How to Win an Election

dkulju has a must-read diary on the stunning grassroots upset victories of Carol Shea-Porter in NH-1:

Our opponent had a 10-1 money advantage, multiple union endorsements, the big DCCC endorsement, paid DC staffers and some quiet support from the State party (which officially remained neutral). We had a wonderful candidate, an energized grass roots army, a great strategy, and the technical ability to target our efforts better than the professionals. We didn't just outwork them, we out smarted them as well.

And that would be a really great story of people powered politics...except we were about to write a better one.

Read the whole thing here.