AUSTIN -- Dan Seals, running for Congress in Illinois's 10th District, lost by just 6 points to GOP Rep. Mark Kirk in 2006, despite being outspent two-to-one. The DCCC failed to target this race until late in the game, forcing Seals to build a strong grassroots organization and fundraising campaign.

This year, however, the Democratic Party is targeting the seat, placing Seals in its Red-to-Blue program, which identifies and supports candidates with the best chances of defeating an incumbent Republican. The 10th District, which is located in Chicago's North Shore suburbs, gave John Kerry a 6-point win in 2004 after Gore carried the district by 4 points in 2000.

In town along with a number of Democratic congressional challengers from around the country, Seals spoke with RealClearPolitics yesterday, explaining why he expects to win this year. Here is an excerpt from our interview:

RCP: Your last campaign was known for having a well-organized grassroots component. How is your campaign this year different? Or is it the same?

SEALS: It is the same. We didn't want to change what was working. What was working was our message, and what was working was the grassroots approach. And we know that was working -- we saw in our primary, going against a well-funded opponent, we still won 81 percent of the vote. That was because of our grassroots effort. We've already seen over a thousand volunteers come out for our campaign; we have 70 interns, some of which are from the East Coast who wanted to work. And every day we're pounding the pavement, making phone calls -- so it's very much the same approach. I think that people appreciate it more, and I get more out of it because you get a lot of the stories that people are going through, and that's something you always want to keep in mind.

RCP: Obviously you're here at Netroots Nation for a reason. Why is it important to cultivate a relationship with this online activist community?

SEALS: We have a relationship. Long before the Democratic Party was returning my phone calls, we had the interest of the Netroots who quietly discovered our campaign and started writing about it and spreading the word. So that relationship is already there, and I'm indebted to the work of a lot of people who've helped out. And we want to keep that. I think it's important to build support for those progressive voices because we need a change. And those voices have been beat down, frightened, intimidated -- and I want to support what they're doing.

AUSTIN -- Dan Seals, running for Congress in Illinois's 10th District, lost by just 6 points to GOP Rep. Mark Kirk in 2006, despite being outspent two-to-one. The DCCC failed to target this race until late in the game, forcing Seals to build a strong grassroots organization and fundraising campaign.

This year, however, the Democratic Party is targeting the seat, placing Seals in its Red-to-Blue program, which identifies and supports candidates with the best chances of defeating an incumbent Republican. The 10th District, which is located in Chicago's North Shore suburbs, gave John Kerry a 6-point win in 2004 after Gore carried the district by 4 points in 2000.

In town along with a number of Democratic congressional challengers from around the country, Seals spoke with RealClearPolitics yesterday, explaining why he expects to win this year. Here is an excerpt from our interview:

RCP: Your last campaign was known for having a well-organized grassroots component. How is your campaign this year different? Or is it the same?

SEALS: It is the same. We didn't want to change what was working. What was working was our message, and what was working was the grassroots approach. And we know that was working -- we saw in our primary, going against a well-funded opponent, we still won 81 percent of the vote. That was because of our grassroots effort. We've already seen over a thousand volunteers come out for our campaign; we have 70 interns, some of which are from the East Coast who wanted to work. And every day we're pounding the pavement, making phone calls -- so it's very much the same approach. I think that people appreciate it more, and I get more out of it because you get a lot of the stories that people are going through, and that's something you always want to keep in mind.

RCP: Obviously you're here at Netroots Nation for a reason. Why is it important to cultivate a relationship with this online activist community?

SEALS: We have a relationship. Long before the Democratic Party was returning my phone calls, we had the interest of the Netroots who quietly discovered our campaign and started writing about it and spreading the word. So that relationship is already there, and I'm indebted to the work of a lot of people who've helped out. And we want to keep that. I think it's important to build support for those progressive voices because we need a change. And those voices have been beat down, frightened, intimidated -- and I want to support what they're doing.