Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

T R E 4 5 O N

Republicans can’t even be trusted with their own money.

Come on, man.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

In after Baud. Damn.

You are here: Home / Past Elections / Election 2012 / GOTV

GOTV

by | 185 Comments

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<a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/59124558@N06/8117022696/” title=”Ohio by dengre.bj, on Flickr”><img src=”http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8329/8117022696_8a6df4d19a_n.jpg” width=”320″ height=”316″ alt=”Ohio”></a>

The long and endless campaign has been real and fun, but not always real fun.

Now we are two weeks out. What we knew two years ago is still true–this will be a close election and it will be won or lost on the ground. What happens next is simple. The Campaign that does the best job Getting Out The Vote: WINS. End of story.

So what are your plans to help GOTV?

Me, I’m off to Ohio.

I’ve made my plane reservations. I’ll fly into Columbus on November 2 and stay through Wednesday. I contacted the campaign at [email protected] and told them that I was coming. Less than a day later, somebody gave me a call, we chatted for a bit and they sent me a housing request form. I’ll get on the ground that Friday morning and spend the next five days doing whatever I can to GOTV in Ohio (which I hear is an important swing state).

There are plenty of other places and ways to GOTV as well. Wisconsin, Iowa, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire and Colorado are all in play and your GOTV help in any of them would make a difference (just click a state’s link to find out how to connect with the campaign).

You don’t have to go somewhere to help GOTV, you can make phone calls from your home. The campaign is set-up to help you do that. You can do something from anywhere and whatever you do will help the ground game.

Go to vote.barackobama.com to find out how and where to vote in your state (or any other state). You can get the details about early voting, absentee voting and more ways that you can help GOTV.

In the non-swing states, there are some Congressional races, Senate races and ballot initiatives that could use some GOTV mojo as well. GOTV efforts will be important for these as well.

If you can join me in Columbus let me know. Perhaps we can have a Balloon Juice meet-up of some kind one evening at an appropriate watering hole.

It is time to get to work. What are your GOTV plans?

Cheers

Reader Interactions

185Comments

  2. 2.

    John B.

    Where is “Anonymous” when you need them? Romney’s lying tax returns from 2009 and before are out there… It’s time to release them to the public and show what that scum-bag really is.

  3. 3.

    R-Jud

    I’ve been doing calls via Democrats Abroad to ensure other expats have requested/received/sent back their absentee ballots. Already sent mine.

  4. 4.

    Schlemizel

    Aaaaaaaaaaaah donno, does it really make a difference? I mean Willard sounds like a reasonable guy, not like a nut job. The President really doesn’t do much anyway. Does it really matter? And really is there that much difference between Bush and GoreObama and Romney? It just seems like a lot of work. Whats the point?

    I am already making calls.

  5. 5.

    EconWatcher

    Hoping to end the odious political career of George “Macaca” Allen here in Virginia, as well as supporting the President, of course. I believe O will win this state in a squeaker.

  6. 6.

    var

    God bless you. My wife already voted absentee in VA. I’ll wait until election day if only to see what turnout is like. I like being in a swing state.

  9. 9.

    greennotGreen

    Don’t think because you live in a non-battleground state that GOTV isn’t important everywhere.We need to ensure that Obama wins not just an electoral college victory but a popular vote victory as well. That won’t eliminate the whining from the Repubs(who think the only way Democrats win anything is by cheating,) but it will add legitimacy which is never a bad thing.

  10. 10.

    divF

    I am on the permanent absentee ballot list, and have to go to the Post Office when it opens this morning to weigh my absentee ballot, buy postage, and mail it. In California, ballot initiatives (state and local), a bunch of local offices (including IRV for some of them), along with the federal offices, leads to four cardboard sheets (two-sided).

    Normally, I would drop my ballot off at my polling place on election day, but I will be at a meeting in DC that day.

    I will be getting out at least one more vote – I have to buy the postage for Mrs. divF’s absentee ballot, as well.

  11. 11.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us? (formerly MarkJ)

    Going down to VA to canvass this weekend and next – I live in the Maryland DC suburbs, so it’s not a long trip. Making phone bank calls to VA too.

  12. 12.

    Betty Cracker

    I’ll be trudging around rural Florida for the next couple of weekends, knocking on doors and begging people who are in the OFA database to get off their asses and get to the polls.

    I did the same four years ago, and we won in a squeaker. My feeling is we’ll lose Florida this time around (but win the election in a nail-biter). But we won’t lose this state for MY lack of trying!

  14. 14.

    PsiFighter37

    Ironically enough, myself and a couple friends will be flying into Columbus the same day (at night though). Heading out to Dayton to do a solid weekend of pure GOTV.

    I’ve put my money where my mouth is so far; now it’s time to put my feet where my mouth is.

    Right?

  15. 15.

    Linda Featheringill

    @Betty Cracker: #12

    My feeling is we’ll lose Florida this time around (but win the election in a nail-biter). But we won’t lose this state for MY lack of trying!

    Brava!

    Your girls [human, chicken, and dog] must be so proud of you! And hubby, too, of course.

  16. 16.

    Mike E

    Voted Thurs…I’ll be doing a nonpartisan GOTV phonebank for early voting until the 3rd, then moar calls for the 6th.

  17. 17.

    eric

    going through death records here in Chicago trying to figure all of the places I need to vote and then coordinating with the Black Panthers to make some runs out to DuPage County to make sure there is no voter fraud.

  19. 19.

    shortstop

    We have the luxury of living in the corner of a very blue state, within driving distance of several swing states. We’re spending this weekend canvassing in Toledo and haven’t decided what we’ll do the weekend before the election: maybe back to Ohio, maybe to Iowa.

    @Betty Cracker: I do think we’ll lose Florida — after Ryan was selected, I was told by several here that there was no way Florida’s seniors and near-seniors would go for the Romney ticket now. But unfortunately I know quite a few Florida seniors, their thought processes and what motivates them, and I was pretty sure they’d be able to successfully kid themselves about what R&R are really all about. Thanks for all your work keeping it as close as possible, and you never know — maybe we’ll pull it out in FL.

  23. 23.

    Bailey

    Well, the Florida news and projections is incredibly disheartening. Old people generally rise up in revolution whenever anyone even thinks about touching their social security / medicare, but yet not this time? What has AARP had to say about all this?

  24. 24.

    Bailey

    Well, the Florida news and projections is incredibly disheartening. Old people generally rise up in revolution whenever anyone even thinks about touching their social security / medicare, but yet not this time? What has AARP had to say about all this?

  25. 25.

    shortstop

    @Bailey: AARP is doing a pretty good job of sounding the warning on R&R, I think (pointing out that yes, their plans for Medicare and Medicaid will negatively affect current seniors), but it’s apparently not enough this time — there’s a black guy in the White House who likes Muslims.

  27. 27.

    Omnes Omnibus

    OT a bit: I just saw a FB post from a law school friend of mine, Jewish with three daughters and living in the Chicago suburbs, wherein he ranted about Obama and ME foreign policy. He has apparently bought in completely to the Likudnik spin. I am quite bothered by this.

  28. 28.

    Libby's Person

    @Betty Cracker: I feel that way about NC as well, but there’s a whole lot of us here in Durham County who are working our tails off to make NC blue-ish. If Durham turns out BIG, Obama has a chance of victory. So I’ve warned my husband that he won’t be seeing much of me until after election day! I drove a gentleman to the polls yesterday. He’s hooked up to an oxygen tank and so can’t walk far and he doesn’t drive, so he probably wouldn’t have voted this year if a volunteer canvasser hadn’t knocked on his door and asked him if he needed a ride to the polls. Another volunteer called him back once early voting had begun and set up an appointment for him; the driver-schedule volunteer called me yesterday morning to let me know. Volunteers at staging areas all over the county are canvassing and phonebanking daily; others are doing data entry every night (I’m doing some of this), and I and many other drive volunteers will be on-call through election day. That’s the super-charged, volunteer-fueled ground game in the Triangle!

  30. 30.

    Betty Cracker

    @Linda Featheringill: Thank you! The teen is coming with me (at her insistence). She tagged along last time too and was handy for softening up wingnuts who would otherwise have been abusive. But now that she’s 5’7″ with short, spiky, purple hair, I’m not sure how far the “sweet little girl” factor will take us…

    @shortstop: I was one of those who thought Romney pissed away Florida when he added the Zombie-Eyed, etc., to the ticket. I really don’t think MOST seniors down here are of the “Screw you, Jack, I’ve got mine!” mentality. But one thing I’m re-learning from this race is that there seems to be no floor on people’s capacity for swallowing blatant, shameless lies. Ah well. We do what we can, right?

  31. 31.

    med

    Already dropped my & mrs med’s ballots in the box. I have been working on voter protection hotlines and am starting to make calls into Ohio. Beginning next weekend, the whole family will be out doing local GOTV as well.

  33. 33.

    quannlace

    Mailed in my ballot, and my 90 year old Mom’s, last week.
    *****
    Re: the undecided voter.
    Yesterday on CNN, Cooper was interviewing a woman who’d been one of the questioners at the 2nd debate. Her query had been about equal pay. They mentioned some of the vicious tweets from the Right that had been directed at her. One particularly ugly one from Michelle Malkin (surprise, surprise) The woman was visibly upset, and was saying ‘how could she say things like that..”
    Oh, and who was she voting for? “I haven’t made my mind up yet.”

    Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with these people?

  34. 34.

    FlipYrWhig

    @waratah: I do not. I think there are millions of old people who watch Fox News ’round the clock and think the President is bent on taking what they earned by hard work and throwing it all away on moochers and layabouts. I live in Virginia, and there are a lot of retirees here, and they’re politically some of the most retrograde, awful people I’ve ever encountered. Some of them are perfectly pleasant on other subjects. On politics, though, they’re baying at the moon. I have to think that Florida is even worse in that respect.

  35. 35.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Omnes Omnibus: See, this is why when I’m at my most misanthropic I want two things to happen: I want Iran to have nuclear weapons, and I want old people’s benefits cut. Then we can have a whole conversation about what’s to be done to make things better. Same spirit as just going off the fucking “fiscal cliff” and then dealing with it. Bring it on. Make me care. If you don’t care about me, I don’t care about you anymore either. I don’t have to vote for a politics that helps people. I can just be a selfish ass like a Republican.

  36. 36.

    Redshift

    I plan to continue to trudge all over Northern Virginia! I’m taking Election Day off, of course, but I’m going to see if I can get Monday as well. I’m debating whether to vote early — they usually don’t have paper ballots at the early voting sites, and I’m working at my pooling place on E-Day, so I should have no trouble getting in to vote.

  37. 37.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Betty Cracker:

    I really don’t think MOST seniors down here are of the “Screw you, Jack, I’ve got mine!” mentality.

    A damn large number are. Or, to make the same point in a less dickish way, the ones who are otherwise inclined to be Republicans aren’t going to withhold their support just because this time around the Republicans want to do even more blatant “fuck you, I’ve got mine” policy-making.

  39. 39.

    PeakVT

    @John B.: Sorry, but that’s a horrible idea. That would just turn Rmoney into a victim, and while Republicans aren’t good at much else, they are very good at playing victim. If Anonymous wants to do something useful, it should hack into Diebold and the like and get the source code to the voting machine software.

  40. 40.

    Kirbster

    Living in the US these days is like living in an apartment building where half the residents are arsonists. The vigilance required to keep them from burning the place to the ground is exhausting, but the rest of us can’t afford to move. The owners of the the building don’t really care. They’ll either collect rent or collect on the fire insurance and buy themselves another apartment building.

  41. 41.

    pat

    Will get home from Austria on Tuesday, pick the Susy cat up at my sister’s on Wednesday (4h drive each way), then report to headquarters in Wisconsin and spend the next few days doing what I can… Walked the streets for Obama in 2008, the first time I had done such..

    If the double R manages to steal and lie their way into the white house, I just have to say every once in a while we have to hit bottom before we can change for the better. And I’m pretty sure that will be hitting bottom.

  43. 43.

    hedgehog the occasional commenter

    I’ve signed up for a shift on Sunday at the Littleton (CO) OFA office. Only worry is I get really nervous talking to strangers, so I’m hoping I can help out in the office–we’ll see. I’ve been contributing money steadily but it is time to do something in meatspace/real time.

  44. 44.

    floridafrog

    I’m canvassing in rural Florida too, a bit north of Betty C. We are all working like crazy and getting some people to the polls who wouldn’t have gone without a ride, one last conversation or other nudge but the sense of despair in some neighborhoods is heartbreaking. Too many of the people I have talked to are just so worn down that they can’t see how things could get better or how any president can help them. I’ve turned a couple of people around by explaining to them how Obamacare can help them get the medical care they badly need. But it is disheartening how many people who directly benefit from this president’s policies still feel abandoned.

    Also, we got word last night that if it looks like the President is ahead next week, we might want to stay out of the reddest part of the county for our own safety. This is a “stand your ground” state and some of the upstanding patriots might feel threatened by us and resort to their 2nd Amendment remedies.

    What have we come to?

  46. 46.

    aimai

    @Kirbster:
    So true. And not only are they arsonists, they are whiny about it as well and set their fires and then weep bitter tears of self pity when the rest of the apartment building don’t get there in time to put it out.

    aimai

  47. 47.

    Betty Cracker

    @Libby’s Person: Brava! I’ve also volunteered to drive people, but since I drive a beat-up VW with a leaky sun roof and dog hair all over the back seat, I’m probably a “driver of last resort.” :)

    @FlipYrWhig: I guess it comes down to the old “stupid vs. evil” conundrum. I think stupidity is more prevalent than evil. At least, I think that TODAY. I vacillate on that question, honestly.

  48. 48.

    Punchy

    Oh, and who was she voting for? “I haven’t made my mind up yet.”
    …
    Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with these people?

    She’s probably for sure voting for Obama but knows better than to tell CNN this, as she’d be re-bombed with vitriolic tweets for another 47 hours.

    Anyone with a Twitter account heard if Trump’s twatted his game changer?

  50. 50.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Brian R.: I just saw the post a few minutes ago. I will probably respond to him this evening. Thanks for the link to something that may be persuasive.

  52. 52.

    Fouten

    Taking the day off of work to phone bank all day for Duckworth in IL-8. It’s not Ohio, but it’s one we need.

  53. 53.

    Jimmy Jelly

    I’m in the Akron/Cleveland area will be going door-to-door several times over the next two weeks. My wife and I will drive folks to the polls the weekend before election day. Whatever the outcome on November 6th, I will rest easy with knowledge that I pulled my own weight to support the President.

  55. 55.

    Elizabelle

    Would any of you like to GOTV in Virginia?

    I’m in Northern Virginia. Weather has been superb this week, and we’ve got fall color. I was out knocking doors until 8:45 last night. In shirtsleeves.

    We can get you set up with some lovely donated supporter housing. Pretty much anywhere there’s an OFA office, and we got scads. Check the Obama website.

    Come on down!!

    The Commonwealth of Virginia has lots of Romney signs out. True. It’s also got smarter people who’d love to talk with you. We saw what happened with Governor Bob McDonnell and the GOP unleashed.

    Transvaginally yours,
    Elizabelle

    PS: Absentee in person/early voting has begun here. 2-8 Monday through Friday; 9-5 Saturdays. Get those voters to the polls, and there are numerous reasons they can vote early. (We ain’t Pennsylvania in that respect.)

  56. 56.

    Democrat Partisan Asshole

    I really don’t think MOST seniors down here are of the “Screw you, Jack, I’ve got mine!” mentality.

    @Betty Cracker: I must disagree with you on this. I’m finding that this election, to some extent just like last time but far worse, there’s an undefinable something about this President that has the oldsters willing to throw younger generations on the funeral pyre in order to get him out of office.

  57. 57.

    schrodinger's cat

    BTW did any one read Maureen Dowd’s this morning. I just read the blurb, she is fantasizing about an electoral vote tie and a Mitt Presidency.

  61. 61.

    max

    @Brian R.: Good for you. I just drove I-81 through the western part of Virginia, and the Tea Party presence was disturbingly strong there. We need to GOTV in the rest of the state in a big, big way.

    Well, in the northern part along I-81 and along 66 it is pretty strong but it doesn’t appear to be as strong as in 2008. Really, they were bugfuck crazy around here in 2008. Further south particularly in the SW, I dunno.

    Still losing car magnets though. That’s two stolen in ten days. Haven’t had my yard sign vandalized yet, but I took the under on 10 days.

    I finally got someone I had been working on for twenty years to register and I got somebody else regged who had relocated, so that’s pretty cool. We’re all going done on 6th, so we’ll see how hostile the Ladies Who Check Registration are. (Very, in my experience.)

    The mailed advertising is the fun part. I’ve got 10 flyers from Grover Norquist (not including the 5-8 I threw out before I decided to start keeping them) explaining how the President is actually on the Mitt Romney plan for federal solvency, although they’ve shifted to going after Kaine.

    I got three identical flyers in one day last week, all mailed to people who haven’t lived at this address in a decade, indicating that Romney and Ryan will ditch abortion – I was thinking it’s a shame we can’t resend these to the ladies in blue areas. (Of course, from the pictures on the flyers, it seems they’re trying to save an actual baby, the Starchild from 2001, and an elderly Filipino lady. So that’s effective.) Oh, and the best part is that it says, ‘Mitt Romney & Paul Ryan is the only pro-life presidential ticket that can win. A vote for anyone else, is, in effect, a vote for Barack Obama.’ So I’m thinking they’re down on Virgil Goode and Gary Johnson. (What would young Conor say?)

    max
    [‘Nothing, I expect.’]

  63. 63.

    Xecky Gilchrist

    I’ll be Early voting today! I have not done any formal GOTV, but have been making the rounds of my office and encouraging students and coworkers to go vote, pointing out where the nearest early voting locations are.

  64. 64.

    mingo

    Arapahoe County, CO – I have given many of my Saturday mornings for the past few months to canvassing and will continue this. If there is something else that will really help, I’ll do that, too. I have also been randomly tossing in money throughout the year – is there a place you can look up how much you have contributed in the last (n) period?

  65. 65.

    beltane

    @Democrat Partisan Asshole: These “silent generation” Republicans are truly ghoulish, like hands outstretched from the grave ready to strangle the young and vibrant in order to maintain their delusions of immortality and power. As the country changes, it will become more and more likely that a backlash will build against the ugly white conservatives that turned this once great country into a living hell.

    The scariest “whitey tape” is the one that hasn’t been made yet.

  66. 66.

    Democrat Partisan Asshole

    Also, we got word last night that if it looks like the President is ahead next week, we might want to stay out of the reddest part of the county for our own safety. This is a “stand your ground” state and some of the upstanding patriots might feel threatened by us and resort to their 2nd Amendment remedies.

    @floridafrog: Sweet Jesus. I guess I’m not surprised but fuck…what have we come to as a country? Where did we fail to allow this kind of shit to happen? It’s 2012 for God’s sake, we’ve put men on the moon but we gotta keep canvassers out of the redneck part of town because they’ll get shot – AND IT WILL BE LEGAL. Fuck me. This country has fucking blown it on a really fundamental level.

  67. 67.

    Nordic

    I commend all of you for your GOTV efforts. It’s great to see people so passionate about moving this country in the right direction.

    Nordic (in deep red Texas)

  68. 68.

    Elizabelle

    @hedgehog the occasional commenter:

    Hedgehog: at this point, you’re pretty much talking to people who’ve already indicated they’ll support President Obama. It’s not persuasive canvassing/calling so much as GOTV.

    A lot of them will be delighted to see you at their door, and will thank you for getting out there. They might tell you nervously that their neighborhood is swamped with Romney signs. You can assure them we have lots of supporters there too. We’re just quieter about it.

    And they’re talking on the phone with you too, if you’re giving them nuts and bolts of where to vote and any early voting they can do. They appreciate that, and are excited for this election to be over.

    Suspect you’ll find volunteering in the home stretch gratifying.

    It’s way better than surfing for media spin and putting up with fools like Political Observer. Step away from the laptop.

  70. 70.

    hedgehog the occasional commenter

    @Elizabelle:

    Thanks, Elizabelle! Makes me feel better. (Have already promised myself no Internet on Election Day, it will just make me crazy.)

  71. 71.

    R-Jud

    @Elizabelle:

    Transvaginally yours, Elizabelle

    SNORT

    @mingo:

    I have also been randomly tossing in money throughout the year – is there a place you can look up how much you have contributed in the last (n) period?

    I get the occasional e-mail from OFA that summarizes my contributions.

  73. 73.

    beltane

    My mother-in-law just put up an Obama sign in front of her house in Miami. The field office advised her to coat the sign in Vaseline so it doesn’t get snatched by Republicans. It makes me kind of angry that we have allowed ourselves to be put in a position where we have to live in fear of these morally bankrupt thugs. They say revenge is a dish best served cold. I can deal with this as long as it’s a big dish and it does, indeed, get served.

  74. 74.

    TooManyJens

    I’ll be doing GOTV locally. I live in Illinois, so it won’t matter to the Presdential election, but we’re trying to flip a House seat and get some good people elected on the county level, including a Democratic County Clerk for the first time in 70 years.

  75. 75.

    LABiker

    Last night I made calls from a converted nightclub in Hollywood. We were calling numbers in Colorado. We had Democrats, Republicans, and undecideds. The vast majority of the calls went to voicemail, but I did manage to get through to a few people. It was about 50-50. Of course, the people who voted for Romney wouldn’t admit it. They would say, “I already voted, and I’m not telling you who I voted for.” Anybody who voted for Obama would just proudly say, “I voted for Obama.” I wanted to say to the Romney people, “If it’s a big shameful secret, why did you vote for him?” But I didn’t. You just have to move on to the next call, and the next, and the next. I’m going back this weekend, next Tuesday, and the weekend before the election. I hear they’re having a huge GOTV gathering somewhere, maybe on the Paramount lot. Should be fun. Last night some nice person made chicken and rice, and the bar was selling beers for a buck fifty. It’s fun to get together with your fellow Dems to make some calls, and if we push our man over the finish line, think of how happy we’ll be.

  76. 76.

    General Stuck

    @floridafrog:

    What have we come to?

    What we’ve come to is what we always were – A country divided by two starkly different world views, that has held together mostly due to economic prosperity and periodic shared national emergencies. It is for these purposes of the right wing to enforce these so called ‘castle doctrines’ by deadly force, when the inevitable reality of loss of white supremacy is realized on a national political level. They tried seceding from the union and that didn’t work out so well. So they are drawing a kind of personal national boundary around their personal living space, as an island unto themselves, that if violated will be met with legal lethal force. my take

  77. 77.

    Dan

    I canvassed for the first time ever this Sunday in Montgomery County, PA, and I signed up for some more GOTV stuff closer to election day. People seem to be pretty enthusiastic about voting and well aware of the stakes. I don’t know how much difference it actually made, but it felt good to be actually doing something.

  78. 78.

    shortstop

    @Betty Cracker:

    I really don’t think MOST seniors down here are of the “Screw you, Jack, I’ve got mine!” mentality. But one thing I’m re-learning from this race is that there seems to be no floor on people’s capacity for swallowing blatant, shameless lies. Ah well. We do what we can, right?

    Right, I don’t think most of them are thinking in SYIGM terms. That would require actually taking a clear-eyed look at both sides’ policy proposals, which most old people (or citizens in general, for that matter) are not doing, and then consciously deciding to fuck themselves and future generations.

    I think it’s usually a case of working backwards from the premise (“I’m not voting for the dusky man who hates Jesus and gives what’s rightfully mine to immigrants, welfare queens and other layabouts”) and, to support that, convincing themselves that Romney and Ryan are not going to do what they’ve said they’re going to do. Sometimes it’s stupidity, and sometimes it’s both stupidity and willful ignorance, but it should be obvious to us by now that there’s no end to Republicans’ ability to create and inhabit an alternate reality for their own comfort.

  79. 79.

    Dennis G.

    @Keith: It is an old wooden puzzle piece from a Commercial Map of the United States (back when there was only 48 of them).

  81. 81.

    floridafrog

    @Elizabelle – the assistant OFA field organizer for the west side of our county mentioned it at the democratic dinner last night. She just shrugged and said it was bad territory for us anyway. My canvassing shift in the east part of the county starts shortly and I’ll follow up on whether we have contacted the local LEOs.

  82. 82.

    shortstop

    @Fouten: Plus, the satisfaction factor of kicking out Walsh will be about 10,000x higher than the average glee at bouncing Republicans. Which is already pretty high.

  84. 84.

    karen marie

    @greennotGreen: Repubs(who think say the only way Democrats win anything is by cheating,)

    FIFY

    GOTV calls from my couch! Already filled in my ballot here in AZ, ready to go in the mail.

  85. 85.

    Joel

    I voted (Washington). Did some phone banking last weekend and probably will do more this weekend. It’s a local GOTV so it’s not doing my piece in swing states but it helps Democrats in key offices (namely our Governor).

  86. 86.

    shortstop

    @Democrat Partisan Asshole: Doing GOTV work in Indy in 2008, my husband and I decided to bail on one neighborhood and ask for another assignment because a) it was early Saturday evening, b) it was about 80 degrees and people were sitting in their front yards drinking beer, and c) as the number of ingested beers rose, so did the increasingly angry suggestions that we get the hell off their street right now. This was a lower-income white neighborhood that had traditionally voted Democratic, BTW.

    All the other neighborhoods we worked were fine, and we’re not nervous Nellies. But the vibe in this subdivision was definitely creepy.

  88. 88.

    Linda Featheringill

    @FlipYrWhig:

    Nationally, older folks vote Republican at about the same rate as 30-50 year old white males. When you remove benefits from the oldsters, are you also going to force the younger men into hunger and homelessness?

    If not, why not? Defend yourself.

  93. 93.

    Robert Anderson

    I live in California and am traveling with a group of about twenty people to Nevada November 2-5th to help GOTV for President Obama (and down-ticket candidates). We did the same thing in 2008, and it was a blast. I highly recommend anyone living in or near Colorado, Nevada, Ohio, Virginia, Florida, New Hampshire or North Carolina to volunteer and help GOTV for President Obama.

  94. 94.

    Brian R.

    @Elizabelle:

    Suspect you’ll find volunteering in the home stretch gratifying.

    It’s way better than surfing for media spin and putting up with fools like Political Observer. Step away from the laptop.

    Amen.

    Sparring with trolls does nothing. Get out there and provide some real help.

  95. 95.

    lamh35

    Obama knows who’s the real star in the family. This morning on TJMS:

    ““BARACK OBAMA: I always tell people, I say; listen, even if you’re not enthusiastic about voting for me, then vote to make sure that the First Lady stays the First Lady.”

  96. 96.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Our election campaigns are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long. In part driven by the mindless greed of the corporations that control the media.

  97. 97.

    hitchhiker

    @Kirbster:

    Living in the US these days is like living in an apartment building where half the residents are arsonists. The vigilance required to keep them from burning the place to the ground is exhausting, but the rest of us can’t afford to move. The owners of the the building don’t really care. They’ll either collect rent or collect on the fire insurance and buy themselves another apartment building.

    Totally stealing that. It’s a perfect description of how I feel every single day.

  98. 98.

    cmorenc

    I’m in Raleigh, NC, and live in a predominately GOP neighborhood where there are around a dozen Romney yard signs in nearby streets vs just two of us with Obama yard signs. HOWEVER, one difference (so far) between this year and 2008 is that no one has yet stolen either of our Obama yard signs in the roughly two weeks they have been up, whereas in 2008 someone did that twice, and this year I have my sign out in a very prominent place only two or three feet from the street, whereas in 2008 my sign was a dozen feet back in my yard.

  100. 100.

    GlenInBrooklyn

    I live in a safely blue state (and cannot get time off). But I pity my brother and his partner in Ohio.

  101. 101.

    Chris

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Poujadisme was a movement of lower-middle-class shopkeepers, ultrasmall businessmen and the like, right? This sounds more like a working-class neighborhood, which is more the FN’s turf.
    /arrant pedantry

    (Ironically some of the places with the most FN support these days used to be Communist Party strongholds, especially the southeastern region).

  102. 102.

    shortstop

    @Elizabelle: I want to second this. With the exception of our experience in the neighborhood mentioned above, the GOTV work we’ve done over the years has been uniformly gratifying. I prefer knocking on doors to calling people, but either way, you generally get a great reception and meet lots of like-minded and energetic people. At this point, you’re going to be visiting or calling registered Democrats or people otherwise suspected of being hemp-wearing, labor song-singing commies, so you aren’t in the business of selling the candidate — just getting people to the polls.

    One thing we always find amusing — but not challenging, don’t worry! — is when we show up at split-vote households. I’ve seen quite a few husbands stomp away when we ask for their wives (whose names are on our list while their husbands’ aren’t). In 2008, I had a pompous father inform me that no one in “his” house was voting for Obama, while his college-aged daughter stood out of his sightline frantically making “go away” motions at us. That last one was pretty funny because I knew she was going to vote for Obama once she got into the polling place and away from her hideous papa.

  104. 104.

    Chris

    @shortstop:

    That last one was pretty funny because I knew she was going to vote for Obama once she got into the polling place and away from her hideous papa.

    Thank Jesus for secret ballots (and more saliently, thank all the people who died to make it possible).

  105. 105.

    David

    Cast my absentee ballot in MA (Go Warren!) and heading off to Bucks County, PA on the 2nd for canvassing and calling with my wife, where we grew up. PA is looking good but better safe than sorry (and her parents can watch our daughter).

  106. 106.

    cmorenc

    One idea I entertained for protecting my Obama yard sign (but so far, only as a thought experiment) was to put on heavy gloves and rub it around in a bed of poison ivy (I used to have a very potent bed of it in my back yard until I hopefully eradicated it a couple of years ago, at the cost of contracting a bad case of it on my arm and hand). As noted above, the thugs stole two of my Obama yard signs back in 2008, but have so far (for two weeks) left mine alone this time around.

  107. 107.

    beltane

    @cmorenc: The best thing to do would be to connect the sign to a power source in such a way as to deliver a painful, yet not dangerous, shock to wingnut vigilantes.

  108. 108.

    TooManyJens

    @shortstop: I had a bad experience with that a few weeks ago. I knocked on the door and the woman whose name was on our list answered. She said she was undecided and only really knew what she’d been seeing on TV, so I started talking to her about our candidate. Her husband (I assume) came to see what was going on and started yelling at me. “We’re on the other side, do you hear? You’re wasting your time! You understand me? You’re wasting your time!” The woman stood there, clearly at least uncomfortable and possibly scared. I didn’t know what to say, so I thanked her for her time and left. I’ve had similar things happen a few times over the years, and it’s the thing I dread the most when I knock on a door. Getting a garden-variety unfriendly person is one thing, and I can handle that, but getting one person in the house who’s bullying other residents and me is the worst.

  109. 109.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Chris: IIRC it was the lower middle types you mentioned plus upper working class. The main resemblance that I see is the rejection of both elites and any sense of solidarity with those below them. In addition, there is the politics of resentment angle that I see in both.

    Did you know that Le Pen got his start in politics working for Poujade?

  110. 110.

    smith

    Did I miss anything? Did Donald Trump reveal his “October surprise” yet?

    Back on topic, I live in a fairly conservative area and I have seen very few Romney/Ryan signs. While I think the Repubs in my area will certainly vote Romney, they’re not thrilled about it. Believe me, there were McCain/Palin signs everywhere (pretty much every other house) in 2008.

    Of course I live in NY which is 99.99999999% certain to go Obama, so that could be another reason for the lack of signs. There are more Maggie Brooks signs than Romeny/Ryan signs.

  111. 111.

    Chris

    @TooManyJens:

    Christ. I can imagine. Given conservative men’s obsession with being the alpha male, wives “submitting to their husbands” and the whole James Dobson brand of child abuse, I can well imagine how fucked up that can get.

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    No, I didn’t. But I’m not surprised. Those two deserve each other.

  112. 112.

    pseudonymous in nc

    @Democrat Partisan Asshole:

    Sweet Jesus. I guess I’m not surprised but fuck…what have we come to as a country?

    The reports of OSCE sending a grand total of 44 election observers had lots of wingnuts talking about having them beaten up if they showed up at their precinct.

    No sense of irony there whatsoever.

  113. 113.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @smith: Living in Madison, WI, I do not see too many GOP yard signs. The few I have seen are in the wealthiest areas in town, and Romney signs are outnumbered by Tommy Thompson signs. FWIW these neighborhoods also have assloads of Obama and Baldwin signs.

  114. 114.

    Chris

    @pseudonymous in nc:

    The reports of OSCE sending a grand total of 44 election observers had lots of wingnuts talking about having them beaten up if they showed up at their precinct.

    Doubtless while screaming “BROWNSHIRTS! CHICAGO STREET THUGS! UNION GANGSTERS! BLACK PANTHER TERRORISTS!” And telling all who’ll listen about how dem Demmy-crats wanna take their rats!

  115. 115.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us? (formerly MarkJ)

    @Brian R.:
    @max: Drove out to Sperryville (midway down Skyline drive in Shenandoah National Park)last weekend and it was less depressing. I’d say the split was 50/50 Romney vs Obama signs. That’s northern-ish but ex-urbany most of the way but pretty rural as you get near SNP.

    Richmond will go Obama, as will VA Beach. With the military moving more in Obama’s direction VA gets much more competitive.

  116. 116.

    Todd

    @smith:

    Gloria Allred revealed hers. Seems that Mitt lied about the value of Bain in order to fuck his buddy’s spouse in their divorce case, then immediately, everybody cashed out for a fortune.

    Just another flipflop for Mitt.

  117. 117.

    Kate in TX

    I’m doing the same thing…flying to Cleveland on 11/2 and staying through the 7th. Gotta win this thing!

    (Oh, and I lived in MA during the very contentious Stemberg divorce..was wondering when some of the details might come out. Tom Stemberg is a complete shitheel)

  118. 118.

    Dee Loralei

    I’ve been working with Memphis OFA for over a year now. We’ve been calling NC for months and months. Now we’re doing calls for early voting and to see if folks there need rides to the polls. I’m gonna go vote myself today and tonight put in another 3 hours for the O-Man calling NC.And again on Friday. We’ve got a big rally on Sat. with Congressman Steve Cohen and Mayor AC Wharton, and I’m working that too. Next week I plan on working more than my scheduled 2 days calling NC. And I’ll be doing that through election day. I’ve donated what money I can over the year as well.

    These are fun calls to make. We’re only calling supporters. And for those of you hesitant to make phone calls or knock on doors in swing states, there’s tons of data that needs to be entered to. And everyone appreciates it if you bring some munchies or something to eat too.

    I’ve taken to telling everyone I talk to that if they vote early that no one from OFA will call them again. That we cant help with the mailings, or the barrage of ads they are getting, but we would quit calling them, as soon as they vote. LOL. Most folks are very appreciative of that. I even convinced a few people who weren’t gonna vote early with my schpeil, because believe me swing state folks are sick of being bothered. But they need something like 7 contacts to ensure a vote. Go figure.

  119. 119.

    Political Observer

    ROMNEY SURGE IN OHIO

    RASMUSSEN TIED

    SURVEY USA WITHIN THE MARGIN OF ERROR

    Bad news for Obama. Is Romney victory now inevitable?

  120. 120.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Todd:

    The only thing positive about Mittens will be his death.

    As painful a death as possible, I might add.

    He is irredeemable scum, through and through.

  121. 121.

    Chris

    @lamh35:

    Obama knows who’s the real star in the family.

    Not only that, but Michelle shines doubly when compared with Queen Let Them Eat Cake Romney.

  124. 124.

    smith

    @Todd:

    Thanks – didn’t see that until now.

    Unless Trump says that Obama eats live babies, I don’t think either “surprise” will get much traction. But considering the MSM, they’ll probably treat Trump’s as the holy grail.

  131. 131.

    muddy

    I’m signed up to drive people in my county and the next one over, not sure how many it will be but I said I’d drive all day if they wanted.

  133. 133.

    Political Observer

    @muddy:

    You can never drive enough. What a waste of time.

    Romney/Ryan have this thing in the bag already. In. The. BAG.

  134. 134.

    floridafrog

    I don’t want to scare or discourage anyone from canvassing. Its a little weird down here in the reddest part of Florida but, on the whole canvassing is rewarding and, more importantly, productive. In tight elections, a handful of votes per precinct can swing the state and canvassers are the ones who get those votes. When we encounter the people who have been hit too hard by the downturn to pay attention to the election we sit on the front steps with them and listen to their concerns. Last Saturday we had a pretty good crowd around one porch and we were able to make the case for Obama for at least five of them. We talked about specific policies that benefit them then talked them through the steps for early voting. That’s five votes Obama wouldn’t have gotten without somebody knocking on the door. Like the other field offices we check the voting roles daily so if they haven’t voted by the end of the week, they will get a follow-up.

    Even total introverts like me can do this. It works and its more productive that worrying about the polls.

  136. 136.

    Kay

    Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) has cancelled a scheduled trip to Indiana Wednesday to campaign with Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock after Mourdock’s comment that pregnancies from rape are the will of God,

    Run away, Republicans! Such cowards. She didn’t know this was his position when she agreed to do the appearance? That’s confidence-inspiring.

  137. 137.

    muddy

    The people who “let” it dominate are those who reply to it. I just skim past when I see the nym, whether it is PO or a reply to it. I don’t read any of it.

    You can control your own behavior more easily than you can control its.

  139. 139.

    Windy City

    Trump’s big news: He’ll give $5M to charity if Obama releases his college transcripts and passport records. It has to be done by Oct. 31. What a clown! Once again, he’s got nothing.

  140. 140.

    Full Metal Wingnut

    “Observer” is so ironically spot on I can’t believe it’s not trolling. Yes, you view politics through the lowest form an independent uh . . . mind? possibly can. Literally, you perceive the gasbags and this election registers as important. But that’s about it. Your powers of reasoning leave a lot to be desired.

    That said, DougJ, in isolation I’d give this trolling a B-, but I’m going to bump you down a letter grade to C-. The schtick is tired, and derailing too many threads. Troll harder, my friend.

  141. 141.

    Laura

    Trump’s GIANT ZOMG GAMECHANGING ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! literally made me choke on my water from laughing so hard.

  144. 144.

    TooManyJens

    @Raven:

    You gonna let this moron dominate this blog AGAIN?

    Yeah, we’ve got better things to talk about than that asshole. Ignore the trollbot, folks.

    @floridafrog: Thanks for saying that. I’m a terrible introvert and that makes canvassing hard work, but I’ve gotten pretty good at it and it’s very rewarding. Most people are at least polite, and more people than you might expect are actively glad that you’ve come to their door and are interested in what you have to say. There are a lot of people who genuinely appreciate seeing people getting involved in the work of democracy. I’ve even had Republicans thank me for coming out, just because they liked to see that people care.

  146. 146.

    Windy City

    It’s a crappy YouTube of The Hairpiece sitting at his desk laying his offer on the table like he’s a villain in one of the lesser Bond movies. It’s just a big publicity stunt fueled by wingnut conspiracy theories. It may get some traction in the press, but it’s beyond lame. I feel stupider for having watched the three-minute dispatch from Bullshit Mountain.

  149. 149.

    shortstop

    @Kay: I’ve been watching this jerk express her outrage, yes, quivering outrage that Democrats would characterize her party’s recent actions as a war on women. I’ve wondered if there were any line she wouldn’t cross in serving the misogynistic leaders of her party. Looks like there is, but it’s clearly only to protect her own political reputation, not to stand up for other women.

  150. 150.

    Full Metal Wingnut

    If I were the O-man, I’d be happy to make the hairpiece waste his own money, provided that he made a similar $5 million dollar pledge if Romney released his tax returns (or better yet, pledge to pay Romney’s unpaid taxes and/or the difference between capital gains and earned income tax!).

  151. 151.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Linda Featheringill: I don’t want to force anybody into anything. I want to discuss rationally how to fund all the things the government does, rather than giving old people’s needs priority treatment by default. And, the fact of the matter is this. If old people don’t want to fund things that my 40-year-old ass likes, then maybe I start to lose interest in catering to their preferences. People can do it to me right back. But it should all be negotiable. The government should make decisions about what to spend money on based on something other than entrenched interests.

    Like Israel. I don’t fucking care about fucking Israel. I don’t see why a small number of people who care desperately about Israel have to be catered to over and over and over and over again. Fuck it already.

    And, look, I know that things got this way because of who votes and who doesn’t vote and on what basis. But it’s so obnoxious that old panicky white bigots are disproportionately overrepresented in American politics, and it’s going to remain that way for SO. MUCH. LONGER. Aaaarrarghghghghgh.

  152. 152.

    Dennis G.

    @Political Observer: Glad to see you fixed that caps lock problem. Now if you could just do something about your poor cognitive abilities. Perhaps hitting your head with your keyboard will help both problems go away.

  153. 153.

    Full Metal Wingnut

    I guess I shouldn’t call charity a waste. What I mean is, I hate these sorts of moves-I have X sum of money I will donate if a third party does something I want to do. Shitty.

  154. 154.

    SFAW

    Survey USA SHOWS ROMNEY SURGE TO DOWN BY 3 ! ! !

    SAME AS IT WAS ON OCTOBER 15th! ! !

    TWO POINTS WORSE FOR ROMNEY THAN IT WAS ON 10/5 ! ! !

    SUCK IT LIBTARDS!

  155. 155.

    Andrew Abshier

    My plans are real simple. I live in Sarasota, Florida. I’m already on the canvass team here, and we have had canvasses going every day. I’ll be out that entire weekend (Nov2-5). Unfortunately I have to work on Election Day, but will try to help with mop-up duty after work before the polls close.

    I’d love to offer a bed to an out-of-stater, but I can’t.

  156. 156.

    Chris

    @Windy City:

    Trump’s big news: He’ll give $5M to charity if Obama releases his college transcripts and passport records. It has to be done by Oct. 31. What a clown! Once again, he’s got nothing.

    I kind of hope Obama does exactly that just to make Trump $5M poorer. Then again, knowing Trump it’ll probably be something other than actual “charity.” Nah, never mind, Barack: just don’t feed the troll.

  158. 158.

    fuddmain

    @Raven:

    If you have a web browser that runs Greasemonkey you can use this script (http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/58061) to remove comments from PO or anybody else.

    just add Political Observer to the stupidPhrases array at the top like so:


    var stupidPhrases = new Array (
    "Political Observer"
    );

    The strong tags make sure you can see replies to PO. If you don’t care about that remove them.

    An invoice is in the mail.

  159. 159.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @smith: Wisconsin is not yet in the bag. Madison is a special case. Further north where my family lives, there is a greater split. In the end, I think Obama will win and Baldwin has a good shot.

  160. 160.

    shortstop

    @Full Metal Wingnut: It depends on what charity is being discussed. I don’t feel that tithing 10 percent to a church that gives less than 1 percent of those tithes to the poor is a good use of money. Nor would I support an outfit that, say, builds incredibly valuable outdoors skills in boys at the cost of raping them en masse while discriminating against gays and lesbians. I also laugh at charities devoted to breast health who defund Planned Parenthood for political reasons. The point is that you’re probably right that any charity Trump believes in is going to be a total waste of money.

  162. 162.

    Dee Loralei

    Also, for those of you making calls or canvassing in other states, if you have a smart phone there is a handy Obama app that is state specific on the issues and local impact of the bills Obama has already passed, it also has voting info etc. It’s very handy. It has truth squad links and everything so if someone hits you with a Republican lie, you have the rebuttal at your finger tips. Don’t remember exactly what the app was called, but it’s from the official campaign and I have found it very useful.

  164. 164.

    SFAW

    RASMUSSEN SHOWS ROMNEY SURGE OF 1 POINT! ! !

    GRAVIS MARKETING SHOWS OBAMA SURGE! ! !

    DONALD TRUMP REVEALS HIMSELF TO BE “Political Observer’s” FATHER. PROMISES TO DONATE $5 TO CHARITY IF P.O. CAN PROVE HE/SHE/IT HAS A CLUE, OR THAT HE/SHE/IT is NOT DougJ! ! ! MUST CREDIT DRUDGE!

  165. 165.

    Chyron HR

    HOLY MORMON PROPHECIES PROVE ROMNEY IS DESTINED TO BE PRESIDENT

    MYSTERIOUS GOLDEN PLATES DECREE THAT OBAMBI BEARS THE “CURSE OF HAM”

    SCARED YET, LIBS?

  167. 167.

    SFAW

    @MikeJ:

    Fucking Libtards at NewsMax. They’re in the bag for the Mooslim Kenyan Usurper, always have been. Same with WorldNutDaily.

  168. 168.

    MikeJ

    @Yutsano:

    Hell I’ll give them Virginia as long as Kaine wins the Senate race there. I ain’t greedy.

    One victory helps ensure the other though. We’re more likely to win both or lose both than split it.

  169. 169.

    Democrat Partisan Asshole

    Trump’s big news: He’ll give $5M to charity if Obama releases his college transcripts and passport records. It has to be done by Oct. 31.

    @Windy City: You have got to be shitting me. Even for Combover Hitler this is weak, weak, weak fucking sauce.

    Watch Obama do it just to fuck Trump over. I’ve got doubts he could lay his fat, liverspotted hands on five million bucks cash without putting some serious hurt on his already failing finances.

  170. 170.

    Political Observer

    The ODU poll is worthless since so much of it was conducted in September.

    Romney is the clear favorite in VA. Romney only needs to focus on OH and WI and maybe make a late strike into PA now. Walker and Kaisich will no doubt help big time in WI and OH with their ground game…

  173. 173.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @LABiker:

    I wanted to say to the Romney people, “If it’s a big shameful secret, why did you vote for him?”

    C’mon, you know why. They’re ascairt that the Kenyan Usurper will win steal the election like he did last time & they’ll go on the list for the reeducation camps.

    Let me recount a story from 40 years ago:

    In my first major exercise in campaigning, I was knocking on doors for McGovern in a blue-collar Baltimore suburb. I was only canvassing registered Democrats according to the printout, but the place was thick with what would later be called “Reagan Democrats,” & it was pretty thankless & disheartening work for the most part (though in the end the ticket did no worse there than in supposedly more liberal areas).

    At one rowhouse, a middle-age factory worker answered, & I asked him (as instructed in those days) if he had decided who he’d be voting for. Like so many others that day, he said he didn’t want to say, so I asked him to please consider voting for McGovern–& as I turned to leave he looked around & then asked me, not in a hostile way, to step inside. Once inside (3 young kids watching TV in the living room) he said, I’m voting for McGovern.

    I was so floored I said, Why? And after he mentioned a couple of issues I realized that yeah, he really was one of ours.

    He just didn’t want any of his neighbors seeing him being chummy with a Democratic canvasser.

  174. 174.

    Linda Featheringill

    @fuddmain:

    I have PO pied and they’ve added new comments to the pie filter. They’re really quite cute and I’m enjoying them.

  175. 175.

    fuddmain

    @Linda Featheringill:

    I forgot about the pie filter. That’s much better.

    By the by, I didn’t write the script I linked to in case anyone was wondering or cared. Not that I couldn’t have, mind you, because I’m a badass and such as.

  177. 177.

    ruemara

    if I can get over this sudden attack of whatever grossness, I will be organizing packets for canvassers and making calls on sunday. I’ve been doing registration and phonebanking for several months now and it truly does help, particularly when most of your contact ratio are voting for the Big O.

  178. 178.

    Ben Cisco

    Got my early voting done in my corner of NC last week.

    Also, no voter suppression/intimidation happening here because NOBODY MESSES WITH GRANDMA!

    Been riding herd on the younger members of the family (nieces and nephews) to get to the polls and vote. The youngest eligible voter (18) was on her way out the door to the polling place when I reached her. Did good with that one, I did…

  179. 179.

    The Fat Kate Middleton

    Thank you, Dennis, and deepest thanks to all of you who are calling, knocking on doors, and even visiting swing states for GOTV. And now I’d like to beg a little: those of you who are considering visiting a swing state to GOTV, please, please consider visiting Iowa. I live in a rural area near Cedar Rapids, and have offered my home as a staging area for the Obama campaign from Sat., Nov. 3 through Tues. the 6th. I’m also able to offer bed and food for as many as ten volunteers. The problem for me is that, as a team leader for a rural precinct, it’s been nearly impossible to find local volunteers willing to GOTV for those four days. So far, only three people have committed, and we’re going to need a dozen or so. If this is something you’d be willing to consider, please let one of the front-pagers here know (is that OK for me to say, guys?) and they can give you my email address. (Note: if not OK to offer a front pager’s help this way, please let me know and I’ll find another way to have people get in touch with me.)

  181. 181.

    cckids

    @Robert Anderson: I’m in NV, and in 2008 got to drive quite a few people to the polls. I had a full-size van with a wheelchair lift, so it came in quite handy at times. This year, the van has died & we haven’t been able to afford a new one, but I’m calling & probably getting out this weekend to canvass.

    Going to see Michelle on Friday, too!! Can’t make it tonight to the President’s event with Katy Perry, but people are VERY excited about it.

  185. 185.

    Blue Galangal

    Hope you get some Graeter’s ice cream – appreciate the effort!

    In 2008, here in Cincinnati, the section of neighborhoods/ streets we traversed to get to the grocery had a pretty even split between Obama and McCain signs, with McCain having a very slight edge (7 to 6 or thereabouts). Traversing the same street, yesterday, and then poking my nose into a slightly more affluent neighborhood, I counted 8 Obama signs and 4 Romney signs. However, there were about 8 Wenstrup signs, so I’m not sure what to make of that: the people supporting Wenstrup aren’t supporting Romney? They’ll vote for him but they’re damn well not going to put up a yard sign? Anyway. It’s interesting.

Comments are closed.