Cool money. Hot money.

Why spend Democratic money in red districts? For the same reason we recruit the best candidates we can and then support them with blood and sweat, and most often tears . . . to build the party.

Democrats in rural Washington are in it for the long game. Moving the red-blue dial is very slow. Rural Democrats need to build organizations to move that dial. We need to build processes and structures to bridge the especially bad times and to persist when charismatic leaders get tired and discouraged. Rural Democrats need the stability of vision and message, especially when we are tossed back and forth by people, including our friends, presenting to speak for us.

Money is not created equally. Cool money is available on a sustained basis, applied to a plan, a local plan, and enough to make a difference over the longer term. Hot money late in a campaign to a candidate is, of course, nice, but it does not have staying power. (It does pay huge, though, if it produces a Democratic officeholder.)

Rural Democrats need cool money. Money that is early, predictable and recurring to build organizations that can eventually sustain themselves.

Scott Forbes, Treasurer of the Washington State Democrats, describes to us the flows and constraints of hot money. This is important for us to know. It is equally important for us to send a message to our party leaders that the long-term health of the Democratic Party in Washington requires building local parties from Asotin to Neah Bay and Ilwaco to Newport.

Don Schwerin, Chair, Washington State Democrats Ag & Rural Caucus