(I've posted this over at Kos and MyDD, but I'm posting it here with some added comments relating to Philadelphia and what we can do to fix this)

Today, I had to make copies. A simple enough task, I drove to the Staples, about 10 minutes from me, to go and make them. It cost less than a dollar. There was absolutely nothing special about the trip, one to a shopping center I visit quite frequently. The only notable thing about it is just how nonsensical our elected officials treat the issue of representation.

My house sits a couple minutes outside of the town of West Chester, PA. In fact, where I am, I have a West Chester address. I live in the Sixth Congressional District (represented by Republican Jim Gerlach). The Sixth, which is one of the most poorly drawn districts in the country, runs from where I live in the southern tip, up through Chester County, into Montgomery County – stretching all the way down to the Philadelphia border – up through Berks County (where it includes Reading) and all the way up into Lehigh County. The Sixth is a geographic nightmare, and consists of an extremely heterogeneous group of constituents. Affluent suburbs, the Main Line, the Chester County exurbs, significant rural areas, blue color cities, the Amish, and urban populations. In some cases, it cuts through townships just to avoid certain Democratic areas. It was a district drawn for one reason: electing Jim Gerlach to Congress.

Since most of you reading this are probably from Philadelphia, let me give you a little background on your neighbor to the west. The Democratic Party has been in the minority here for as long as there has been a party. The only Democratic Presidential candidate we've voted for in the past 90 years was LBJ. We hadn't had a Democrat represent our county since 1893.

This year, we've elected Andrew Dinniman to the State Senate, helped send Joe Sestak to the US Congress, went 65% for Ed Rendell and 55% for Bob Casey. And of course we found out today that we just elected Barbara McIlvaine Smith to the State House. What happened out here?

Obviously, there are certain factors out of our control. Demographic shifts have been significant. More Democrats are moving into the county, and that has helped. And we've also been well served by the way Republicans have ruined their own party. As the hard-core conservatives have taken over, a lot of moderate Republicans have been driven out of the party here. Barb herself was a Republican until about five years ago, when she became fed up with them and switched her registration. We definitely need to hope that the GOP doesn't learn their lesson: radical values are not popular here.

But that alone wouldn't be enough to put us over the edge. This is really a victory for two things: the 50 State Strategy and People Powered Politics.

Only 10 years ago it would've been inconcievable to think that we'd start trending blue. I was only 10 when Bill Clinton ran in 1992, but neither then nor in his re-elect did I ever see a Clinton sign. This was as Republican as you could imagine. But through lots of hard work we narrowed the gap. Now, we're able to go from a firewall for them, to a hotly contested area, and if we can keep working, make it solidly blue. There's no reason we can't replicate this in Adams and York and Dauphin and Lancaster Counties, and really anywhere. It was the people who ran for these offices here in Chester County back when it was a pipedream that we'd win who made it possible for us to win now.

But here's the part that I imagine will hit home for those of you in the city: people got this done. Not to minimize the help from Harrisburg, but this was a people powered movement. This was done by people here in the county: committeepersons, Young Dems and just regular people here who were outraged by the Republicans and believed in Barb. We did it here, on the ground. People who wanted a change, and are now going to get a terrific progressive as their State Rep.

Maybe the most important thing to take out of this though is the power that young people can wield. We here in the Chester County Young Democrats made this race our #1 priority. Now, we had a lot of races to pick from: Joe Sestak (our #2 priority), Lois Murphy, Ed Rendell, Bob Casey and other state house races. But we chose Barb because she has consistently reached out to us and made young people feel both welcome and important in her campaign. This is exactly what all candidates need to do: realize that we're more than just footsoldiers, but can be valuable parts of campaigns and make a difference. Because we did it here.

Dan Tyman
President, Chester County Young Democrats