Four More Weeks: It's Halftime in America

One of the pillars of the GOP's successful electoral strategy over the past decade has been an intense final-72 hour GOTV push. It might mean the difference of a couple of points in close states like Ohio and Indiana.

 

This time, the Obama campaign is attempting to build a massive final-weekend effort of its own. It's called "Give Barack a Day" and people interested and available to come into a swing state between November 1-4 -- even for just one day -- can sign up now so that the campaign can prepare its final assault before the end of voting.

Yesterday was the registration deadline in Illinois. It's not a swing state, but the number of people out trying to register voters on the West Side of Chicago was truly inspiring. We have less than a month to keep doing inspiring work; let's take full advantage of the historic opportunity we have.

Very well put.  I'll do as much as I can in New Hampshire and Pennsylvania during the next few weeks!

If that's the case then it is DEFINTELY not a good idea to be sitting on your hands in the stands.  Shoot, I thought it was at least 4th quarter.  McCain fumbled the ball in his own end zone and Obama ran it all the way back for 6 points last night, but we've still got a long way to go.

Which means I've got lots of phone calls to make before the whistle sounds. I've recruited a lot of friends and family to get out there for the first time too.

Yes, there is still work to do. We had the best lesson about that last night, watching Barack and Michelle Obama with the audience. Patiently answering questions, signing autographs, having pictures taken, and this after 90 minutes of 'debating' - and if we were crazed at "that one" - can you imagine how each of them felt! And they stayed on stage and connected, again and again with people who were eager to talk and listen to them.

It is so tempting to celebrate, so exciting to think of the future, and thanks Al, for reminding us we have 27 more days - with special emphasis thanks to the fantastic Obama Campaign for those glorious 4 final days!

Yes We Can. Yes We Will.

Chicken littling, or a real concern? I'm biting my nails over this election, so much so that I will go to bed early election day and wake up the next morning rather than sit up for the results.

Any suggestions on how we effectively combat this stuff?

were never spoken, except all of the other true words Al has spoken!

What we have to fight now is giddiness and complacency.

Not only did O rule the non-debate last night, McC choked, wandered around, proposed something his base will hate, and gave O several points that O turned back on him with gotchas!

All O supporters now agree with McC: yes, That One!

Because of work/family situations, I can't travel, but I have signed up for one day a week to use our van to drive people to the polls. My "Barack Days" will be spent working with "my seniors"...helping them with absentee voting. They don't need/don't want to stand in line on November 4th, so I'm getting as many as I can to vote ahead of time.

I just won't be working my business on Nov 3, 4, and 5...3 & 4 will be for taking people to the polls, and 5 will be for dancing in the streets! So I'm working projects "ahead" to be free on all of my "Barack Days"!

 

waterprise2 AKA Pam

Liberal with a Capital L!

 

BRILLIANT! as usual. THIS HAS TO BE POSTED EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!!

People should learn from the campaign and from Obama, never get too high, never get too low.
This thing is NOT in the bag yet.

Other appropriate metaphors:

• It's the running game.

• Limit turnovers

• Play to win, not to "protect a lead"

• No "prevent defense!"

• It's over when the clock ticks down to 0:00

Today's Field metaphor reminds me of this recent failblog post.

 

http://failblog.org/2008/10/06/victory-fail/

And it's the little things too... a volunteer in our office in Terre Haute, IN--on his own initiative and dime--brought in 2000 "business cards" with the Obama logo on front and the locations and times of operation of all four satellite (early) voting locations in town.  Early voting started Monday. I went to vote yesterday and asked the poll worker how it was for the first two days... close to 200 on the first (half) day and close to another 200 on the second day.  [This at one of four early voting locations open until just before election day.] Not a bad start.

Here's to tossing anvils!

Anyone who sees signs of voter suppression should call 1-866-OUR-VOTE or go to the Election Protection website.  This is a nonpartisan effort to ensure free and fair elections in the United States, and it is organizing lawyers to fight instances of disenfranchisement nationwide.

The last four weeks are crucial as there are still many undecided voters.  It always surprises me how many folks are just now starting to pay attention.  I speak to them every evening during my phonebanking.

There are a lot of low information voters who have heard rumors about Sen Obama and just don't know who to trust.  There are also a lot of very close Senate contests.  Gaining more of a majority in the Senate will be critical to an Obama administration's ability to effectively govern.

So, my motto is to work like we are 20 points down.  This is the most important election of my children's lifetime and I am working my heart out for their future.

Thanks, Al. As usual, a wonderful post. Will be sending humble donation as soon as possible. JackandJillpolitics.com has made T-shirt image of "That One" - Yes, that's the one we'll be voting for. E. D.

is that Ann Coulter's walk-of-shame black cocktail dress does not suffer a wardrobe malfunction. 

It is now becoming apparent that John McCain will be the Republicans' scapegoat if he loses this badly. The "real" GOP, they will say, was Reaganite Romney and Sarah Palin. They will start cheering for a bad economy and a terrorist attack on Nov. 5.

Still, we can't let McCain get up after November 4. We need Napolitano to beat him in '10.

The same people who said the sky was falling a month ago because of Palin are now proclaiming the election "over".

They are wrong both times.

I'm in Georgia, where people are standing in lines several hundred long to vote THIS WEEK.

All is absolutely right - this is not a victory, its positive momentum that must be sustained all the way to the end.

So GET OUT THE VOTE wherever you are.  There are people who will vote TODAY if you can get them to the polls.

My African American brethren here in Georgia, especially those who live in areas notorious for broken machines, long lines and emegency court orders on Election Day are DOING IT here in GA.

 

Holy Moses! Astonishing African American Voter Turnout In GA!!

 

And I am absolutely, 100% sure that the Obama Campaign (by far the most disciplined, organized, and steady presidential campaign in history) is NOT resting until Nov. 5th.

http://thatone08.com/

Get your t-shirts now!

Biden is on fire right now in Tampa FL, ripping into McCain/Palin

Quote of the day - You can't be a maverick when all you've been is a sidekick"

Like we are 10 points down. I don't listen to the polls, I don't listen to supporters. My mantra is and has been, we are 10 points down, get to work.

I understand the fear that people are going to think this is in the bag and sit on their hands.  But let's consider the other option: There is no way in heck that I'm going to stop working now after putting in nearly a year of my life, day in and day out, working for this man to be the next President.  It isn't about him anyway.  It's about our country.  We who are truly putting this country first.

I get the sports imagery, but really there is only so far that can be applied to what we're doing.  This isn't a game.  We are fighting to save our country.  We have a great general.  His army of volunteers aren't suddenly going to lay down arms because we took a hill.  We're going to charge after the retreating opposition and capture their flag. 

Case in point: I spoke with a volunteer yesterday who just had neck surgery this week and has every intention of being there to make GOTV calls once the ballots drop. 

I'd like to see a little faith in us, Al.  We didn't work this hard to let down now.

...and just a note: don't get too cocky seeing that map from Karl Rove.  Keep in mind, his motiviation is to hope we get overconfident and let our guard down, giving his team the chance come back in the "second half".  Also, reminder to anyone here in Missouri: TODAY IS THE LAST DAY to register to vote in Missouri.  So drag anyone who needs to register or update their registration to the nearest Obama campaign office, or, barring that, to any public library.

We must not only elect Obama, we must deliver to him the kind of Democratic majority in Congress that can steamroller over the obstructionist tactics of the minority party.

Here in Folsom, I'm part of a team that is tabling every lunch and dinner hour at the local community college.  We're still registering voters here in CA, and we're also providing information about the Democratic Congressional candidates Charlie Brown and Bill Durston (this campus is near the edge of the two districts so we draw students from both) as well as the critical No on Proposition 8 campaign.

And I'll be spending the weekend of Oct. 18-19 (early voting begins!) and the Nov. 1-4 period in a small town east of Reno, NV doing GOTV work.

Latest polls suggest that Prop 8 is leading now in CA, and it will deny other same-sex couples the right to marry that Norberto and I celebrated just 4 months ago.

Give.

Complacency is hardly the problem. I have talked to too many from too many walks of life who are working on this campaign and will leave no stone unturned. As I note today (http://stephencrosehome.blogspot.com), a pertinent question is whether Barack will eviscerate the GOP. I think he well may. I mean disgusted Republicans will simily sit this one out.

I include Texas on my map of blue states. I think a landslide could have been perceived from the start of this campaign based on what most people think is a stupid metric -- Obama and McCain's comparative performance in the primaries. McCain is a gift that keeps on giving. My main worry is whether Barack will see his victory as the actual beginning of a real campaign.

I love your blog, am on board with your take, except for one thing.  I am IN Colorado, and it's no where near close.  I know.  I know.  That's what all the numbers, pundits and pols say.  But you will see a Colorado BLOW OUT for Obi-1.

You heard it here first!

siri@legitgov.org

Zack Exley at Huffington Post
 
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/zack-exley/the-new-organizers-part-1_b_132782.html">Check it out!</a>

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/zack-exley/the-new-organizers-part-1_b_132...

 

Anybody know what I did wrong the first time?

Just curious if others think that the reason "that one" sounds so offensive is because it implies an object (hence property) versus a person. And that's it's link to racism - the slave being considered property.  But it would have also have sounded awful if it had been directed to a woman, for example, Hillary.  Again, object (property) versus person.  Thoughts?

 

This is a decent explanation of the bill that McCain keeps referring to as an attempt to "regulate" Fannie and Freddie.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/10/8/111359/762/548/623892

I'd like to see more on this.  I've read the summary of the bill myself but I can't make heads or tails of it.  I certainly never trusted that the Republicans were out to increase regulation.  The author of this diary explains that it would have placed all regulation in the hands of one Treasury Dept "czar."  That's kind of what I had taken away from reading it -  it just moved the authority.

I'm not sure how significant this point really is in the big picture of the election but I've wanted to get a better understanding of exactly what this bill was all about.

Nobody has mentioned on the things I noticed in the debate last night.  When Brokaw asked McCain to prioritize entitlement reform, energy issues or healthcare, he had to ask for a repeat of the question and go over and write them down.  Maybe I'm just being too biased, but I thought it made him look befuddled.  I also noticed as soon as he got on stage before anything had even happened, McCain wa furiously writing on his notepad.

My favorite part of the night was the Bomb, bomb Iran smackdown.  McCain fell hard in to that trap with his "Thank you" comment.  Made it look that much worse.

To re-affirm Al's post, I would like to reference the famous Herb Brooks' speech.  Herb Brooks was the motivational wizard behind the 1980 US Olympic Hockey Team, and an icon in my new homestate of Minnesota.  He's been Disney-ized with Kurt Russell portraying him in the feature film Miracle.  (You can also catch a great HBO Documentary about that team titled Miracle On Ice.)

 

Anyway, it's an apporpriate analogy in some respects.  Herb put together a patchwork squad of hungry young college kids from the Midwest and the Northeast to upset the heavily favored Soviets in the semifinals of the Olympic tournament.  (Insert Hillary Clinton reference here.)  While this was a huge achievement, the Yanks still had to play Finland in the Gold Medal Game.  During the second intermission of that affair, with his team playing tight, Herb didn't give a stemwinder of a speech.  He just came in the locker room faced his squad: 

 “If you lose this game you will take it with you to your f------graves." As he started to leave the locker room, he stopped, turned around and added, "Your f------ graves.”

 

The Yanks then went out and outscored the Finns to win the improbable gold.  Reading Al's post above reminded me of Herb's simple directive. 

 

(And with that, I'll be canvassing MN this weekend)

Al, I totally agree with your reasoning and sentiments. Things are looking good, but now is NOT the time to rest on our achievements to date. Resting on what one achieved yesterday is always delusional. We have seen already how the advances made by past generations of progressives can disappear in a snap of the fingers.

It is a truism that we have been encouraged to adopt the attitudinal posture of the passive consumer--and we see where that has brought us a people.

As far as last night's debate, Obama performed in an outstanding fashion. The man is an inspiration, and we can't let him (and ourselves) down.

What I thought was most salient were two points: Obama brought home the need for collective sacrifice to deal with our problems; and he stated clearly that health care is a 'right'. That latter point, of course, pisses the rightwing extremists off, big time.

On another point, and maybe this has been commented on: I watche the debate at a fellow Obama supporter's home on MSNBC, and what was striking is how McLame disappeared when the debate was over. Obama and Michelle were glad-handing the crowd, they were everywhere inter-connecting brilliantly with the people. Where the hell was McLame? Was this simply MSNBC bias?--or did McLame scram as quickly as possible?

That was really weird. Part of me thinks that McLame is convinced that he will not win this one. He is going through the motions and can't wait for this to be over.

Ok. Now I am going to read some of the Fielder's always cogent comments. Thanks.

 

"My favorite part of the night was the Bomb, bomb Iran smackdown.  McCain fell hard in to that trap with his "Thank you" comment.  Made it look that much worse."

I think that was when Obama broke "the rules" and interjected and had an actual, you know, DEBATE, and look how pathetic McInsane looked when that happened.

All this tightly controlled "debating" so far for St. John and Paylin has been done on purpose to protect the Repub ticket, since they know an the race would be over if they actually had to defend their positions face-to-face.  Instead we're left with forums for them to spew talking points like robots to very large audiences.  Just part of the message control game.  Lame.

Most likely won't be any better with Bob Schieffer, the guy who almost had a heart attack when Gen. Wes Clark said that being shot down isn't a qualification for being Prez on "Face the Schieffer."  Bob couldn't believe anyone would criticize his Highness, St. John.

I love the pep talk. Al is so right. We've got to go out and crush the Republicans.

It's exciting that Arizona is on the outer edge now, and not necessarily over the horizon. I'm going to go out and canvas this Saturday. This is so cool!

catherine, you nailed it. McCain "objectified" Obama. I also think mccain's word choice furhered his argument that obama is "exotic". "that" is the pronoun for "the other". So mccain was referring to obama as an objectified other. Usually nonwhite women occupy that space in the collective mind of the dominant culture. Question- does dwellng on the phrase just inflame the sentiment being sold by fourtnier (? The AP dude). Does repeating and owning it amplify the racist subtext?

Viewership was up from the first Presidential debate, but down from the VP match last week. 42% of households tuned in.  From Nielsen:

The combined overall household rating for Tuesday night’s second presidential debate, in 55 of the 56 local television markets where Nielsen maintains electronic TV meters, was 42.1.

In comparison, the first debate between Senators McCain and Obama received a much lower household rating (34.7) in the top 55 local TV markets. Last week’s V.P. debate received a 45.0 household rating in the top 55 markets.

And here's a list of the ratings by media market.  As with the first debate, the following states are well-represented among the top-rated markets:

TN, FL, NC, VA/DC/MD, IN, KS, MO, OH, AL, MI, GA

That's an encouraging turnout in several swing and formerly safe Red states.

I can attribute the low ratings in Sacramento to the telecast of a Kings game.  NBA outranks the future of the world here.

pam, you are an inspiration! Also I love the idea of printing cards with early voting info. Thanks to all for these practical examples of what we can do!

In 2004 30,000 votes were lost in King County alone (according to open records search) because of improperly filled out ballots and ballots that were mailed in late.  Armed with this knowledge, a group of us got together to produce this professional video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C2mRsT794I 

WA State Field Hands, please circulate this link to your lists.  I'm proud to have had a small part in this, but the real credit for making happen goes to Terry Simpson, a grassroots volunteer from the 34th.

it was more disrespectful than "racist", although it was that, also. So was his comment to the AA young man that he "may not have heard of FM and FM yet"...excuse me? What is the young man that stupid? Talk about pandering!

McC can't stomach this whipper-snapper taking his Presidency, even more so because he's black. He doesn't see O as his equal in more ways than one. Hillary was the same way; when she yelled "Shame on you Barack Obama!"...I yelled back at her through the TV...who do you think you are: his momma?

Both of them were dismissing both his age and his race and his audacity to challenge their inevitability. Not to mention his superior intelligence and strategy. It's just not supposed to happen this way! It's mine! It's mine!

The Repubs are REALLY mad now...we've taken that phrase and turned it into a positive for ourselves...just minutes after it happened.

Johnny knew he had f'd up; that's why he left right after.

Another mess-up; not only did the people in the audience and tv viewers worldwide see the Obamas mix and mingle with real amurikuns, but when John and Cindy booked, they told the audience and America that real people don't count.

 

waterprise2 AKA Pam

Liberal with a Capital L!

 

I will send out to the WA45th, Redmond, Kirkland and Bellevue for Obama groups to help spread the word.  Also WA Women.

On another note, potentially big flub from McCain just now.  This from TPM:

John McCain just referred to the country as "my fellow prisoners."

"Across this country, this is the agenda I have set before my fellow prisoners and the same standards of clarity and candor must now be applied to my opponent."

A new video by Brave New PAC is absolutely devastating to McInsane.  A bunch of Repub leaders saying St. John is mentally unstable and should not be Prez.  Please make sure as many people see it as possible, especially undecideds:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAyK-enrF1g

is not going to the back of the bus.

From a forum last weekend sponsored by the New Yorker. 

She had me in tears.  I love Donna!

I'm with Kos, I don't just want to win, I want to destroy the conservative movement, especially here in Virginia, because the Virginia GOP really really deserves it. Furthermore, here in Virginia we have gubernatorial elections next year. Four years ago, Tim Kaine was elected governor; we lost the Lieutenant Governor's race by less than one percent, and lost the Attorney General's race by less than three hundred votes. I'm looking forward to having the voter file and organization to utterly swamp those margins.

 

Thank you Barack, thank you Howard, thank you all of my fellow activists! Let's do this!

Rasmussen recent poll of Georgia has Obama getting 99% of AA vote.....If he is getting 99% of AA vote in GA, he has to be getting close to that in other states......

I've been working my butt off for Obama, but I am smelling something good........I don't know if it is a landslide, but I know its something really good..........

Do you know what the polling looks like for Rep. Eric Cantor?  I would love to kick him out and if the race is looking close, to contribute to his democratic rival.

KD

It looks like Cantor is pretty safe, unfortunately. At least he has a challenger this time (Anita Hartke, http://www.hartkeforcongress.com/), and you can certainly help her out.

Georgia: McCain 54 McCain 45 Minnesota: Obama 52 McCain 45

Here's one more reason not to be complacent. Thousands more voters have been purged in some states than have moved away or died. Purged voters outnumber new voters in some states. Tens of thousands of people think they are registered but are not.

Lawsuits have been filed since federal law forbids purging voters within 3 months of a federal election, or for moving (even it changes the congressional district), or for not voting. A lot of registrations were flagged or rejected because they failed to match social security information, when federal law requires that state ID databases be checked first.  If a clerk mistyped something it can flag the registration. (I got this information from Democracy Now, 10/9/08)

All this will require a lot of vigilance at the polls by Obama supporters. I suspect his excellent campaign is on this. If you live in a guilty state, make sure the provisional ballots are available, and count and assist people who are turned away.

 

Removing my previous post...meant to put it in a different thread.

equals Four Weeks! Al, I just "got" your post. LOL.  I don't know if you read any of these back this far but I was just scrolling thru and came across Dumbo's picture.