Our first endorsed candidate of 2008, State Senator Regina Thomas (GA-12), gave incumbent Bush Democrat John Barrow a very good scare in Tuesday's primary. Despite being outspent 40:1, Thomas won 24% of the vote. Here's the Examiner:

The eastern Georgia district leans Democratic with its heavily black portions of Savannah and Augusta, but it also has a large number of conservative white voters spread across 20 rural counties.

Thomas tried to persuade voters that Barrow's record betrays core Democratic values. Though well-known in her hometown of Savannah after 12 years in the state Legislature, Thomas entered the race virtually unknown in the rest of the 12th District. She raised just over $21,000 and campaigned with an all-volunteer staff.

Barrow spent more than $858,000 on the primary. He also scored a big endorsement from presumed Democratic presidential nominee Obama, who recorded a radio ad urging voters to support Barrow.

Obama's presence underscored the potential threat to Barrow, a white incumbent, of blacks voting along racial lines. Thomas is black, as are 41 percent of voters in the district - enough to form a solid majority in the Democratic primary.

Here's Howie Klein:

So if we knew Regina has virtually no chance to win, why did we work so hard for her? Someone has to stand up for progressive values and principles-- especially against a craven and corrupt jackass like Barrow. And Regina was willing to. How could we not help her?

Perhaps she'll be better known in 2010 if Barrow continues voting like a Republican. Maybe even Obama will realize the mistake he made by endorsing someone who will be opposing so much of what he tries to accomplish. And, believe me, many people will be reminding Obama of his endorsement every time Barrow votes against one of his bills.

One thing I know for sure, we managed to scare the bejesus out of the little twerp. According to the FEC, as of March 31 he had spent $303,492 on the primary. Once Blue America and Democrats.com made some very modest expenditures on behalf of Regina's campaign and raised her a little money, Barrow spent another $500,000. According to tonight's Examiner, the panic-stricken "Barrow spent more than $858,000 on the primary" -- and that was with an endorsement from Obama!

In 2006 arrogant and reactionary California Blue Dog Jane Harman was dragged into a tough primary fight. She won by a wide margin but the fight itself made her a much more loyal Democrat. Her lifetime ProgressivePunch score is a dismal 79.66. Her score since progressive activist Marcy Winograd held her down to under 65% of the primary vote is a much more working family-friendly 93.65. I don't expect such a dramatic turnaround from Barrow, but one thing for sure, if he keeps voting like a Republican he'll probably be able to bank on another primary fight in 2010.

UPDATE: MESSAGE FROM REGINA

At the exact same moment I was putting up this post, Regina sent me the kind of gracious and loving e-mail that has made me feel like she is family. She worked very hard on this campaign and I hope she will be better prepared next time. Let me share some of her e-mail:

Hello my friend. We didn't pull it out. That's ok, he knows that I will be watching him.  Two years is not long. Let's talk about ActBlue. When the next check comes I want to donate it to Democrats in other states who need the money. I look to you and Blue America to help me figure that out. I do not have a campaign deficit (thanks to Blue America and the others). Once I pay back the loan that I borrowed to qualify ($3,050.00) I will send the rest to progressive candidates who we figure out can use some help.
 
I am fine. The Lord's will was done and I am ok with that. I have so enjoyed our talks and getting to know you. I will miss that. But...anything can happen in two years.
 
For now.. I will take care of some personal things-- get my house in order, complete my Senate term and enjoy my grandchildren.

I just got off the phone speaking with her. She said she was glad to have given the voters a choice and to have run an issue-oriented campaign. "Even if I knew the outcome, I would do the same thing. Tomorrow I'm going to get in my truck and drive around picking up my signs. I haven't had a vacation in 14 years and my husband just told me he's glad to get his wife back."

My life is richer for having gotten to know Regina Thomas. I consider myself very lucky for the opportunity.

And so do I. I give my deepest thanks to all 1,341 of you who contributed $25,431 to Regina for her heroic race. I also want to thank Progressive Democrats of America for enlisting volunteers all across Georgia to make hundreds of calls to GA12 voters. PDA volunteers Will Smith (right) and Cynthia Brown also joined Regina Thomas and her supporters on the streets of Savannah, where Thomas nearly beat Barrow.

And now we'll study the lessons of this race so we do even better in the remaining primaries against Bush Democrats. It will be hard to find a better candidate than Regina Thomas, but we also need to make sure our future candidates have a full-time campaign manager and an energized Netroots campaign covering the whole district.

Update 1: Digby puts this race in perspective:

The point isn't that anyone thought they would win these races. Indeed, they didn't expect to even come close. What they did believe is that activists need to take the opportunity to get into these races, see what they have to learn and educate people in these districts about their representatives. Primary challenges are the institutional vehicle for changing the party apparatus. If you don't lay the groundwork, nothing will ever happen...

The netroots are out here trying to do some things that all the very smart people consider pointless. But then they consider fighting for liberal values in any way to be pointless. What else is new? If we cared what they think we'd be doing something else, wouldn't we? It's not like online activism is great resume builder or anything.

Keep the faith, folks. Blue America has backed a bunch of winners since 2006 and they're going to have more winners in the fall. But primary challenges are always going to be the toughest thing they do, and probably have the highest failure rate. It's the nature of the beast. But every time they put up a fight and make some noise, the easier it's going to be for the next progressive challenger to put a little fear into a fat cat politician. We'll get there.

Exactly!