Last week, the Rothenberg Political Report http://rothenbergpoliticalrepo… came out and listed our race as having moved from last year’s “Solid Republican” ranking to now “Leaning Republican”.

With that new ranking, we’ve been told we’re one of the three top races in the country to watch.

As encouraging as that is, I am also being told that I now need to immediately raise huge sums of money if I want to remain competitive.

I didn’t get within 2% last cycle by raising millions of dollars and sending out flashy ads.  Instead, I did it the old fashioned way.  I walked the district and I actually talked to voters one-on-one.  I was able to connect with thousands of families who have watched their jobs disappear and their homes lost to foreclosure – even though they always played by the rules.  In 2008, I did what I do best:  connect with voters one-on-one and discuss issues to explain exactly how I would be different than their current representative.  At the heart of each issue (the economy, health care, the environment), we all share the same basic beliefs that we want our children to grow up in a safe, secure, thriving community and to do better than we did.

Unfortunately, I know that this race will be different and that strategy alone won’t work in 2010 because the other side is so desperate to retain the seat.

The NRCC now realizes this seat is vulnerable and have made it clear they don’t want to lose it.  They’ve already set up a donation page for Calvert and Newt Gingrich is hosting a fundraiser tonight to help raise money for him.

It’s going to be difficult for me to raise money within the district given the fact that the Riverside portion of my district (which makes up 80% of the electorate) has the fourth largest foreclosure rate in the country and one of the highest unemployment rates.

Last year many of you missed out on the opportunity to help me capture this winnable seat because we were under just about everyone’s radar.  Now I’m asking you to support my effort to take this seat once and for all in 2010.  Go to our Act Blue page and donate:  http://www.actblue.com/page/he…

I won’t change my core belief that winning in Republican districts (where people have actually been voting  against their own interests) is only possible when candidates are out there talking to voters discussing the issues specific to the district rather than focusing solely on raising money hoping to buy votes with a media blitz.

However, without a combination of the two strategies (walking and raising money), my campaign cannot be successful.  That is why I’ve always been a proponent of public campaign finance which would allow candidates to spend more time talking to voters rather than fundraising.  But until that occurs, I hope I can count on the grassroots within our party to help a true progressive win a seat in Congress!