All I can say is, it feels great to be involved again.

Whatever happens, this is only the beginning.

Phone calling for candidates.  Republicans are not happy.

People want to talk to you.  Let them speak when you are canvassing.

Foley really was a tipping point.  If people say Dems have had moral failings as well.  Laugh and say, we aren't the ones that think sex is immoral.

But most of all.  STRESS TURNOUT

I'm training to be a VST (voting system technician.) I wake up at 5 a.m. on election day to pick up supplies, stay at the polls until they're closed, then take the voting materials to the central tabulating place. I already sent off for my absentee ballot.

This a more than perfect storm. You can't get this chance again. Please advise Howard Dean borrow money to get our message across in tier-2 races. Let's put a fight. If you can't take risk at this time we might as well fold up our tent and foreever be loosers.

I canvassed in Montgomery County, MD today, in a very liberal neighborhood (mine).  A list of new voters and infrequent voters.  Maybe a bunch of absentees for the college students.  There was someone doing a lit drop for O'Malley in the same neighborhood.  I did phone banking one night last week and will do it one night next week, too.  I expect to canvass next weekend, as well.  The weather was great today, so it was good to be out.

Nobody home. Canvassed 2 1/2 hours and spoke to very few voters. Not sure why; Sat am is usually the best time of the week. Frustrating.

All because of me!

LOL. Just kidding. I was out today, doing my bit for the DEM challengers for the state House and Senate.

But today, A Star/Trib poll was released:

Mike Hatch the challenger has broken out on top of Gov. Mike Pawlenty, 46-37, with a margin of error of 3.something.

That's huge. Pawlenty has really done enormous damage to the state, but he has done it in a stealth way. He has covered his tracks really well. He's young and slick. I was worried that he might hold the governor's mansion even if Klobuchar hammered the hapless Kennedy and we took Gutkenecht's seat.

But now Pawlenty is at freaking 37%! Unbelievable. And we all know that incumbents at 37% in the last 3 weeks tend to slip from there.

If Hatch beats Pawlenty substantially, then I think you can expect big gains across the state. Klobuchar will coast in holding Dayton's seat. (I think she'll be a big upgrade!) I have high hopes for dumping Gutknecht. I like to hope that Wetterling will manage to catch the insanely right wing Michelle Bachman, who is trying to hold Kennedy's seat. I think we will make big gains in the state legislature. (I have high hopes for Paul Gardner and Sandy Rummel, the great folks I am working for.)

Thing is, MN voting techniques are fairly sound. We vote on paper here. The GOP Sec of State has managed some small scale mayhem, but I don't see her managing any major race theft here.

And you know, deep down, MN's political instincts are NOT those of the Right Wing. We're not lefties, but we have long been proud of our education, our public works, our unions, our kitchen table progressivism. Our farm regions are starting to realize that the GOP is a disaster for them.

We have been described as a swing state for the last 10 years or so. I think we are about to break out of that ultimately ill-fitting category.

I know it isn't as dramatic as the turnarounds in places like MT, CO, and Western NY (Bowers' post today is exciting).

But it is nice to feel that we may be turning MN from a GOP opportunity to a safe bastion of progressivism.

Those morons may regret that they decided to hold their convention here in '08.

Today I went canvassing for an incumbent Democratic state rep., last week I went canvassing for a Democratic state senate candidate, next week I'm going canvassing for a Democratic state house candidate.

I'll be canvassing tomorrow in IL-10 for Dan Seals and again on the 29th. I'm also voting early this Monday so that I can work GOTV all day on election day.

I canvassed today in Wantage, New Jersesy, home town of our oppenent Scott Garrett. Support was generally good, no solid sos and a few solid yeses. The more I canvas the more I feel we are going to win. Go New Jesey 5!

Yesterday we did our last parade (of five) of the election season. We're getting ready to drop another 9,000 piece countywide in-house household mailing on Wednesday. Our first mailing went out four weeks ago and generated a lot of buzz (and a lot of positive feedback). As our candidate worked the crowd at the parade she had a number of people say, "Yeah, I got your letter. I'm voting for you." This type of mail plan has never been implemented in our county in the past. All the 4 x 8 signs are up. The yard signs are out. The newspaper ads are set. All that's left is door to door and lit drops. There are a lot of other details, but I'll leave those out for now.

I canvassed in Lombard IL precincts 113 and 51
yday for Duckworth in IL-06. I tell people to go to Tammy's website where she has 14 different issue papers that spell her REAL position on issues from illegal immigration, taxes to Iraq. Then I tell them they've probably seen the commericals and mailers that say she wants to raise their taxes and give social security to illegal aliens. I tell them those ads come from the same people in DC who said Saddam had WMD and
caused 9/11. And they're no more true than any of that. I really urge them to look at her website. Even if they're old you'll get a "my grandson or daugher can get that stuff for me".  

They're usually relieved to find out Tammy isn't a "typical
whacko liberal" as she's being painted. They want to like her but with the barrage of BS coming in their mailboxes and
over the TV we HAVE to have more people on doorsteps countering it. It works for me almost everytime.

A lot of them are fed up with negative campaigning. One guy
about 40 told me yday "I don't know anything about Tammy
but I'm voting for her because I've gotten so many
phonecalls and lit from Roskam that are just attacks." To
those folks I just reiterate her educational degrees and
experience. She's got great credentials.  

If they're amenable to hearing dirt on Roskam I contrast
his 6 issue papers on his website without one word about
Iraq, like there isn't a war going on there. I tell them of his no exception for rape or incest on abortion, no assault weapons ban (even Henry Hyde backed that), no embryonic stem cell research funding whatsoever, support for earmarks while wanting to cut taxes, calling global warming "junk science" even though Bush's own commission told him the science is valid, and rubber stamp backing of Hastert and Bush.  

While phonebanking I shorten that all to "if you like what you saw last year after Katrina, if you like what you're seeing right now in Iraq, if you like seeing your tax dollars go to subsidize oil and pharmaceutical companies, some of the wealthiest companies on the face of the earth. then you can vote for the rubber stamp Republcian Peter Roskam, he'll do whatever Denny Hastert and George Bush tell him to do. But if you're sick of all that, sick of all their corruption, all their scandals, all the downright incompetence then Tammy Duckworth needs your vote. It's gonna be a very close election and she needs every vote she can get. So on November 7th we hope you'll come out and vote for Tammy Duckworth. Thanks for your time.  

Jon Carson the campaign mgr tells me Tuesday we're hitting the airwaves with effective counters to their commercials. I sure hope so. I get good responses with what I do but 7 out of 10 homes nobody answers the door and I can only cover so much ground.