It's primary day in Pennsylvania, and I love the smell of fresh ballots in the morning.
Today is a pretty big day in Pennsylvania. We have a "growing greener" initiative on the ballot that asks for authorization to borrow $625 million to protect the environment, farmland preservation, and abandoned mine reclamation.
There is a nice little contested Mayoral primary in Pittsburgh.
And of course, there is the hotly contested race that has the Philadelphia blogosphere hopping with excitement and making a huge impact on the race taking on incumbent Lynne Abraham in support of "The Philadelphia Phenomenon, Seth Williams.
First and foremost, vote. Obviously.
Also, use this as an open thread to discuss your voting experience today in PA. Right now, I am working at a polling place in Bucks County, PA. Yeah, the same Congressional District Ginny Schrader ran in last year.
But back to Seth Williams.
I appeal to Philadelphians to do more than just get out and vote for Seth Williams--Please volunteer some time, email your friends and family, make phone calls, and get others to do the same!
You can help in person here:
1606 Walnut is where they are dispatching people. Just show up there
when you can. the PM rush is definitely helpful, and important.
This race will take somewhere around 100,000 votes to win. It's now a matter of getting those supporters of Seth out and to the polling places. You know the drill--if you have the time, get down there.
Oh. Why do I care so much about Seth Williams? Well, I will rely on fellow Kossack DanielUA to give you the Williams Good, Abraham Bad, stump speech. You can find it HERE. If you need convincing, that is a good place to start.
Then there is the role the blogosphere is playing in this election. You see, Seth Williams has been outspent 26 to 1. Ouch! But a "guerilla band of Philadelphia bloggers," ranging anywhere between 12 and 15 in total have banded together in support of a candidate they believe in. They have met him, were inspired, and genuinely believe in the man.
So they decided to act.
They raised money for him. They collected vote pledges online. They recruited volunteers. They live-blogged debates. They earned a ton of free media for the candidate starved for media attention. A smattering of national blogs started talking about the race. Chris Bowers of MyDD endorsed Seth Williams.
And then, The Philadelphia Inquirer endorsed Williams. That's the BIG MO.
If Seth Williams wins, this will be such a victory for the local blogsophere that injected life into a race that looked as if it would come up well short just a few weeks ago. This would be a victory for us. You know how people say, "yeah, but when is a candidate that uses the Net ever gonna win?" Well, this is today's best chance. And it's not even about Seth's campaign using the Net, although they have.
This is about an entirely grassroots effort led by a group of Philadelphia bloggers to impact a primary, and elect a candidate they believe in.
So, if you have the time and are from the area, please join them at the address above. Just show up, they can use the help for GOTV.
Otherwise, how has your voting experience been today?
Tim