported Democrat wins off-season congressional seat

Daily Kos (among others) reports that, flying below radar when compared with the Dean campaign, blog-network activism on the left scored a victory today when former Kentucky state Attorney General Ben Chandler beat Alice Forgy Kerr in Kentucky's sixth congressional district.

Chandler had been advertising heavily on blogs in the last few weeks and had been singled out by Kos as a belleweather (sp?) opportunity. Joshua Marshall reports that Chandler raised nearly $100,000 with an advertising budget of around $2000 and speculates that the blog medium may be for Democrats what direct mail has been for Republicans: a fundraising channel that suits their base.

Of course it's too easy to tell, but as we're poised here between the endless "what went wrong?" handwringing about the Dean campaign and the incipeint encomiums that are sure to follow as soon as he formally concedes, it's worth noting that this targeted, piecemeal approach may yield rresults more readily than a shoot-the-moon run for leader of the free world.