Last year, the Media Fund was a free-spending titan among the independent groups trying to get Democrat John F. Kerry elected president.
This year, it's back to the old drawing board: A dramatically scaled-back Media Fund hopes to use the Virginia governor's race as a laboratory in a kind of a research-and-development campaign for liberals.
According to Democratic sources, the group plans to use a variety of voter-contact activities -- direct mail, phone banks and even door-to-door canvassing -- in an experiment to divine which combination of methods and issue appeals is most effective in turning out "low propensity" voters in Northern Virginia.
From the Media Fund's perspective, a low-propensity voter probably would vote Democratic -- if he or she bothered to vote at all. These voters turned out in the presidential race last year, but are less likely to vote in an off-year election without prodding.
As a progressive group, the Media Fund of course favors Democratic nominee Timothy M. Kaine over Republican Jerry W. Kilgore. But the effort is not aimed principally at influencing this race, according to one Democratic source familiar with the Media Fund's activities. The idea is to accrue knowledge that might prove useful for Democrats in other races around the country in 2006 and 2008.
The Virginia project was conceived by a handful of strategists who had been affiliated with the liberal group America Coming Together. ACT, once the largest and best-financed of the liberal independent groups that sprouted for the 2004 election, has essentially shuttered its operation.
The experiment is animated by a belief among many in the Democratic consulting world that Republican direct mail, which tends to be more hard-hitting, is more effective in turning out weak partisans in nonpresidential elections. As part of the Media Fund program, different groups of voters in the target area will receive various types of mail. Some will get what are known in the mail industry as "concept pieces," which carry a subtle negative message and are traditionally favored by Democrats, while others will get the more inflammatory mailers.
There's still one catch. With its coffers no longer flush as they were last year, the Media Fund is still soliciting donors to find out if it can pay for its Virginia experiment.
Lott in Limbo
Sen. Trent Lott says he'll decide about running for a fourth term by the end of the year. But Democrats already are considering their options if the veteran Republican does retire.
Mississippians prefer Republicans in statewide races, and at the moment, the heavy favorite to succeed Lott is Rep. Charles W. "Chip" Pickering Jr., a five-term GOP House member.
Democrats believe the political terrain could be becoming more favorable -- in particular if they can mobilize the state's large African American population. "There's a lot of work to be done, but it's doable," said one Democratic political aide.
The Democratic roster of potential open-seat candidates includes Mike Moore, the former state attorney general best known for his lead role in the tobacco wars; former governor Ray Mabus; Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood; and Rep. Gene Taylor, who represents Lott's old district on the Gulf Coast. African American prospects include Mike Espy, the former Mississippi congressman and Clinton agriculture secretary, and James Graves, a justice on the Mississippi Supreme Court.
