I love Obama. And I love dkos. That's why I feel the need to write this piece. Somebody's gotta say it, so I guess it might as well be me..
Let me start with this: We need to be focused on one thing and one thing only right now- GETTING VOTES. And what I have seen on this site as of late is not, repeat NOT going to help us get votes. Endless talk about Palin may get a FEW votes here and there but not the kind of solid win we need.
WE NEED REAL ACTION TO SEAL THE DEAL AND WE NEED IT NOW.
We have only 8 weeks to go, 4 weeks to register voters (in most states) and too many states are still way too close for comfort.
And before you go calling me a concern troll or something, just hear me out...
I used to spend hours everyday on this site. In fact, I was a self-confessed kosaholic. I was away from the site for several weeks though because I just got married and was shocked upon my return to see almost no action-oriented diaries on this site (something that used to be a staple).
And the few action diaries that I have seen lately have gotten almost no attention.
Ohio is still a toss-up. Virginia is still a toss-up. Florida is going to be really tough...and we need to get some of these borderline states to win.
Kossacks if we want a sure win, we have to take action. We MUST reach out to voters on a 1:1 level. That is the only thing that really works. Blogs, emails, etc. are great, but nothing beats 1:1 contact with potential voters.
Voting is personal, and getting votes needs to be personal.
An email, letter, tv ad, whatever doesn't work nearly as well as talking with people directly about what concerns them personally and getting them to at least consider Barack Obama.
That means knocking on doors, making phone calls, registering voters, etc.
I know that it is not glamorous work and it is the last thing that we all want to do after working hard all day- but that is what works. And if we really want to win we need to help Obama brings this thing home.
Start with your own circle- friends, family, neighbors, etc. Are they all registered? You would be surprised how many people don't know the laws of their state- like that they may have to re-register if they move, or people who have recently moved states and not registered in their new state, think they can't vote for some reason and it turns out not to be true...this list goes on and on.
Registration deadlines vary from state to state but from what I have seen the majority of them have a cut-off about 30 days out from the election. That means that we have 4 weeks to register more democrats.
There were districts in Ohio last time that lost by a measly 6 votes.
Six votes!!! I don't want to sound like a concern troll, but I sure the hell don't want to even contemplate looking back on 2008 and have to say to myself, why didn't we work to get just 6 more votes?
Well, I think I've made my point.
Let's bring it home, Kossacks. We need to work our asses off these next few weeks. A lot can happen in 8 weeks and there is no room to get comfortable.
What will you do to help Obama get more votes in the next 8 weeks?
Here are some ways you can help- http://my.barackobama.com/...
UPDATE: STATE BY STATE VOTER REGISTRATION DEADLINES
http://www.rockthevote.com/...