Do any of your Dem state parties have a "mentorship" program for new candidates?(Crosspost from GD)

[somsai]

8. Here most people go through the county Democratic machine as they are set up for it

In CO as people get involved with the county Democratic Party they get to know who is able to boost candidates. I come from a large county in a usually red congressional district. Our county is bigger than Rhode Island and we are often parts of different state senate districts which we never seem to win. County is the division larger than precinct, and the next larger division is the state party, so lots gets done at the county level.

Much comes down to money. Can your candidate self fund. Sometimes you'll see a candidate who is long familiar to all the local Democratic politicians and who can generate lots of enthusiasm and donations and volunteers. Running can seem daunting, but it's a heck of a lot better than simply throwing wise cracks from the peanut gallery.

A word about red areas. You have to remain strategically silent on some issues or at least think of ways of responding to questions without using left coded phrases. One has to be honest, as voters can smell a lie, but figure out ways to be reassuring. Sometimes candidates drop out after the primaries or just before the election and Republicans are left without a candidate on the ballot.