WASHINGTON -- Democrats are so confident in the chances of former Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) winning back a seat in Congress this year, they are pressing the progressive firebrand into service raising cash for other candidates as one of their new "majority makers."
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is out with an email from the outspoken pol Monday, trying to add momentum to its recent fundraising streak before the month ends.
"There are a lot of Americans asking the same question right now: are these Republicans kidding?" Grayson says in the email. "Corporations are people? The way to create jobs is to give rich people more money? Super PACs decide who gets elected?
"I'm not buying it, and I don't think you are either," he says, before calling on donors to kick cash "to call out all these Tea Party Republicans, for trying to destroy the middle class in the country we all love."
The DCCC needs to take back 25 seats to regain the majority in the House of Representatives, and although many analysts think a smaller pickup is more likely, the Democratic campaign team thinks it has about 40 "real deal" chances to take over open or GOP-held seats. One is Grayson's, plus those of two other "majority makers," Steven Horsford in Nevada and Joaquin Castro in Texas, who are also out promoting other Democrats.
"This isn't just about hitting the DCCC's $500,000 grassroots goal, before tomorrow night's deadline," Grayson adds in the pitch. "The Republicans sure won't help the jobless, the homeless, the sick, the poor and the hungry. So that job falls to us. We need champions in Congress who will fight for the middle class, and everyone aspiring to get there."
Grayson, who was as hated by Republicans as he was loved by liberals, lost his 2010 contest to the Tea Party-backed Rep. Dan Webster (R-Fla.). Grayson will be running in a new district that is more favorable to Democrats, drawn as part of Florida's redistricting process.
Former Orlando police chief Val Demings is challenging Webster to his congressional seat.
Michael McAuliff covers politics and Congress for The Huffington Post. Talk to him on Facebook.